Cape schools may sue over heating, cooling problems

After two years of struggling with a problematic heating and cooling system at the new Central High School, the Cape Girardeau School District is considering legal action against the companies involved in its design and installation.

The district already has a $240,000 contract to improve the inefficient system, which was designed by Wm. B. Ittner Inc. of St. Louis, the architectural firm hired to plan the new high school.

Kiefner Brothers Inc. of Cape Girardeau, the general contractors, and K-2 Consultants of Bloomsdale, Mo., the engineers for the project, were also involved in the process. The system was actually installed by Associated Sheet Metal, a Jackson-based mechanical contractor.

All of those companies say the problems with the HVAC system are not their fault and that, technically, the system is working just as it is supposed to. But it's still costing the district an extra $40,000 in electricity each year and makes classroom temperatures vary widely. In some cases, classrooms have reached 100 degrees and students have been forced to relocate.

"The mechanical contractor says 'We put in what the general contractor told us to,' and the general contractor says 'We did what the plan says,'" said Rob Huff, the district's chief financial officer.

The plan was the product of K-2, which was hired to design the HVAC system by the architect.

"There's been a whole lot of finger pointing," Huff said.

Huff, who was not involved in the design or construction of the high school, said he compared the original installation plans for the HVAC system to what was actually installed by Associated Sheet Metal and found no deviations.

Generally, Huff said, a project manager would have caught such problems. However, the district did not hire an outside project manager for the high school in order to save on expenses.

The contractors and representatives from Trane,the manufacturer, examined the heating and cooling system numerous times during the past two years, but the problems were never remedied.

Eventually, Huff asked an outside company, Control Technology and Solutions from the St. Louis area, to examine the system and offer suggestions. Control Technology did so at no cost to the district and found several inefficiencies.

Huff said the engineering firm and the manufacturer all agreed that the suggestions from Control Technology would improve the system, but all thought they should be paid to make the improvements. The system itself is under warranty, but Huff said the fact that the system is doing what it was designed to do complicates the matter.

"How do you warranty a design? You ask, does it work? Yeah, it pumps hot and cold air," Huff said. "We want to go back, find culpability and get money from someone, but my experience with contractors and engineers is they're not usually held liable. Whether they are or not, we still need to fix it."

Dr. Bob Fox, who was president of the Cape Girardeau School Board during the high school's construction, believes the school district has a good chance to recover its losses.

"I'm sure the contractors and engineers were bonded and insured," Fox said. "It just may take a little time."

While legal action is being considered, the district is working to correct the temperature trouble through a guaranteed performance contract with Control Technology. The contract, for which the firm was the only bidder, guarantees that the district will see an annual savings of at least $23,974 -- the exact cost of the yearly payment on the $239,974 in system improvements. If the district does not see $23,974 in savings every year for the next 10 years, then the district does not have to pay for the system.

The improvements should be complete by the time school starts Aug. 18.

The money to make the annual payments will not come from the district's general revenue, Huff said. The district has applied for a special low-interest loan from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources that will be paid off with the annual savings from the improvements. The idea is that the system upgrades will not cost the district anything since they'll be paid for through the savings from the lowered energy costs.

However, Huff said if the system had been efficient from the beginning, the district would have recognized those savings all along.

"I wish we could have caught it in the beginning, but that's where you depend on the architect and engineer," Huff said.

cclark@semissourian.com

335-6611, ext. 128