By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
Council members approved on Jan. 14 a contract in the amount of $32,172 for maintenance on
the air chiller system at the Del Rio police station at 101 Lowe Dr.
Council members discussed approving a resolution to authorize
and direct the city manager to
approve a contract in the amount of $32,172 with Trane U.S. Inc. to begin work on the air
cooled chiller maintenance project in the main building of the city's police department.
Councilman J.P. Sanchez made the motion to approve the resolution, and Mayor-Pro tem Jim
DeReus gave the second.
After making the motion, Sanchez sounded enthusiastic about the resolution, saying, “Let’s fix
the chiller.”
As mentioned on its official website, Trane is a “building technology and energy solutions
company providing individualized, right-sized and forward-looking solutions for commercial and industrial applications.”
In a memo by City Purchasing Agent Luis Menchaca and included as part of the council’s
informational packet, the city has worked with Trane on past projects for repairs at the police
department and the Del Rio Civic Center.
In the resolution discussed at the meeting, Trane has proposed to replace the damaged suction
and discharge isolation valves, the compressor suction temperature sensor, the oil temperature
sensor, the condenser saturated temperature sensor and the filler drier for circuit one of the air-
cooled chiller inside the police department’s main building.
Menchaca spoke with The 830 Times after the meeting and explained more details about the
resolution. He said a mechanical, engineering and plumbing study was done two years ago by
Halff Engineering, a consulting firm located in San Antonio, Texas, for a list of repairs needed to
be done to all the buildings at the police department.
Menchaca said the completed repairs to the police department included electrical work and
maintenance on the generator. After the repairs are finished to the air chiller system, repairs will
need to be done to the plumbing and air conditioning system. A resolution will be brought forth
at a future council meeting for said repairs, he added.
