County approves Train USA change order to move chiller, upgrade cooling tower

Pueblo County commissioners voted July 28 to approve a change order to the Train USA contract that relocates a chiller from the jail to the County Services (CSS) Building and upsizes a cooling tower at the GSC after engineering found the existing tower undersized.

Weston Burr, the project presenter, told commissioners the change order is primarily an administrative cleanup tied to a prior contract and will not raise the financing total previously discussed. He said the work is scheduled with demobilization early November, installation beginning in mid‑to‑late January and completion by April, adding that the replacement chiller is slightly oversized for the CSS Building and will allow decommissioning of an older 20‑ton unit that has caused recurring problems. “So it's more of just a paperwork cleanup, so that we can start getting invoices processed for the engineering side,” Burr said.

Board members asked about life‑cycle expectations and unforeseen complications; Burr said the 150‑ton main chiller is approaching the typical 20‑year life‑cycle and that subcontractor site walks and contingencies have reduced surprises. A motion to approve the change order passed by voice vote.

The approval follows the board's regular process for contract modifications and keeps the county's timeline for the new jail and critical county facilities on track. The county indicated short‑term temporary chillers will be removed as permanent equipment is brought online.