01-26-2015 CC - Laserfiche WebLink

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Item No: 7D Meeting Date: January 26, 2015 Type of Business: Council Business Administrator Review: ____ City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Don Peterson, Public Works Supervisor Item Title/Subject: Resolution 8368 Rescinding Previously Approved Resolution 8366 and Reapproving the Energy Savings Partnership (ESP) for the Community Center, City Hall and Trail Lights Background: The Community Center was constructed in three phases between 1997 and 1998. Construction for the center utilized portions of the existing Bel-Rae Ballroom building that occupied the site prior to construction. Unfortunately, there were a number of construction and design issues that occurred during and after construction of the facility. Since completion, there have been many issues related to the HVAC system at the Community Center that have required many staff hours and expenses to diagnose and repair. Since 1997, five roof top units have been replaced: RTU #1, #2, #3, #4 and #8. The other units are either 1997 or 1998 vintage. The life expectancy for these RTUs is 15 years, currently the units are pushing 17 plus years of service. Some of the units run at a constant temp 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. After the recent replacement of RTU #1, #2 and #8, staff understood the Council’s direction to avoid any further major expenses at the Community Center. Staff met with Trane and reviewed the inspections reports to try and prioritize the repairs and/or replacements. Currently the Kitchen MUA unit needs repairs and/or replacement. This was placed in the 2015 Budget in special projects fund 480-4180-7050 at a cost of $25,000. Staff and Trane realized that more attention was still needed to address the ongoing equipment repairs and the comfort levels at the community center along with some programing and operational issues. Staff started working with Trane to find other funding sources to make the needed repairs and upgrades to the HVAC system and controls at the Community Center. A program was found called ESP (Energy Savings Partnership) and is administrated by the St. Paul Port Authority. This program is an appropriation lease program, requiring no up-front funding by the City. Some key points to the funding are: • Project needs to be $50,000 or more • Under 15 year payback • 3% or less financing (2.9% for under 10 years) • Needs to be a public entity that owns the site • Will be funded on energy and energy savings • Funding does not show up on the city budget as debt • TCPN can provide competitive bid requirements Originally only the HVAC system at the Community Center was considered. As this program was explored, we discovered the City could take advantage of additional energy savings. Now more components in the building are being considered including interior and exterior lighting, new RTUs with upgraded controls. In discovering what the ROI (return on investment) was for the Community Center, we expanded the program to include City Hall, the Park Buildings and the trail lights along County Road 10.