Southington Town And School Officials Trying To Quiet Down School's AC Unit

SOUTHINGTON, CT — A building chiller is a large devise that cools water for the purposes of keeping the air comfortable when the mercury is rising.

But a neighbor abutting Southington's John F. Kennedy Middle School, which is at 1071 S. Main St, Plantsville, isn't cool about the noise JFK's air conditioning unit makes cooling the air.

As a result, Southington School System Director of Operations Peter Romano is working with town officials on how to quiet down JFK's chiller and solve the issue once and for all.

The matter was actually discussed at length at the Sept. 8 Southington Board of Education meeting, where Roman told board members the neighbor "has been expressing his frustration and concern about the noise level fom the chiller unit since the 2015 renovation."

Reportedly, the chiller has a "whining" sound that was described as "annoying" by Romano and "obnoxious" by Southington Board of Education member Zaya Oshana.

Oshana said the noise emitted was "not fair to the quality of life for the neighbors of JFK."

There appear to be two options school and town officials could take to quiet the chiller.

One involves working with the chiller's manufacturer, Trane, for an additional device to cut down on the noise.

But that device is expensive.

Romano said at the Sept. 8 meeting the issue was actually raised in 2015, when JFK was renovated.

He said the school board at the time wasn't in favor of spending $240,000 per school for the Trane alternative.

The district's other middle school, Joseph A. DePaolo Middle School on Pleasant Street, was also pegged for a quieter chiller at that time.

Recently, the Southington Town Council has expressed concern about the noise, which Romano said at the meeting was about 60 decibels, and asked the school board and town engineer to work on a solution.

The town even hired a contractor, Vibrasciences LLC, to take decibel reading and weigh in on the issue.

Romano said Vibrasciences recommended the town utilize "attenuating blankets" on the chillers to cut the sound by 6 or 7 decibels.

But Romano expressed concern that this less expensive option, $30,093 to quiet one unit, could overheat the chiller as the blankets are not designed for that specific brand.

He said the more expensive option with Trane would solve the problem and would work best.
School board members agreed and Southington Superintendent of Schools Steven Madancy recommended Romano work with town staff to "find a viable solution for the neighbor and that the BoE agrees with the town to find an alternative."

School officials said they were concerned neighbors of DePaulo might also request a costlier quiet chiller, even though there have been no complaints near DePaulo and there are more natural buffers at that school.

No vote was taken and nothing has been finalized.

For the minutes of the Sept. 8 Southington Board of Education meeting, click on this link.