The process is moving forward to replace a 36-year-old heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system in the Jefferson City Police Department.
At the Public Works and Planning Committee meeting Thursday, Operations Division Director Britt Smith said the city's hired consultant, MECO Engineering of Boonville, has begun work on the design phase and will begin on-site field work in the next couple of weeks. Once the field work is completed, Smith said staff would return to the committee with a cost estimate for the actual HVAC replacement.
The HVAC system in the Police Department is original to the building, which was built in 1979. Now, 36 years later, the system is having problems, but one of the largest concerns is air quality.
Replacing the entire system has always been expected to be a costly project, which is why it hasn't been tackled in previous budgets. According to a study from MECO Engineering presented in November, replacing the system on both the lower and main floors of the building would cost more than $1 million. To replace just the system on the main floor would cost more than $700,000.
In other business, City Engineer David Bange said staff hopes to have a contract ready for approval in April to begin construction on Stadium Boulevard, Christy Drive and Monroe Street. The joint city and county project is aimed at easing traffic congestion at U.S. 54 and Stadium Boulevard as the nearby Capital Region Medical Center expands its campus.
Transit Director Mark Mehmert said he plans to apply for a grant to allow for replacement of three Handiwheels buses, all of which have accumulated more than 177,000 miles on each and were due for replacement in 2011. Mehmert said the cost to replace each bus is $60,000, but the grant, if awarded, would cover 80 percent of the costs.