Broken Air Conditioning Influences Narberth Meeting's Agenda, Location

Displaced from their usual meeting place in the , members of the Narberth Borough Council met in the  Monday night and discussed plans to fix the broken air-conditioning system at the borough’s municipal complex.

The existing air conditioning is not working because of a downed chiller system, Borough Manager Bill Martin told Narberth-Bala Cynwyd Patch.

As a result, the borough moved its committee and subcommittee meetings from the municipal meeting to the West Wing of the Narberth Community Building, adjacent to the library, in July and plans to continue holding meetings there until the end of August.

Portable units are cooling the downstairs of the municipal building, but there are none on the second floor, where meetings are normally held, Martin said.

Council member Heidi Boise of the Borough Council’s Property Committee said during the meeting that a volunteer consultant told the borough the air conditioning needs to be replaced.

One company already has submitted a bid to modify the existing system, and a second such bid is expected to be submitted Tuesday, Martin said. The borough hopes to receive a third bid, too.

Officials are analyzing the cost of repairing the system relative to replacing it, Martin said.

Toward the end of the meeting, Borough Council President Mary Jo Daley said she was grateful to have council meetings outside of the non-air-conditioned borough building: "It’s really much more comfortable here."

In another matter related to municipal building repairs, Boise said the borough is also soliciting proposals to fix the concrete steps at the municipal building.

There are cracks in one or two sections of the steps on Conway Avenue and cracks on one section of the steps on Haverford Avenue. The borough plans to repair only the cracked steps, not the entire sets, Martin told Patch. The repairs will cost $400 to $500 from the building-repair fund.

Overall, the municipal building, which was renovated 10 years ago, is considered to be in good shape, but the borough wants to explore whether more renovations can eventually save energy costs, Martin told Patch.

In other matters:

• The council voted unanimously to approve the re-appointment of Amy Lempert of Narbrook Park in Narberth to the Narberth Industrial Development Authority for a second, five-year term.  One council member, Bob Wegbreit, was absent from the meeting.
• During a report from the Ad Hoc Bridge Committee, Martin said the Rockland Avenue Bridge is still on course for demolition: “I don’t think it will take place before 2012, but I think it will take place very early in 2012."