The long-awaited heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning upgrade at the Bedford Free Public Library took a giant step toward realization on Tuesday.
The Select Board approved a $3,185,000 contract for the project with New England Builders and Contractors of Methuen, one of two firms that bid for the job.
The contract does not specify a start date, although Facilities Department Director Ron Scaltreto has used the words “as soon as possible.” The stipulated completion date is Sept. 1, 2025. “We have a history with them, and we have worked well together,” he said about New England Builders.
The HVAC system, installed with the library expansion in 1998, has reached the end of its life expectancy. Pneumatic controls are obsolete, a chiller runs all summer because once off, it may not restart, and the system has to commit to either heat or air conditioning, once per season.
Library Director Richard Callaghan told the board, “There will be some disruption and we are already making plans on how to serve the public.
“We expect there are a couple of departments we are going to have to move,” he said, adding that at times there will be limited use of the meeting room.
Scaltreto said phasing will be a topic at an upcoming meeting with the contractor. The need is more severe in the original 1967 section of the library, so work will probably begin there, he said, but “the heating and cooling pipes run everywhere.”
The new equipment will be state-of-the-art net-zero for greenhouse gas emissions, Scaltreto said, save for a small gas-fired boiler installed as an emergency backup for prolonged cold weather.
Ultimately, there will not be significant changes to what users see, except for the occasional piece of mechanical equipment in the ceiling.
Monday’s vote closes a chapter that began more than four years ago when the project was on a Town Meeting warrant that was streamlined because of the Covid-19 pandemic. A $2.5 million contract was approved in March 2021, and the town awarded a design contract in February 2022.
But the budget, staggered by post-pandemic inflation and supply chain problems, didn’t cover the costs. So, in November 2023, Special Town Meeting approved allocating $1,457,867 from the community preservation fund’s unexpended balance account.
Asked about possible supply-chain issues, Scaltreto said he won’t know for sure until the meeting with the contractor.
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