The Gunnison City Council approved a $192,800 task order for Cross Canyon Engineering to design and install a series of upgrades to the Gunnison Main Substation, thereby modernizing the substation.
Mayor Diego Plata explained that the work would involve replacing and upgrading major components of the substation and conducting specialized engineering, testing, and commissioning for the substation.
City Electrical Superintendent Will Dowis said this approval was for the substation's design and wiring, with construction costs to be determined at a later date.
He said the substation was built in 1950 and that some of the equipment dates to that era. According to Dowis, the substation's age will pose additional challenges for design and wiring, since modern replacement components such as breakers will have to be fitted into a system designed in the 1950s.
“I’m glad they’re doing the wiring because they are going to have to come up with solutions on the fly,” he said, “and there’s no better place to be than you’re sittin’ there and have your hands on it. They can do it, so it’s perfect.”
He said that the largest replacement for the substation would be the power transformer, which dates to 1950 and is experiencing some failures, although it recently passed testing.
“Since I’ve been here, it’s been rebuilt twice, and we’ve filtered the oil three or four times, replaced it a couple times,” he said. “So, it’s time for that thing to be replaced.”
Dowis said that the city has the replacement equipment in stock since it purchased it “a couple” of years ago, but the city’s engineer at the time was unable to create a usable electrical plan for installing it in the substation.
“I feel we have a good engineer hired to do this job,” Dowis said, referring to Cross Canyon.
Councilor Loren Ahonen asked how task orders that span fiscal years are handled, since this task order was dated 2025.
Dowis said that the city hired Cross Canyon for on-call engineering services for five years starting in 2025, allowing the city to use them for task orders as they arise.
City Manager Amanda Wilson said the city can approve any contract or task order so long as the necessary funds are appropriated in the budget for the year the contract is awarded. She added that any money not spent on a contract in the year it is awarded can roll into the next fiscal year through the city budgeting process.
In response to a question from Ahonen, Dowis said that the council will have to approve a construction contract for the substation at a later date.
He said that funding for this work is included in the city budget and that he was confident the city had a “strong number” to complete the work.
The city council then unanimously voted to approve the task order.
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