Nothing ever did really run like a Trane at the Mindoro Elementary School.

Last week, the Melrose-Mindoro School Board opted to pursue legal action against heating and cooling company Trane after six years of problems at its elementary school where winter temperatures dipped into the 50s and prompted the building to be shut down twice.

“It’s not like it’s an airplane hangar; there are kids involved and staff involved,” said Mel-Min School Board President Bob Hardie.

At a special meeting last Thursday, the board said it would seek to recoup costs associated with past repair bills, a consultant and installation of a new system, which the district is looking into according to Superintendent Ron Perry.

“Our last option was to pursue legal action against Trane Company to recover our losses, and they force us to do so by not taking responsibility for a system they sold us that has failed to work as advertised,” Perry said.

Wisconsin district manager for Trane Commercial Systems Jim Wajciechowski said he had no comment at this time and referred questions to Trane’s legal department, which did not return a phone call as of press time.

Perry said the school district’s move comes after six years of frustrations with a Trane heating system that failed to work and frequently required repairs, although fixes would only last a couple weeks at best. Trane recently offered to replace the furnace at over twice the cost of the original system.

“It started up and then went downhill from there,” Perry said. “It’s a big system. Did we expect some adjustments to be made over the first couple years? Yes, but we also expected it to run normally and heat the building.”

In 2003, the school district spent $114,500 on a heating and air conditioning system at its elementary school in Mindoro, which houses kindergartners and third- through fifth-graders. Perry said the old system was operating between 60- and 65-percent efficiency and the new system would be at about 85 percent. He said a new Trane heating system previously installed at the Melrose Elementary and Junior High School was saving the district 7,000 gallons of fuel a year.

Perry said problems began shortly after the system was commissioned in September 2003, including a wrong-sized oil filter that was installed. The system was under warranty the first year, but between 2004 and 2007, the school district spent about $7,000 in service calls and parts. For about the last year, though, Trane has covered repair and service costs.

“The local Trane workers were great to work with and they tried everything to get the heating system to work correctly,” Perry said. “In the end, there is really no fix to the system except to replace it.

“It is the smallest building in our district, and it is using the most fuel in the district.”

According to Perry, most problems with the system would occur during the colder times of the year and some room temperatures would dip below 60 degrees Fahrenheit; the district would send out letters telling its 15-member staff and 160 students to dress warmer during those months.

At one point, cold temperatures were so distracting that the school had to postpone the state-mandated Wisconsin Knowledge Concepts Examination, and the building was even shut down Dec. 22-23, 2008, and classrooms were moved to the high school.

“It’s really disrupting the education of the kids,” Perry said.

Perry said the system eventually was set to run constantly to avoid freezing water pipes, but staff was paid overtime to check the building over the weekend, and he and maintenance and transportation supervisor Dennis Wagner also would check the school over weekends and holidays.

“We had to bring in propane heaters just to keep the place from freezing,” Perry said. “I have been down there so many times (during checks and repairs) that I could probably take the thing apart in my sleep and put it back together.”

Perry and Hardie met with Wajciechowski to go over possible solutions in February, at which point Perry said Wajciechowski accused the district of not maintaining the system or originally going with a $144,000 heating-only system.

“We did routine things like change belts and filters, but how could we maintain it beyond that if it never worked right?” Perry rhetorically asked. “Every time we needed someone to look at it or repair it, we went with the people they suggested.”

In a March 6-dated letter to the district, Wajciechowski noted the school district purchased the system it could afford but did not address issues at-hand for the 42-year-old building.

“In the case of Mindoro Elementary, you selected what your budget could afford,” he wrote. “But importantly, the value solution you selected did not provide for system back-up per Trane’s recommendations nor did it address or solve the pre-existing controls system or airside issues.”

According to documentation from the school district, Trane said it would replace the school’s heating system for $252,500. The district said it was willing to only spend $96,400 — which was to come through federal economic stimulus money — and Trane countered by accepting the $96,400 and offering to help finance the remaining original estimated quote.

Mel-Min has since withdrawn its offer.

“The problem is that the regional manager in Madison seems to think the whole thing is our problem and that the system should be replaced at our expense. Maybe that’s how they do things in Madison, but it’s not how we operate here in rural Wisconsin,” Perry said. “Other companies that I have spoken with stated they would repair or replace a system they installed at no cost to the district in order to maintain their positive reputation for providing quality and service.”

However, Wajciechowski, in a letter to the school district, said Trane has offered reasonable solutions all along.

“With all that said, Trane feels that it is unfair and improper for you to attempt to blame Trane for the system inadequacies that are not of Trane’s making and for which we have identified solutions,” Wajciechowski stated.

Hardie said the school district is “frustrated” with the situation, adding that if the current system wouldn’t have been adequate, Trane should never have offered it.

“We were very happy that Trane stood behind it (at the beginning) ... but now they have refused to have any obligation, and we’re at our wit’s end,” Hardie said. “We do not have anything to do with the design and apparently it was not the right choice. How could we have known?”

According to Perry, the decision to seek legal action now is, in part, due to a six-year statute of limitations. Last week, the board agreed to hire consultant Tom Mulrine at $65 an hour; Perry said Mulrine has experience in situations such as these.

The last time the Mel-Min School District needed to hire legal representation for litigation was 12 years ago, according to Perry.