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$30,000 over budget

City hall HVAC bid higher than expected

By Bert Lehman


Upgrading the HVAC system at Clintonville City Hall will cost the city $92,938, which is $30,000 more than the city had budgeted for the project.

Parks and Recreation Director Justin Mc Auly told the Clintonville Finance Committee at its April 9 meeting that the city received four bids to replace the HVAC system at city hall. The bids ranged from $92,938 to $127,245.

He added that the city’s budget includes $60,000 for the project.

The three highest bids included totals for labor to remove the existing ductwork and install new ductwork, as well as the cost of new ductwork. The cheapest bid that includes new ductwork was for $108,038.

The low bid of $92,938, provided by Jeff Polzin Heating and Electric, didn’t include these costs as the contractor planned to use the existing ductwork.

Mc Auly told the committee that he’s been trying to get this project in the budget for the past three years, but it kept getting pushed back.

“Now we’re at the point where only one of our boilers is working,” Mc Auly said. “Before we had one boiler that worked fulltime, and if there was a need be for a backup, the other one would kick in.”

He added that the boilers were installed in 1978.

Clintonville City Administrator Sharon Eveland told the committee that it had three options for the project. One is the city could use funds from a plow truck overpayment to pay for the amount of the HVAC project over the $60,000 already budgeted.

Another option is the city could use funds from the Spring Street project that the city has postponed. Since the city borrowed the money for the Spring Street project in 2016, the city must spend the funds this year, Eveland said.

Or, the city could elect to not move forward with the HVAC project.

“I’m not saying we shouldn’t do it,” Eveland said. “I’m just saying it is always an option because we are talking about putting upwards of $100,000 into the building.”

The committee recommended accepting the low bid of $92,938 for the HVAC project, which would use existing ductwork. The funds needed that are not in the budget are to come from the capital fund balance.

The city council approved that recommendation the next night at its meeting.

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