Yorkville School District Y115 to replace two building chillers for $1 million

YORKVILLE – Yorkville School District Y115 will replace the chillers at two school buildings next spring at a total cost of slightly more than $1 million.

Director of Facility Operations Heather DiVerde said the 300-ton air-conditioning unit at Yorkville Middle School is failing and needs to be replaced. The new chiller will cost $589,763, DiVerde said.

The Yorkville School Board reviewed plans for purchasing the new unit at a committee-level meeting on Sept. 11 and is expected to give final approval for the purchase at its Sept. 25 meeting.

Meanwhile, plans already have been approved for a new 215-ton chiller to replace the aging unit at Grande Reserve Elementary School, at a cost of $473,600.

The money for the YMS and Grande Reserve chillers will come from different sources.

In December 2020, the district issued $9 million in general obligation bonds to finance capital projects.

The money has been used to finance school building roof replacement work, security upgrades including cameras and bullet-resistant glass, the Yorkville High School football stadium turf project and other work.

The Grande Reserve chiller will be paid out of the bond fund.

The YMS air-conditioning unit, however, will be funded from a separate district capital fund. The money is included in the proposed district budget, which is expected to be approved by the school board on Sept. 25.

Installation of the chillers at both school buildings will take place during the 2024 spring break, DiVerde said.

The Grande Reserve unit is leaking freon and requires continued and expensive recharging, district Assistant Director of Facility Operations David Yodelis said.

The middle school chiller was running off just one its two compressors this summer, DiVerde said.

“We had it go down multiple times during summer school,” DiVerde said.

The district is developing a five-year plan for the scheduled replacement of chillers and roof-top units at school buildings, DiVerde said.

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