Lehighton Area School District’s board of directors approved a contract with H.T. Lyons on Dec. 20 for the installation of hot water and chilled water control valves on boilers in its elementary center.

The work, which district officials said is necessary to prevent critical damage to the school’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, will cost $56,921.

“The heating boilers in the elementary center are in need of three-way valves to control water flow,” LASD Business Administrator Ed Rarick said. “Without the valves, they are starved for water, resulting in possible damage to the system. What happens now is constricted water flow causes the unit to cycle improperly, which throws it into alarm mode and it shuts down automatically.”

Lehighton’s elementary center was constructed in 2017, and while the work was not part of the original design, it was added as a change order in 2018, but was never completed.

According to Rarick, the work was supposed to be done by the original contractor (JBM Mechanical), but a contract dispute put a halt to that item.

“The district, at the time, withheld payment from the contractor,” Rarick said. “There were several issues as the elementary center was being completed. The contractor actually walked off the job and was not reachable.”

Since the dispute, H.T. Lyons has been the servicing agent on the school’s HVAC system and while the company evaluated several options to fix the boiler issue, Rarick said the final recommendation was to install the valves.

“H.T. Lyons,” he said, “is confident that the system could last for 20-25 years if we do this. If we don’t, we’re risking system failure in about two years. The bottom line is we’re talking about $56,000 now versus possibly $300,000 or $400,000.”

The contract approved last Monday night includes isolation and drainage of the hot water and chilled water mains back to the air handlers; installation of piping spool pieces; installation of new three-way control valves, refilling the system and bleeding out air; wiring and program control valves; checking, testing and starting the system; and one parts and labor warranty.