Finance Committee - 05/21/2020 Page 5
own building to make sure that our sprinkler systems are up to par. From what Kim Kleiner said with the air
compressor, we actually called it in the fire service a (inaudible) and that keeps the dry system dry. When the
dry system is no longer dry, the reason it is dry is because it is an area that will freeze. When the dry system is
no longer dry then you are paying a lot more money on broken pipes and damages and everything else. So
this is very much money well spent for fire protection and for the integrity of the building. | support this, thank
you.
Vice-Chairman Klee
Thank you, Alderman O’Brien. Ms. Kleiner, | just want to reiterate something that you said or just ask you, by
doing this now versus waiting for the 2 years or 2 % years when everything is going to need to be done again,
we would then disrupt the current occupants at that time, as well as possibly costing us even more money in
the end. And as Alderman O’Brien pointed out, if we don’t take care of this, we have the potential of other
issues going on. Is that correct?
Kim Kleiner, Director of Administrative Services
That is correct. So we would be concerned, just as Alderman O’Brien stated, that the dry system did not
remain dry which could cause several problems. But also because of if there’s any happy side to this, when
we closed City Hall, we also closed Court Street to the tenants, so it’s empty right now. We got the contractors
in there and we asked them to really work on this project while no one was in the building. They’ve been able
to do so; in fact we expect that it will be near completion next week which has really helped both the
contractors and any potential disruption to any programs which wouldn’t be the case most likely in two years.
Vice-Chairman Klee
Thank you very much. Sorry, Alderman O’Brien.
Alderman O’Brien
Yeah and please indulge me. You are in my level of expertise go figure. But anyways this is part of the normal
procedure. Sprinkler heads do have a life expectancy and they need to be changed. | can’t really, now you’ve
got me going back to the NFPA Books, | thought! retired. But they do need to be changed; if you don’t change
them then you can get what’s called in the business a “cold flow’ in other words the sprinkler head lets down
and again it is saving the taxpayer’s money to have a properly maintained, and may | give my usual PR for the
sprinkler system. There’s been about a 96 — there’s never been a loss of life in a properly operated sprinkler
system, a building that has been properly operated. So it goes a long way.
Vice-Chairman Klee
Nice to hear. Are there any other questions? Madam Clerk, could you please call the roll?
A viva voce roll call was taken which resulted as follows:
Yea: Alderman Klee, Alderwoman Lu, Alderman Harriott-Gathright, Alderwoman Kelly,
Alderman O’Brien 5
Nay: 0
MOTION CARRIED
Alderwoman Lu
| have a quick question.
