Recommend approval for a settlement agreement with Trane U.S, Inc. for emergency repair services to the mechanical heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system at the Civic Center with Trane U.S, Inc. for an amount not to exeed 167,025.33. The system uses 2, +/- 700-ton chillers to create cold water that is then piped throughout the facility to air handlers, which use coils and fans to convert the cold water into chilled air.

The chilled air is then distributed through the rooms via ducts and registers to maintain comfortable interior temperature and humidity levels. Similarly, the system uses boilers to heat water when heating is required during months of cold exterior temperatures. The system is complicated, approximately 50-years old, and failing. Two chillers and two boilers are present to provide redundant capacity. Only one chiller is needed to operate the facility, but both chillers are currently broken and in-operable. A rental chiller is temporarily being used to maintain temperature and humidity levels at the facility until repairs can be requisitioned, approved, and completed.

Chiller # 2 was re-built in 2019 but was damaged recently by an unexpected electrical short-circuit that destroyed the compressor motor while a new control module was being installed and the system re-started. The electrical system at the Civic Center is old and failing and may (or may not) have contributed to the short-circuit condition. Repairing chiller #2 is more cost effective than re-building chiller #1. The replacement motor for chiller #2 and associated repairs and the rental of temporary chiller units until repairs are completed is expected to cost around $270,000 and take about four months to complete (mostly due the lead time on ordering and receiving parts). After much due diligence and negotiation, Trane (the manufacturer and service provider) has agreed to participate in a cost reduction/discount of repairs and temporary rental units to the City.

This is a time-sensitive matter. If the chiller repair motor is not ordered quickly and installed before the weather begins to warm, then the facility will not cool properly, mold conditions could emerge, and occupants will need to vacate until repairs are completed. It should be noted the Civic Center is currently running near capacity; including the provision of temporary space for: the Code Compliance Department (second floor meeting rooms), the Board of Equalization (ballroom), the Georgia Department of Public Health (arena for drive-thru COVID testing), and County 911 back-up operations (basement).
 

Approval