{"id":38830,"date":"2025-11-19T19:03:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T19:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/38830\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T19:03:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T19:03:09","slug":"easton-library-hvac-failure-prompts-832000-replacement-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/38830\/","title":{"rendered":"Easton library HVAC failure prompts $832,000 replacement project"},"content":{"rendered":"

Easton Area Public Library<\/a>\u2019s chiller gave out over the summer<\/a>, forcing the Easton Area School District<\/a> to look at replacement options. <\/p>\n

A solution is on its way, but it\u2019s costly. <\/p>\n

The district\u2019s school board approved a library chiller replacement on Tuesday night<\/a>, with all except Mike Simonetta in favor of it. <\/p>\n

At last week\u2019s committee meeting, administrators explained the project totals about $832,000, including engineering fees, with the possibility of a $33,000 deduction if the district opts not to remove the old unit, according to proposal documents.<\/p>\n

Assistant Superintendent for District Operations Josh Ziatyk told board members the administration had no choice but to pursue a full replacement after the chiller failed in August.<\/p>\n

On the board, the most pointed skepticism came from Simonetta, who pressed the administration on the cost of the project. <\/p>\n

\u201cHow are we paying for this?\u201d he asked. \u201cWe\u2019re using our resources. Plus, this is just a start for the library.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the district is ultimately responsible for the cost, Superintendent Tracy Piazza said the district is working with the city to secure additional state-level funding. <\/p>\n

Easton City Council<\/a> approved a resolution last week authorizing the city to apply for a $750,000 Public Library Facilities Keystone Grant. <\/p>\n

Simonetta said the district faces additional large building expenses in the coming years that could add up to $5 million, and argued that it may no longer make financial sense to be the library property\u2019s landlord.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know this is an unpopular conversation, but we\u2019re talking $5 million in the near future, taking out of our resources from our students while we\u2019re reducing staff, trying to find money for our high school for our kids,\u201d Simonetta said. \u201cI think we really have to rethink what we\u2019re doing and where we\u2019re directing resources.\u201d <\/p>\n

Other board members acknowledged his concerns but stressed that the district remains contractually responsible for maintaining the building. Board member Susan Hartranft-Bittinger said the library\u2019s HVAC problem has gone unresolved for too long, and the district has no choice but to address it now.<\/p>\n

Board member Meg Sayago said that despite the costs, the library is a crucial resource for children and families. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe cost of the library is already shared in the tax that we pay, and that frankly does need to be increased. We are not paying enough to support what is a very valuable resource in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Easton Area Public Library\u2019s chiller gave out over the summer, forcing the Easton Area School District to look…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-38830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}