NORTHAMPTON — While the rationale for forbidding window air conditioners at the McDonald House is based largely on safety concerns, air conditioners also serve a safety and public health purpose.
On a Monday that saw a record high of 94 degrees, prompting a heat advisory from the National Weather Service, Northampton Director of Public Health Merridith O’Leary noted the importance of air conditioning for those affected by heat-related conditions.
O’Leary said she couldn’t comment on the Northampton Housing Authority’s new rule banning window air conditioners at McDonald House. However, she did say that she had been assured by the Housing Authority that if people communicate their needs, the authority would address them.
The Housing Authority does allow portable air conditioners in McDonald House, and is offering a $100 rental credit for those tenants who purchase them. It is also selling portable air conditioners for $200, which can be paid in $25 payments over time.
Tom O’Connor, general counsel for the housing authority, said 21 people have taken advantage of the credit so far, while five have chosen to purchase air conditioners from the housing authority.
O’Leary said she has received about half a dozen inquiries at the health department about the new rule.
“I have directed them to the Northampton Housing Authority,” she said.
She also said that she’s made it clear that people can go back to the Health Department if they aren’t satisfied with what they hear from the authority, but that so far she hasn’t gotten any follow-up calls.
O’Leary said air conditioning can help keep heat-related conditions at bay, the consequences of which can be deadly, noting that people can experience sudden death due to heat exhaustion.
Aside from air conditioning, O’Leary said that drinking lots of water, keeping blinds and curtains drawn, limiting outdoor activities to early morning or evening after sunset and looking into cooling shelters are other ways to combat heat-related conditions.
The community room at the McDonald House is an air conditioned cooling center.
Additionally, O’Leary said that air conditioning helps to keep out pollen and air pollutants from homes, as it allows people to shut windows.
Still, O’Leary noted that access to air conditioning is not equal across all groups.
“We definitely have health inequity,” she said.
The safety rule was put in place based on the decision of Northampton Housing Authority Executive Director Cara Clifford. Clifford is out of the office this week, but O’Connor said that safety, liability and workers’ compensation issues surrounding the installation of the air conditioners all factored in.
One of the main reasons given for the safety rule at McDonald House is the danger of injury or death that a window air conditioner could pose to someone if it fell from McDonald House, which is a seven-story building.
When asked about incidents of people being injured by falling air conditioners in Northampton, however, O’Leary said that she hadn’t been able to find any documented cases in the city.
Northampton Building Commissioner Louis Hasbrouck also could not recall any incidents. He also noted that the use of window air conditioners is not regulated by the state building code.
When he was asked about air conditioners, Northampton Fire Department Capt. Andrew Pelis said the department recommends that people follow manufacturer’s instructions and plug the units directly into the wall. He said the department had no other safety suggestions.
Although the rule applies to the Walter Salvo House as well, another multi-story public housing building, all of its units are equipped with sleeves for air conditioners, which only a few units at McDonald House have. The letter announcing the safety ruling also said that maintenance staff will no longer be installing or removing air conditioners across all housing authority properties.
“Admittedly the timing wasn’t the best,” said Jeffrey Jones, chairman of the Northampton Housing Authority’s board of commissioners, on the safety rule.
Jones said the rule should have come down in January, when air conditioning wasn’t a concern. The letter announcing the rule change came in May.
Jones did, however, note the liability and safety factor, and said that while the issue was raised to the board following the rule, at their last meeting it did not come up.
He also said that the board wasn’t consulted before the rule came down, although he noted that this wasn’t a breach in protocol.
“Day-to-day decision making is the purview of the executive director,” he said.
He also said that the intent of the rule was not to infringe on the living environments of tenants.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.