By Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com


Brighton City Council has approved new heating and air conditioning units for the police department.

The request for the new units was originally slated to be on City Council’s agenda later this month, but due to a furnace failing this week, it was bumped up to be addressed at Thursday night’s meeting. City Manager Nate Geinzer said the building has 3 additional furnaces, so at least it’s not getting too cold. Brighton Police Chief Rob Bradford said his department has been budgeting for the air conditioners over the past years because they are the only original units remaining from when the building was constructed. They were set to be changed out this year with the installation of a new generator being installed by the City’s HVAC contractor, Ainsworth. The air conditioning units will cost a $12,104.

Chief Bradford said that Ainsworth reps said they could replace the two furnaces, including all the disconnects, for $4,691. The new furnaces will be 95% high efficiency.

The total cost of the project comes in at $16,795. Bradford said they have $10,000 budgeted, along with money available from other projects that either came in under budget or didn’t occur to make up the difference. City Council approved the request unanimously.

Earlier during their work session, their Zoom meeting was interrupted by at least 3 individuals who worked around being muted to disturb the meeting with sexually explicit and racist language and user names. This included one person in a black klan outfit, making a heiling sign. City Council quickly terminated the session before restarting it. Geinzer said that was the 2nd or 3rd time something like that has happened, with Clerk Tara Brown adding that it’s unfortunate. She said they try to stay on top of “Zoom Bombers” when they join, but it can be difficult to remove them quickly.