Title
Amendment to Contract for HVAC Services for GRU Facilities (NB)
Explanation
The City Commission authorized staff to enter into a contract with Johnson Controls, Inc. on October 18, 2012 for heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) preventive maintenance and repair services for all GRU facilities. The contract focuses on preventive maintenance to reduce the potential for unforeseen equipment downtime to ensure continuous operation of HVAC equipment. The contract includes a provision to add and delete equipment maintained under the contract when units are retired or when newer units are no longer covered under their initial warranty.
Facilities covered under this contract include the GRU Administration Building, Springhill Service Center, Deerhaven and Kelly Generating Stations, Kanapaha and Main Street Water Reclamation Facilities, Murphree Water Treatment Plant, Boulware Springs, electric substations and radio towers. The annual cost of the services at the beginning of the contract was estimated to be $134,100; however, with over 100 pieces of equipment being added to the contract, the cost is anticipated to be approximately $192,000 per year. This increase in covered equipment is due to newer equipment whose initial warranties expired and can now be serviced under this contract. Such equipment includes ice machines and HVAC equipment at the Eastside Operations Center and HVAC equipment at electric substations and the Deerhaven Generating Station. In addition, maintenance is now being performed on the chiller, fan coil units and cooling tower at the GRU Administration Building due to expired warranties. Units that were previously maintained by GRU at the Waldo radio tower are currently being maintained by the county and have been removed from the contract. Since the number of units requiring service fluctuates, staff is seeking authorization to amend the contract for the expenses as needed as units are added or removed from the contract.
Johnson Controls, Inc. has done a good job maintaining this critical equipment and has been very responsive to GRU’s service needs. Other than Consumer Price Index adjustments to pricing as allowed by the contract’s terms, no other price increases have been made. In addition to performing monthly services, Johnson Controls, Inc. is required to respond to emergencies within four hours to minimize the cost impact to operations. Because some of the equipment is located in facilities where a failure can cause electronic equipment to quickly overheat in a matter of hours and lead to costly equipment repairs failure in a matter of hours, it is essential to have a contractor with adequate staffing and material resources to respond expeditiously.
Fiscal Note
Funds are available in the FY 2016 budget and will be requested in subsequent year budgets.
Recommendation:
The City Commission: 1) authorize the General Manager, or his designee, to amend the contract with Johnson Controls, Inc. for servicing additional HVAC equipment at various GRU facilities, subject to approval of the Utilities Attorney as to form and legality; and 2) approve the issuance of purchase orders for these services to Johnson Controls, Inc. not to exceed budgeted amounts, subject to the final appropriation of funds for these services in each fiscal year.