Agenda Packets - 2012/07/23 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Item No: 7F Meeting Date: July 23, 2012 Type of Business: Council Business Administrator Review: ____ City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Nick DeBar, Public Works Director Item Title/Subject: Resolution 7973, Authorizing Envirobate to Perform HVAC Decontamination and Cleaning at the Community Center Background: The Community Center was constructed in several separate phases between 1997 and 1998. Nearly from the beginning, the HVAC system has struggled to provide a consistent comfort level. In addition to a low-end budget for the HVAC system and installation methods by a less than reputable contractor working as a subcontractor to the general contractor, follow up recommendations outlined in a 2001 commissioning report were never performed. Although staff at that time recommended having these items completed, they never were most likely due to the cost over-runs on the initial facility construction and the desire to close the project out. After construction, the maintenance and management of the facility was given to the Public Works Department to oversee. Other than the hiring of a custodian to only clean the facility, existing staff were assigned these responsibilities in addition to their normal workload in lieu of hiring new staff trained and experienced in performing this work. A mechanical contractor was hired to perform HVAC maintenance, but this was limited to adjusting set points twice a year before the heating and cooling seasons. If a repair was needed, the mechanical contractor was hired to make the repair, but no mechanical maintenance service was contracted for the building until recently in November 2010. Discussion: A common deficiency in the indoor air comfort level of the Community Center has been related to high humidity. Staff has tried numerous times to determine the reasons, including having mechanical contractors evaluate and tweak the system, but with no long term relief. After several continuous weeks of very hot and humid weather conditions in July 2011, mold has discovered growing on the event center carpet. The type of mold, or fungi, was the same type that would grow on old bread or fruit. The City hired a qualified contractor to remove the fungi from the carpet, as well as hired an environmental consultant to ensure that the fungi levels returned to normal safe levels. At that time, it was thought that the mold issue was isolated to the event center carpeting due to the food residue on the carpet surface and the HVAC system not keeping up with the oppressively hot, humid weather. Unfortunately, this fungus returned on the carpet several weeks ago and was again removed. Air samples were taken after the removal process and the space deemed safe for occupancy. Upon further investigation, the event center ductwork and roof top units (RTU) were inspected and also found to have mold present. In addition to the fungi, the RTU components and ductwork were dirty from years of mechanical maintenance neglect. City staff worked with the mold abatement company, Envirobate, to inspect the conditions of the other eight RTUs and associated ductwork in the facility. Unfortunately, the other units were also very dirty, with some containing visible signs of fungi growth. However, indoor air samples taken several weeks ago (and last year) were not high enough to warrant closing any part of the facility.