By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
City council members have approved the awarding of a contract to replace lighting fixtures in two buildings at the Del Rio police station.
The city council during its Aug. 8 meeting unanimously approved an ordinance authorizing City Manager John Sheedy to award a contract for the retrofitting of lighting fixtures at the Del Rio Police Department’s main building on Lowe Drive and in the evidence facility located south of the main building.
The retrofitting contract, in the amount of $157,877.94, will be awarded to the Facility Solutions Group (FSG), a San Antonio company.
Mayor Al Arreola called for a motion to approve the ordinance. Mayor Pro-tem Steve Webb made the motion to approve, and Councilwoman Ernestina “Tina” Martinez gave the second.
In an informational handout given to the council, City Purchasing Agent Luis Menchaca explained, “The police department has been having continuous issues with the lighting fixtures in their main and evidence buildings. This has resulted in several areas of the building to be in the dark.”
Menchaca wrote that in June, city administrators contracted with the engineering firm Halff for a mechanical, electrical and plumbing assessment.
“In their final report, Halff explained significant quantities of lighting fixtures have failed and not been repaired. The majority of failed items found during the assessment appear to be predominantly the result of a simple lack of maintenance actions,” Menchaca wrote.
He noted Halff recommended the city replace all the interior lighting with new LED fixtures.
Installing new LED fixtures will offer a lower life cycle cost to the city, Menchaca told the council, adding city staff, including the facilities superintendent, have conducted a walk through with the FSG to develop a scope of work and quote for the retrofit.
Menchaca said once FSG orders and receives the required materials for the project, the retrofitting will be completed in two-and-a-half months.
Menchaca told the council FSG provided the following pricing for the lighting fixture retrofitting: the police department main building will cost $108,553.34, and the evidence building will cost $49,324.60.
Councilwoman Alexandra Falcon Calderon asked for more details about the project, mentioning it was a concern she brought up two years ago. Sheedy replied it has been a struggle to find the best solution, calling the lighting situation at the police station “really a mess.”
“I can’t believe we’ve had the building 12 years, and we’re going to spend this kind of money on it replacing the lights, but unfortunately, we looked at every other option, and it has come back to we just need to do it now and bite the bullet and put regular fixtures up there, not these ones that are so proprietary,” Sheedy told the council before they voted.
