The city dodged a "major bullet" when its information technology equipment was not damaged in a city hall water leak, Mayor Bissonnette said.
03.29.2013 | CHICOPEE -- Firefighters gather outside the Chicopee City Hall Annex on the Front Street side of the building. A water leak inside the building forced officials to close the building today for repairs.
This is an update to a story originally posted at 9:35 a.m. Friday
CHICOPEE – A burst water line on the 4th floor of the City Hall Annex spilled thousands of gallons of water that shorted out electrical circuits in the information technology room and damaged ceilings and floors down to the first floor.
The building was closed as a precaution, and Mayor Michael Bissonnette said he hopes repairs will be done in time to reopen on Monday morning.
Bissonnette said a ½ inch water line that feeds a drinking fountain on the 4th floor burst sometime during the night after the close of business on Thursday. When employees opened the building on Friday morning, they spotted the damage from the water.
Electricians were working to repair the blown electrical circuits and wiring on Friday and would likely test the system on Saturday, Bissonnette said.
Water damage was found in the assessor’s office on the first floor.
Rugs will have to be shampooed and several ceiling tiles will have to be replaced.
“Hopefully the work on the electrical panels will be done and we’ll be ready in time for Monday.”
Officials with the fire department, water department and informational technology department were on scene most of the day removing the water, repairing the damage and inspecting equipment.
Bissonnette said he will not have a dollar estimate of the damage until he hears from the insurance adjuster, but the amount is expected to be less than $100,000.
City Hall was ordered closed for the day to allow for inspections of the building and repairs. City offices were scheduled to be closed at noon anyway because of Good Friday.
“The schedule favored us,” he said. If the break had happened in the middle of the week, it would have been a major inconvenience, he said.
Despite the eletrical circuit damage, the computers and servers in the information technology room near the leak were not damaged, Bissonnette said.
“We dodged a major bullet.”
None of the city records on the server were unharmed. The servers are all backed up off site, but the prospect of restoring city data on everything from payroll records to tax payments is still no easy matter, he said.
It points out how vulnerable the city’s IT systems are at their present location and the need for them to be in a more secure environment, he said.