MANSFIELD — Employees at the Richland County Courthouse, as well as visitors, can be grateful high temperatures will only climb into the 70s for the next week or so.
The air conditioner at the five-story building in downtown Mansfield is on the fritz.
County commissioners gave informal approval to a temporary and a long-term fix on Tuesday — and also discussed a permanent solution to correct what they said were “design flaws” in the 10-year-old, water-chilled system.
No formal vote was taken, but is expected as soon as Thursday.
Commissioners approved spending $19,984 with SMARDT Incorporated of Ontario, Canada, for parts and labor for new controls on the outdated computer system that operates the AC system.
“Basically it’s the computer in it. It’s running off Windows XP (which is no longer serviced),” county maintenance supervisor Josh Hicks said.
He noted several local companies examined the problem, but none said they could service it.
Unfortunately, Hicks said, SMARDT cannot be in Mansfield until June 10 — and parts needed may be on back order, further delaying the repair.
“That isn’t going to work,” Commissioner Tony Vero said.
That delay led to the commissioners’ second discussion — spending up to $44,129 on a contract with Mobile Air & Power Rentals of Cleveland for a temporary, mobile air-conditioning unit that can cool the entire building.
The mobile unit will be put in the courthouse parking lot, Hicks said. The price could be lower since the county can insure the mobile system through its CORSA affiliation.
Both contracts would be paid from the county’s capital expense funds.
Hicks said the temporary system should arrive in about a week and can then be hooked up to cool the building. Until then, he said, he is turning the system on at night to pull in cooler air as evening temps sink into the 50s.
“So it’s cool in the morning, and we’ve been trying to live with it all day,” Hicks said, adding that some windows in the courthouse can be opened and fans are also being used in some offices.
Vero said the expense for the temporary system was a must, given the time of year.
“When this first went down, we were told that the Windows XP board was only several weeks out. After more than a week, they said it could be six to eight weeks out, which we knew wouldn’t be acceptable,” he said.
“We have jury trials on the (top) floor, so this is a costly but necessary fix to resolve the issue immediately and we’re going to get the circuit board to fix the AC,” Vero said.
Vero said Hicks and Commissioner Darrell Banks have been working on what he described as a “long-term fix” for the next several years to correct a “design flaw” in the system.
“We’re going to look at ways to upgrade the system and have some redundancies. So, if this ever happens again, we won’t be in this position,” he said. “It’s all part of the ongoing capital upgrades in this building.”
On a brighter note, one of the two disabled elevators at the courthouse has been successfully renovated and is again working, Vero said.
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(Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said votes were taken on these expenses. Commissioners expressed verbal support, but didn’t take formal action.)
