Sweating it out

Relief from the heat is in sight for the elderly residents of the Mary Slaughter Apartments. The Lycoming County Housing Authority will install central air conditioning in the building, but the project will not be completed until later this summer.

The authority on Thursday agreed to award contracts for air conditioning for the building, at 124 Brandon Place, but it probably will not be installed until mid-August, said David A. Frederick, authority director of modernization and development.

A contract was awarded to Spencer Mechanical Inc., of Williamsport, which submitted a low bid of $188,000, Frederick said.

The company also was awarded a contract to convert the building's boiler system from oil to natural gas. The company bid $10,600 for that work.

Many of the residents of the 27-unit building have air conditioning.

According to Frederick, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees and funds public housing, states that apartments that have only one window cannot have an air-conditioning unit in that window.

That is because the units block an exit that could be needed in the event of a fire, Frederick said. Units also could block emergency responders attempting to rescue a trapped resident.

Eight apartments in the building have only one window, Authority Executive Director MariLyn Severson said.

Residents were told when the authority took ownership of the building last summer that air-conditioning units could not be placed in single-window apartments, she said.

However, during an inspection of the building this spring by a HUD engineer, an air conditioner was seen in a single-window apartment. The engineer said it had to be taken out, Severson said.

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Sweating it out