Vice President for Facilities and Campus Operations Robert Maffia has responded to inquiries by The Stute in relation to last week’s River Terrace article.
With regard to the heating and air conditioning issues experienced by residents of the buildings, Maffia stated that this is a result of an ongoing project to upgrade River Terrace’s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems after last year’s bomb cyclone revealed that extant heating systems in the building were inadequate. Maffia reported that “a significant investment was made in the design and installation of more robust heating systems throughout campus since then to ensure [last winter is not repeated].” Part of this project included the replacement of River Terrace’s boiler units. The design of River Terrace’s HVAC systems necessitated a change-over period in October and April where the air conditioning units were deactivated and the heating units activated, or vice versa. This alternation is because the heating and air conditioning systems share the same pipes, and Maffia stated that this design is commonplace in buildings such as River. However, because the boilers needed to be replaced, this change-over period had to be extended and the HVAC system deactivated during the period of transition. Facilities decided to begin this period on September 1, as delaying it would have pushed the heating activation back further into November, which Facilities considered unacceptable due to low temperatures generally experienced in that month. Maffia claimed that the new heating system will be online by the end of the month. As The Stute previously reported, residents of River Terrace can acquire temporary heating units from Facilities until then by filling out a work order request.
Regarding the lack of water on October 9, which lasted most of the day, Maffia explained that there was a scheduled shut-down of the Domestic Hot Water (DHW) system for about three to four hours to facilitate the installation of a new heat exchange unit. Later, the hot water heaters lost power due to a tripped breaker. The breaker was reset and service restored about two hours after it initially broke down.
When asked about the status of the elevator, Maffia stated that there was a wiring problem in the control panel which required the elevator to be taken out of service for two days. Also, Facilities has ongoing plans to systematically replace elevators on campus, with several such replacements completed in recent years. River Terrace is, according to Maffia, scheduled for overhaul in the future.
Finally, The Stute and Maffia investigated reports of strange work orders. Two events in particular were looked at, both occurring on September 4. One event consisted of Facilities workers arriving at a resident’s dorm room to measure their windows, providing no other information. The resident was sleeping at the time. According to the resident, the worker entered their bedroom after they informed him of their slumber to complete the window measurement; the worker then told the resident that they could go back to sleep, and left. Maffia stated that “Most times, when we are measuring windows, it is because the window treatments are in need of replacement, which may have been the reason this time.” However, he found it particularly problematic that the worker entered the resident’s bedroom and measured their windows after being informed that the resident was asleep.
The second work order looked at concerns about a worker from Facilities arriving at a dorm in River Terrace in response to a work order request, claiming that the towel racks in the room were broken. No such damage existed, and all four residents of the room as well as their Resident Assistant independently verified that they did not file the work order. The resident in the room at the time was shown the work order invoice, which clearly stated their room number. Maffia claimed that it is possible the work order was filed incorrectly, but that he and Assistant Vice President for the Division of Facilities and Campus Operations Frank LoCastro would continue to look into the issue and attempt to determine exactly what happened.
Be First to Comment