City workers sent home as AC goes out

Dozens of city employees working out of the Frank F. Fasi Municipal Building went home early Monday after air conditioning to the building could not be turned on.

No customer services were affected by the situation, city officials said.

A 400-ton chiller unit failed to fire up due to "internal issues" when a crew tried to turn it on at 4:20 a.m. Monday, city Facility Maintenance Director Ross Sasa­mura said.

City officials do not know how many people went home since it was up to department heads to decide who would stay or go, he said.

The city has two 400-ton chillers. The backup chiller, however, could not kick in because it had been put out of service earlier for a scheduled preventive maintenance day, Sasa­mura said.

That second chiller will be ready to go Tuesday morning, he said. City officials are still trying to determine what caused the first chiller to malfunction but are hoping it too can be repaired by sometime Tuesday.