Item:
Title
Authorize the County Manager to Approve a Contract Amendment with Sunbelt Rentals for the Rental Extension of an HVAC Chiller in the Amount of $59, 178.22, for Two Additional Months Rental, for a total contract amount of $137,772.37
Body
Date of BOCC Meeting: July 28, 2025
Request for Board Action:
Agenda Text
The Board is requested to authorize the County Manager to approve a contract amendment with Sunbelt Rentals to extend the rental of a temporary chiller to support the HVAC system of our Administration II building, in the amount of $59,178.22, for two additional months rental, for a total contract amount of $137,772.37. Funding is available in the current budget.
The current HVAC system chillers are having issues staying operational and are affecting the operations of the departments within the building. General Services, outside vendors, DCo Engineering and the original design and construction team, of the building, have been trouble shooting issues with temporary success. The existing chillers continue to stop operating due to various faults and safety programming within the system. Building temperatures frequently rise above acceptable comfort levels to service the communities’ needs. This forces most employees to work remotely shut down walk in services to the citizens of Durham County. While solutions are still being sought, the ultimate solution could be the need to replace the existing chillers.
General Services has already submitted a contract with Sunbelt Rentals, to secure the needed chiller size, to accommodate the size of the system in the building. The rental of this chiller has been deemed an emergency, due to the continued issues and not knowing if/when the system could go down and not restart. This contract is currently out for signatures and needed to be fast tracked, to ensure Durham County was assigned the needed equipment. There were only 2 available chillers, nationwide, at the time of need. Initial setup and one month rental fell within the County Manger’s signing authority. Since then, General Services was notified that replacement chillers for the building will have an approximate lead time of 20 weeks. That is why we are asking for an amendment to the already submitted contract. To extend the rental agreement at least through the cooling season.
Alignment with Strategic Plan: This request is in alignment with Focus Area: Sustainable Infrastructure and Environment’s Initiative S1 1b (Assess utilization and maintenance needs of current County facilities, equipment and vehicles).
Resource Persons: Motiryo Keambiroiro- Director General Services, Shawn Swiatocha- Assistant Director General Services, Claude Eubanks- HVAC Supervisor
County Manager’s Recommendation: The County Manager recommends that the Board authorize the County Manager to approve a contract amendment with Sunbelt Rentals to extend the rental of a temporary chiller to support the HVAC system of our Administration II building, in the amount of $59,178.22 for a total contract amount of $137,772.37 .
Signature
County Manager: ____________________________