County Commissioners questioned if more could have been done to prevent the courthouse chiller malfunction.

At the county Building and Grounds Committee meeting, Maintenance Department director Greg Bowdoin was questioned on the courthouse chiller. The chiller recently burst during the cold weather and until it is fixed the courthouse will not have air conditioning. Bowdoin said the unit is nearly 25-years-old and has copper tubes running through it. 

“Three or four of the copper coils busted and there is no way you can really repair it,” said Bowdoin.

When the county Budget and Finance Committee met last week, they wondered if ESG missed something when they looked at the chiller a few years ago or if something could have been done to prevent the chiller from bursting.

“I’ve had other commissioners ask me and they wanted me to ask was there something we didn’t do? Is there some kind of chemical we didn’t put in it?” asked Commissioner Michael Bell.

Bowdoin said he talked to his chemical guy and he said there is something you could put in the chiller, but the system would blow it off and it would have to be done frequently.

“So he said that is something you would have to end up adding every month, that anti- antifreeze stuff or whatever he called it. So then you are looking at probably an extra $500 or $600 that you would be running into every month,” said Bowdoin.

“We would only have to do it in the winter time,” said Commissioner Scott Kelly. 

“Well yeah, but I mean we have never had a problem before now,” said Bowdoin. “My opinion is the copper was thin.”

“Would there be a way to, just in case of subzero weather, to put shutoffs with drains on that thing where it could be shut off when they are predicting subzero weather?” asked Savage.

“I don’t think so. It has to have that water going to produce heat,” said Bowdoin.

“How are you heating it now?” asked Savage.

“We are heating it right now by it being blocked off. We don’t know how that is going to be when it gets down real cold. Because you’re just pulling the water that is on the inside,” said Bowdoin.

Savage wants to figure out how to prevent a busted chiller in the future. 

“I just don’t want to spend that kind of money then turn around and next year the same thing could happen,” said Savage.

County Executive Terry Bell said ESG came to Warren County Thursday morning and said the chiller would need a draining system or the county would need to purchase a tower with a heating system at the bottom. ESG also recommended buying a variable speed to help save energy. 

“A heater would work,” said Bowdoin.

The original estimation for the new chiller was anywhere from $70,000 to $200,000. Michael Bell made the motion to send it to bid for the unit itself and then have a bid with the options included.