BRUNSWICK

The town will spend up to $150,000 to make repairs to the Emerson Fire Station in East Brunswick.

The council voted Monday to authorize the issuance of bonds and notes in order to make the repairs to the station’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.

The town will negotiate with mechanical contractors Johnson & Jordan Inc., the firm that originally installed the system, said Town Manager John Eldridge.

“We hope to bring in the project at a lower cost, but I know better than to ever make that promise,” said Eldridge.

The Harold Emerson Station on Bath Road was constructed about eight years ago.

Among problems found by an earlier report by Wright-Pierce Environmental Engineering — which will supervise Johnson & Jordan — were airflow issues, boilers that failed to start, and inadequate automatic heating and ventilation controls in the apparatus bays.

In recent years, fire personnel have contended with ice dams on portions of the building, frozen decontamination areas, lack of heat in the apparatus bays, the loss of hot showers, and the boilers shutting down.

The council has wrestled with cost estimates over the months. An estimate in March put repairs at around $287,000, a figure that was later revised in September when it was shown that some of the issues could be solved by reverting HVAC settings that were changed since the building’s construction in 2006.

There were some concerns with the council’s approach on Monday.

Addressing the council from the gallery, Councilor-elect Dan Harris said negotiating with Johnson & Jordan was “not the wisest course to take,” and said the town ought to use an open bidding process instead in order to save money.

Eldridge said the town has “enough confidence” to negotiate with Johnson & Jordan.

“Given this company’s knowledge of the systems, we believe the town would be best served with this approach,” Eldridge wrote in a Nov. 13 memo to the council.

Town Councilor Steve Walker was the only councilor to vote in opposition. Speaking after Monday’s meeting, Walker said he didn’t believe there was enough detailed information and was uncomfortable with the cost that will likely be incurred by the town.

What’s wrong

AMONG PROBLEMS found by an earlier report by Wright-Pierce Environmental Engineering were airflow issues, boilers that failed to start, and inadequate automatic heating and ventilation controls in the apparatus bays.

IN RECENT YEARS, fire personnel have contended with ice dams on portions of the building, frozen decontamination areas, lack of heat in the apparatus bays, the loss of hot showers, and the boilers shutting down.