NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — As part of his annual report to the Board of County Commissioners on Wednesday, Maintenance Director Harlan Depew wanted to warn the commission to continue saving for the obsolescence of some long term county infrastructure.
"If you look through that overview, you'll be able to see a number of years coming up where those capital expenses are way higher than what we have been accustomed to," Depew said. "The reasons for that are, the two big ones coming up in 2028 would be 20 years that we did the energy project back in 2008. At that point, we had a lot of HVAC equipment replaced in multiple buildings, the boilers and chillers, hydronic pumps, that sort of thing. All of those items will be reaching end of life."
Obviously, they don't all die at the same time, but the point is that the commission should start saving money for those replacements.
"The same year, 2008, is when we opened the RCAT building," Depew said. "The roof at RCAT, all the mechanical equipment down there, will also be reaching that 20 year end of life, life cycle projection at that same time. 2028 is a fairly large year."
Also, the jail is not quite halfway through that 20 year period. It will reach 20 years of age in 2035. Also, commissioners must figure in for any inflation in cost that could continue to happen in the time between now and those life cycle end dates.
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