Wednesday, July 28, 2021

Lightning Strike Believed Responsible for County Office Building Air Conditioning Issue

County officials believe a lightning strike during a July 21 storm took out the air conditioning chiller at the county office building in Atlantic City.

“The electrical panels were fried, rendering the air conditioning system useless,” stated County Executive Dennis Levinson. “As a result we have temporarily closed the building until a replacement chiller is installed.”

According to Levinson, the chiller was delivered on Tuesday, July 27 and should be fully functioning by the end of the week.

“What’s ironic is that on July 6 the Board of County Commissioners had approved a $2.17 million contract for the replacement of the building’s air conditioning chillers. That work is scheduled to begin in the fall. When the air conditioning system went down, we were forced to find a temporary chiller to resolve the issue since the permanent replacement was in the process of being ordered.  Another 45 days would have made the difference and none of this would have been necessary.”

The county is reviewing its options to try to recoup its losses. Officials expect an adjuster will be called in to look at the damage and confirm if lightning was the cause.

“We were prepared to replace the air conditioning system but we were not prepared for an unpreventable lightning strike,” he said. “Although the Atlantic City building is closed, many of its employees are working on site and remotely and all other facilities are operating as normal to provide all essential services.”

Individuals who had appointments to pick up their EBT cards at the County Office Building may call (609) 345-6700, ext. 2353 to coordinate.

County News