Work on the HVAC system at the Warren County Courthouse is slated to begin the weekend of Oct. 18 and should continue through the early portion of the following week, but issues remain based upon a $36,000 additional charge presented to the Warren County commissioners Oct. 2.

Starting with some preliminary work Friday, Oct. 17, the goal will be to place four new roof-top HVAC units on the top of the courthouse by use of a crane on Monday, Oct. 20, with the first unit scheduled to come online Tuesday, Oct. 21, according to representatives from Navigate Building Solutions and Vogel Heating and Cooling.

Navigate Building Solutions Project Manager Lori Badalamenti said that there would be a boiler shutdown starting Friday, Oct. 17, to flush the system as part of the replacement of the HVAC units. She also told the commissioners that Vogel would be remobilizing on Sunday, Oct. 19, to disconnect the current units and told commissioners there would be an additional premium cost to have Vogel workers there on the weekend in two separate change orders – one for $3,980 and one for $2,900. She said that during the disconnection process the units would not be functioning.

Vogel Heating and Cooling Project Manager Tim Lauer said he hoped the first unit would be up and running by Tuesday, Oct. 21, hopefully sooner if all went well. He said he believed it would take a full day using the crane to position the units on the roof of the building. Lauer predicted that they would have everything completed by Friday, Oct. 24.

Presiding Commissioner Joe Gildehaus urged those involved in the placement of the HVAC units to be careful to not damage the roof, which the county spent $600,000 on in 2023.

Because of the use of the cranes, courthouse staff on the top floor were asked to not be on that floor during the crane work Monday.

Contention though arose from an additional $36,000 cost for the monitoring system for the units that the commissioners said they only became aware of a week before the Oct. 2 meeting.

Ben Trout III with EPM, Inc. said that there would need to be an upgrade to the monitoring system due to the roof-top HVAC units being installed. He said a system called BACnet would be used and would include one computer board and software to run the system. He said when the BACnet units are set they would work to configure the units’ cooling modes.

Gildehaus voiced concerns about the additional cost, stating that the commissioners were under the impression this issue had already been resolved, calling the additional $36,000, “a big chunk we didn’t think we were going to have.”

Badalamenti said an incorrect assumption was made that EPM was coordinating with the county on the compatibility of the county’s software with the new Daikin HVAC units.

Commissioner Matt Flake told those in attendance that Warren County paid those in the meeting to do a job and that lack of communication on their part is costing the county an additional $36,000.

“This is very unacceptable,” Flake said.

Flake noted that the question about software compatibility was asked a dozen times and that the county paid Navigate to handle this matter for them.

“This is your wheelhouse folks,” he said. “We had no idea that you all are not talking to one another. It is kind of ridiculous on a lot of levels.”

Gildehaus said his recommendation would be to accept the change for the additional $3,980 and $2,900 for weekend work, but asked those handling the project to go back and look at the $36,000 cost and come up with a suggestion.

The commissioners approved the two change orders, but did not approve the additional $36,000 cost.