The Aurora City Council has approved a more than half-million-dollar upgrade to the HVAC system of the city’s Development Services Center in downtown.
Aurora’s Development Services Center is at 77 S. Broadway and houses several city departments and divisions, including information technology, planning and zoning, training and development, fire prevention, building and permits, property standards and development services administration.
The planned HVAC upgrades will allow the temperature within the building to be more precisely set, and set on a certain schedule, which would save money, Aurora Director of Public Facilities Derrick Winston said at an Aurora City Council committee meeting late last month.
A $664,500 contract with Artlip and Sons, Inc. for the upgrade work was approved by the Aurora City Council at its meeting on Tuesday as part of the meeting’s consent agenda, which is typically reserved for routine or non-controversial items that are all approved with a single vote.
Because of its approval through the consent agenda, the contract was not discussed at Tuesday’s meeting.
The building’s heating, ventilation and cooling system currently has outdated controls with thermostats that need to be manually adjusted, according to a city staff report about the project. Staff said the current controls lack precision and frequently malfunction, and some don’t work at all.
And since the current HVAC system can’t be controlled or monitored remotely, it has used an unnecessary amount of energy, increasing costs, and has led to erratic temperatures, the staff report said.
The now-approved HVAC upgrade includes the replacement of around 60 dual duct air boxes and thermostats with electronic units, along with the installation of automated controls that will connect to the city’s network, city staff members said in their report.
Of the six contractors that submitted bids for the work, Artlip and Sons, Inc. submitted the lowest bid that met all the requirements, according to the report.
City operations are not expected to be disrupted in any major way due to the upgrade work, city staff said in the report.
Last July, the Aurora City Council approved the replacement of the Development Services Center’s roof, along with the roof of the fifth floor of City Hall, at 44 E. Downer Place, at a combined cost of $687,300.
rsmith@chicagotribune.com
