(KAIR)--When the old air conditioning unit at Atchison County Community High School failed last month, officials decided that it was time to start replacing it, rather than keep making repairs.

During a special meeting last week, USD 377 members voted to accept a bid of $270,865 from Kansas City based DMI to replace the chiller section of the unit.

Superintendent Steve Wiseman says the engineering firm overseeing the replacement has already started to plan for the project, and has already decided to place the new unit on the school's roof, since it was determined that it would be more secure there. The new unit is smaller than the old one, but it is heavy, and officials will conduct some structural testing on the roof to ensure it is secure enough to hold it.

 Wiseman says the district expects to save approximately $4,000 a year in energy costs with the replacement, and the project is just the start of other improvements the board hopes to make in the near future; especially with the high school approaching forty years in existence.  He says it needs some electrical upgrades, and a conversion from electric heat to natural gas would be ideal as well.

Wiseman says there are other upgrades that are needed in the district, including the replacement of a boiler at the elementary school. He says the district is in the process of applying for a loan through the U.S Department of Agriculture. He says the best part about the lone is the flat rate over twenty-five to thirty years.
He adds the reality of that loan is that if the district gets it, it is contingent on several factors including the board deciding that they want to go forward with the bond issue as well as district voters deciding that they want the upgrades in the first place.

The new unit is expected to be delivered in the next eight weeks, and Wiseman is optimistic it will be installed and operational before students and staff arrive in August.