After initially coming up empty, the City of Powell found a contractor ready and willing to replace the heating and cooling systems at several city facilities. However, the price came in nearly four times higher than expected, which prompted the city to significantly scale back the scope of the project.

The Powell City Council decided last month to only upgrade the HVAC systems at the Powell Police Department and postpone similar work at City Hall and The Commons.

The council hired Rawhide Mechanical of Cody to install a new roof, rooftop units, ductwork and more at the police station for $771,499. The city is still hoping to cut some of those costs through so-called value engineering, but amid a process that didn’t go as planned, it was a relief just to find a contractor.

The State Loan and Investment Board awarded the city $420,000 worth of federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars last year, and city officials initially hoped to upgrade all three buildings’ systems with the grant.

When the city went to open bids in mid-September, however, they found they had no takers for any of the three jobs. The trio of firms that attended a walkthrough explained “they were too busy, and personnel and time was too thin,” City Administrator Zack Thorington said.

With a state-imposed Oct. 1 deadline for the funds to be “encumbered,” Thorington feared the city would have to return the money. However, state officials agreed to extend the deadline to Oct. 31, which allowed the city to go out for bids again.

On the second go-round, Rawhide Mechanical submitted bids for all three jobs: $771,499 for the work at the police station, $603,900 for City Hall and $235,297 for The Commons.

With the combined total coming to $1.61 million, “you can see that [$420,000 grant] doesn’t go very far,” City Administrator Zack Thorington at the council’s Oct. 21 meeting.

Although he called all of the bids “pretty high,” Thorington recommended the council choose and move forward with one of the projects; he noted the city must replace all of the HVAC systems at some point.

The consensus among the council and staff was that it made the most sense to upgrade the police station — in part because it’s the largest and most complex project and in part because it’s a 24/7 facility.

“We need it fixed,” said Councilman Floyd Young.

After spending roughly $50,000 on engineering and some advertising, about $370,000 of the grant dollars remain for the actual construction work, Thorington said. The city may need to spend roughly $400,000 of its own money on the police project, but council members indicated that a delay would simply lead to higher costs down the road.

Councilman Steve Lensegrav also observed that the grant will effectively double the city’s investment.

“I don’t want to see us lose that free money,” he said.

The work at the police station includes installing a new roof and replacing the aging rooftop units, while also fixing up the roof’s structure with new beams. The current units are aging and the station’s duct work isn’t right, which has led to temperature problems.

Although the council accepted Rawhide’s price, Kane Morris of Point Architects is hoping to work with the firm to reexamine everything from the rooftop units to the ceiling tiles “to bring those numbers down, where it's maybe a little bit more in reach.”

Exactly how much savings the city could realize is “anybody’s guess” until starting the process, Morris said.

Whatever the city ends up having to pay will come out of its general fund reserves, which hold around $4.8 million.

“My opinion is that’s kind of what you use those reserves for — for things that keep creeping in price,” Thorington said.

A timeline for the police station work wasn’t immediately announced, but Rawhide Mechanical’s contract says the job must be substantially completed by Oct. 30, 2026.