Wissahickon board approves interim fence and sound blankets for middle-school chillers after years of neighbor complaints

The Wissahickon School Board on June 2 approved an interim mitigation plan for the Wissahickon Middle School chiller noise, voting to move forward with a fence and sound blankets intended to reduce the low-frequency vibration and audible disturbance that neighbors say has affected their yards and homes for years.

Residents who live near the middle school urged more extensive remediation and immediate summer relief. Several speakers asked the board to use administrative authority to limit chiller operation during the summer months while a permanent solution is studied. Board and facilities staff said the building serves summer programs and staff, and turning the chillers off could leave occupied spaces uncomfortably hot.

Irene Lewis, a Montgomery Road resident, told the board the fence-and-blanket strategy is "at best an unproven interim measure" and urged the business manager, under summer administrative authority, to consider severely limiting chiller operation this summer to provide neighbors immediate relief. Eric Rudolph, who lives behind the school, described prolonged and painful exposure to the noise and invited board members to hear it firsthand. Nick Militello presented an alternative engineering view from community volunteers, saying a water-chilled (indoor) system can be more efficient and that reclaiming indoor mechanical space could produce substantial energy savings; Militello estimated more than $100,000 per year in energy savings if a different system were installed but said his figures were cited and available upon request.

Facilities staff described the chosen interim approach as the most feasible near-term step. The facilities presenter explained that the mitigation work requires clearing and sealing some components then taking down and reinstalling fencing; work was already in process and could start within a couple of weeks. Board members repeatedly emphasized the need to balance neighbor relief with the operational needs of summer programs — including YMCA activities and district cleaning staff — that require building cooling during the day.

The motion to approve agenda item 16.1 (construction of fence and sound-blanket mitigation) and 16.2 (Stoney Creek parking-lot expansion) passed by voice vote. The transcript shows the board approved the measures and staff said they would proceed; no roll-call tally for the chiller vote was recorded in the public record at the meeting.

Neighbors said they will continue to press the district for a permanent sound wall and for consideration of a specialized acoustical firm to design and guarantee results. The board and staff committed to follow-up communication about timing and to execute the interim mitigation that had been costed and reviewed in committee.