School Board considering options regarding faulty Lincoln-Douglas HVAC system

QUINCY — Quincy School Board member Richard McNay wants the school district to consider its options on how to proceed with a faulty HVAC system at Lincoln-Douglas Elementary.

At Wednesday night’s School Board meeting, McNay showed slides of the leaking freon and clogged filters and coils from a system that is supposed to be self-cleaning. He said the unit at Lincoln-Douglas, which was the first one installed since it was the first of the four new and one remodeled elementary schools has aluminum pipes, which have fittings that leak as opposed to the new units with copper piping that is soldered.

Many classrooms at Lincoln-Douglas were 85 degrees in August because of system failures and McNay said the units also cannot handle sub-zero temperatures as Quincy experienced in January.

McNay said there have been more than 20 HVAC failures of the Daikin system through the buildings since 2022. He said in discussions with other entities who have the units, many are having the same problems. The District replaced the unit at QHS’s E-Building this past summer at a cost of $3.5 million. That system installed in 2011.

He said the manufacturer and or the company selling the units, Thermal Mechanics, which is based out of St. Louis, needs to be held accountable. McNay noted that he was on the board when the decision was made to use Daikin, but the board followed the direction of the local architectural and engineering firms who recommended them.

“We have had trouble with Daikin since we put them in,” said McNay, who chairs the committee. “I don’t think it’s fair to the taxpayers of QPS to flip this bill.”

Also at Wednesday night’s meeting, Board members:

Approved the $102.7 million budget for the 2024-25 school year. The budget has a $5.4 million surplus with revenues of $108.9 million and expenditures of just under $103.5 million. The budget calls for a 5 percent hike in employee health insurance and a 4 percent average increase in salaries.

Set time and date of 3 p.m., Oct. 16 for the auction of the district’s maintenance facility at 640 Jersey. There will be a starting minimum bid of $250,000, which will require a 10 percent down payment at the time of the sale. The 36,000-square-foot building was built in 1910. Open houses for the property are set for Oct. 8 and 9 from 3 to 4:30 p.m.