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Sudie Pasco reports that the Holton noise appears to be abated:From: "Pasco, Sudie" <sudie.pasco@capitalone.com> To: "'John Butcher'" <%20JohnRButcher@attbi.com%20> Subject: RE: Holton Date: Wednesday, May 30, 2001 9:41 AMHI John, There is still some noise but it has been reduced to the extent that it no longer is audible in our house. We can hear it in our yard, but the noisy cooling machine does not run as frequently as it once did. The gauge they added to this machine should be reducing the school's energy costs too.Thank you, Sudie-----Original Message----- From: John Butcher [mailto:%20JohnRButcher@attbi.com%20] Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2001 3:29 PM To: Pasco, Sudie Subject: HoltonSudie,How is the noise?
From: "sudie pasco" <sudiep@hotmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2000 5:18 PM
Subject: Good News From Holton!> Hi John,
> > Someone must have heard our e-mailed grumblings because today I was
> surprised by quite a Christmas Present! Jim, John and another engineer were
> at the school around 3pm today and caught me as I left my house to return to
> work. They shared that Mel Ergens had called them and given them the
> go-ahead to implement A-L-L of their recommended changes.
> This will include a hood for the fan over the back door, a guage on the
> cooling tower that will make it run less often and a few other changes. The
> sound will still be noisy at times, but there will be fewer machines
> involved and each machine will run for less time. This is a compromise I can
> live with (I think!). Jim said that Mel Ergens did not want to take a few
> baby steps and drag the process out longer because he was "getting a lot of
> heat from above." I imagine some funds were left in some budget at the end
> of the year to cover the more high-end solutions. I even met the engineer
> who will be responsible for implementing the changes, and he definitely sees
> our side of the problem.
> One of the biggest problems seems to be the actual design of the school
> which amplifies the sound and directs it right at our homes. A new
> subdivision is being built behind a sister school on the Southside and Jim
> said WM Jordan and the School Board may have to remedy the sound there as
> well. I hope they learned a lesson that will save us taxpayers some money
> in the future. > I'll write again if I don't see any activity in the next few weeks. Thank
> you for your continued assistance!Sudie
As Sudie reported, the School bureaucracy was talking and writing memos
while the affront to our neighborhood continued. Butcher is afflicted by the notion
that the City and its offshoots should be good neighbors, so he fired off the following
to our School Board Member:1508 Avondale Avenue
Richmond, Virginia 23227
December 2, 2000BY FACSIMILE: 780-4122
William P. Laffoon, Member
Richmond School Board
3716 Moss Side Avenue
Richmond, Virginia 23227RE: Holton Nuisance
Dear Bill:
We have had very little action from the Richmond school administration
since Sudie Pasco spoke to the Board on August 7 about the nuisance
at Holton School.The back of the new school faces the corner of Avondale and Monticello.
The new school has two machines there. One sounds like an old truck
taking a long grade and the other sounds like an old truck with no muffler
taking the same grade. Not only does this side of the building sound like
a factory and look like a prison, they lit it like a prison, with halogen lights
that glare out into my neighborhood.We are told that a timer was being installed during the week of Oct. 31
to turn the lights off at 10:00 PM. As you can see from Sudie’s email,
reproduced below, aside from talk and memoranda we have had no
progress whatever on the noise.It has become clear during this episode that the bureaucrats who work
for you do not care that the school is a lousy neighbor. I know you do not
feel that wayMy neighbors and I would be grateful for anything you can do to eliminate
this nuisance the school is maintaining in our neighborhood.With kindest regards, I am
Sincerely,
John Butcher
Attachment:
Email from Sudie Pasco, 11/28/00.Hi John,
Thank you for your concern. A trial solution was supposed to be in
place by 10/31, but as you can hear, this is not the case. Mr. Ergens
is my contact in Plant Services, and I called him today. He faxed me
two updates that he sent to Archie Harris (who I presume forwards them
to the Board). On the phone, Mr. Ergens explained that the project is
on-going and is presently at the feet of the machine manufacturers
who need to correct the noise to conform to their own regulations. He
explained that W.M. Jordan, the contractor, is the go-between with the
manufacturers since the School Board did not make a direct purchase.
Apparently, this process is causing the delay.I know that any pressure applied to the Board is going to end up on
Mr. Ergens' shoulders and he is not presently in a position to deal
directly with the manufacturers. I appreciate that they are continuing
to keep me informed and are progressing (although very slowly)
towards a solution. . . . I am concerned that there is no new date for a
"trial solution," so I may take this issue to Mr. Laffoon. Any suggestions
would be much appreciated!
Below is a copy of the updates Mr. Ergens faxed to me earlier. His note
about the lights is confusing, but it looks like they have installed a timer
that we could perhaps use to fix when lights are ALL on and when some
are OFF. Perhaps the neighborhood and PTA could meet to agree on a
schedule that would meet both safety and "livability" concerns. It will be no
cost to change the lights' schedule now that the timer has been purchased
and installed.
TO: Archie Harris
FROM: M.F. Ergens
DATE: 10/31/2000
The following is an update to my memorandum of Sept. 20, 2000 and
Mr. Migliarese's HVAC Equipment Sound Analysis of Oct. 5, 2000.The
analysis indicated that the fluid cooler was generating sound levels greater
than their literature indicated could be expected. Therefore on October
25, 2000, Michael Doucette (WM Jordan), Jim Migliarese (VA Industrial
& Commercial Equipment, Inc), and I met at the school with Bryan Cooper
(RW Hayes), the equipment supplier, and Ned Bastian (Bastian Mechanical,
Inc.), the mechanical contractor. The purpose was to confirm the field sound
level readings and ascertain any others that may be required. The results
of this meeting verified the levels sound readings recorded in Mr. Miglirese's
analysis. Several corrective actions were discussed; however, Mr. Cooper
stated that the information would be forwarded to the factory for study.Regarding the exterior security lighting fixtures. A timer is to be installed
this week, which will deactivate all fixtures on the building at 10pm.
TO: Archie Harris
FROM: M.F. Ergens
DATE: 11/10/2000
On Nov. 8, 2000, engineers from Evapco (the fluid cooler manufacturer)
visited the site to obtain criteria. Michael Doucette (WM Jordan), Jim
Migliarese (VA Industrial & Commercial Equipment, Inc), Bryan Cooper
(RW Hayes), the equipment supplier, Ned Bastian (Bastian Mechanical,
Inc.),the mechanical contractor, and I were present.After obtaining sound level readings, the information will be studied and
corrective work will be performed as required. In addition, in an effort to
further reduce the machinery noise, the factory will offer suggested remedies.
>From: <%20JohnRButcher@attbi.com%20>
>To: "Pasco, Sudie" <SudieP@hotmail.com>
>Subject: Holton
>Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2000 22:58:49 -0500
>
>Sudie,
>
>I heard the damn thing roaring when I got home this evening.
>
>Are we getting any progress from the School Board? . . .
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