Library project needs more money
January 06,2006
Karen McConkey 
Staff Writer
Kinston-Lenoir County Public Library Director Agnes Ho has learned there's a lot of planning that goes along with a construction project. Sometimes, it's planning for the unplanned.
"I'm a librarian, but I'm learning," Ho told Lenoir County commissioners this week to advise them the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system is inefficient, outdated, costly and needs replacing.
Ho hopes commissioners will ultimately approve a request for $240,000 to install a new HVAC system while architects can modify the library's $2.6 million expansion design without additional cost.
It wasn't a request met with enthusiasm.
"Why couldn't we have seen this before now?" Commissioner Wayne Pittman asked.
Opposed from the beginning to the library expansion project - and the property tax increase that will pay for it - Pittman said the county has had more than enough "surprise" expenses in the past few months. He cited the additional costs needed at the county's new emergency services center to remove asbestos, more costs to repair an earth mover at the county landfill and now additional costs to replace the HVAC system at the library.
Pittman and other commissioners asked why the cost of replacing the HVAC had not been included in the original bond request.
Ho said voters were asked to pay for new construction, not maintenance, with the bond issue approved in November 2004. At the time of the referendum, the HVAC was considered a maintenance issue, not one associated with actual construction.
The library has spent $3,700 since July repairing the system. In the past six years, Ho said, more than $36,000 has been spent on the HVAC system, which is original with the building that opened in 1982. "The system hasn't worked right in 15 years," she said.
The HVAC system is a complicated one that produces both heated and chilled air, then mixes it to gain a desired temperature. "We have the air conditioning on in one part of the building and the heat on in another," Ho said.
The library spends between $3,000 and $4,000 a month to heat and cool the building. The heat portion of the HVAC operates by natural gas. The air conditioning runs off electricity. The city is already planning a 10 percent increase in utilities in February.
Adding another 10,000 square-feet to the existing 19,770 the library encompasses will increase heating and cooling costs, Ho said. "If we can add space, but keep costs the same per month, we'll be happy," she said.
An electrical and a mechanical engineer with J. Hyatt Hammond, the architectural firm hired to design and build the library expansion, gave the existing HVAC a thorough inspection in December.
"They told me they wished they could give me good news, but the truth is, the system is nearly worn-out," Ho said. She gave commissioners a copy of a letter from Patrick Deaton, the library's architect, confirming the cost-effectiveness of putting in a new system now rather than later.
If the HVAC is replaced now, cost estimates are $240,000. Ho said the cost of the new system can be paid over a two-year period.
If the old system remains and requires replacing within the next five years, the cost escalates to $400,000 because new walls and ceilings must be torn down to install a differently designed system.
Commissioners didn't give Ho an answer to her request, but directed County Manager Mike Jarman to have the library's HVAC evaluated, then make a recommendation to them.
Chairman George Graham said the county was preparing for its upcoming budget sessions and would re-address Ho's request as soon as Jarman could make a recommendation.
Karen McConkey can be reached at (252)527-3191, Ext. 232, or kmcconkey@freedomenc.com
