City Hall heater is toast

Written by SHAUN SMITH Friday, January 11, 2013 01:00 am

Temporary fix is providing heat until a new HVAC system can be purchased 

VENTNOR – There’s a lot of hot air blowing around City Hall, but it has nothing to do with politics.  

A temporary heater can been seen in front of City Hall on Atlantic Avenue, with flexible tubing carrying hot air into the building.

Mayor Mike Bagnell said that since the heating system was damaged in the storm, the temporary fix has been keeping employees warm for the past three weeks.

“It blows in hot air through those big black flexible ducts that carry hot air from the heater,” Bagnell said Thursday, Jan. 3. “It’s blowing it into the hallways – then if you open the doors into the rooms, you get some heat.”

He said the temporary heater will cost the city approximately $15,000 per month. Chief Financial Officer Toro Aboderin said the heater is provided by Restore One, the company providing storm remediation to the building’s basement including cleaning, disinfecting and restoring the bottom level.

“We need a new heating system. The heater got fried; the electronics got fried,” Bagnell said.

He said there are also voids under the boilers that need to be explored further.

The boilers produce steam heat. The newest is 41 years old, while the oldest is 100 years old, he said.

“It’s a combination of steam and hot water,” Bagnell explained. “It’s an archaic system. It also ties into the air-conditioning system.”

He said the city is looking to have a new heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system in place in the coming months.