Orleans will spend $600k for new air conditioning system at original County Office Building

Photo by Tom Rivers: The original County Office Building was constructed in 1980 on Route 31 in Albion. The original air-conditioning units will be replaced.

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 August 2021 at 10:10 am

ALBION – Orleans County will replace the air-conditioning system in the original County Office Building on Route 31 for about $600,000. That building, formerly known as the County Administration Building, was constructed in 1980.

The AC units often haven’t been working, even during oppressive heat. The county can no longer find parts to repair the units.

“They are in desperate need of replacement,” County Legislator Bill Eick said during the Legislature’s July 28 meeting when the bids were approved. “You can fix and fix and fix, but there gets to a point where they have to be replaced.”

County legislators accepted a bid for $355,674 from Trane in Buffalo to supply and install a Turnkey chiller and pump replacement. The county also agreed to pay Trane $258,840 to replace pneumatic VAV controls and interface with the existing Trane Building Logix automation system. This will control the air pressure in the system.

In addition, the County Legislature approved an agreement with Trane with the company to be paid $5,994 for repairs on a valve replacement on the HVAC equipment.

The county is pursuing a $177,500 state grant through the Department of Environmental Conservation to help pay for the replacement and upgrades. That grant application is through the state’s “Climate Smart Communities Grant Program.”

John Papponetti, the county DPW superintendent, advised county officials in June that the AC units needed to be replaced.

“The AC units aren’t working and we can’t get parts anymore,” he told the local officials on June 22 during the meeting of the Orleans County Association of Municipalities. “The can has been kicked so many times it can’t be kicked anymore.

The section of the building that opened in 1980 includes the DMV, Social Services, Tourism, Planning and Development, Office for the Aging, Personnel and Job Development.

A new 23,000-square-foot addition opened in 2019 and includes the Health Department, County Legislature, computer services and the Board of Elections.