County awards $431,688 contract to Standard Plumbing & Heating for administration building chiller

County staff presented two bids to replace the county administration building chiller and recommended awarding the project to Standard Plumbing & Heating.

Andrew Keller and staff said the engineer’s original construction estimate was $711,684. Staff reported two bids: Standard Plumbing & Heating at $431,688 and a competing bid (Stevens Construction Company) described in the meeting record at $75,212. After a bid review and a page‑turn with Standard’s representative, staff recommended Standard Plumbing & Heating as the lowest‑and‑best responsive bidder; the board approved the award.

Commissioners and staff noted the significant gap between the engineer’s estimate and the successful bid and discussed reasons for the difference, including use of a different manufacturer and locally sourced contractors. Josh Hicks said the awarded unit includes a dual‑machine configuration to provide redundancy; staff said the expected service life is approximately two decades.

Why it matters: the contract covers a major county facility; the award redirects capital funds and may produce budgetary savings relative to the engineer’s earlier estimate, but the board asked staff to scrutinize future estimates more closely.

Next steps: staff will proceed with contract awarding to Standard Plumbing & Heating and begin procurement scheduling and lead‑time planning before summer operations require cooling.