Burst pipe floods N. Merrick Library

With temperatures plummeting into the single digits over the weekend, the North Merrick Public Library’s 60-year old boiler gave out late Saturday, which caused a pipe to freeze and rupture on Tuesday morning, flooding the reference room with more than a half inch of water, according to Tom Witt, the library director.

Overnight from Saturday into Sunday, repair workers were able to fire up the boiler, which was converted from oil to natural gas at one point, and keep it going at a low level, but they were unable to restore it to full capacity, Witt said. The library was closed on Sunday because the temperature inside the building dropped below 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Water was running through the pipes on Sunday, so no one expected that a pipe would freeze, Witt said. The library was closed on Monday for Presidents Day. The burst pipe, underneath a cabinet book case, split open at 9:25 a.m. on Tuesday, as workers were inspecting the boiler to determine what repairs were needed.

“You wouldn’t believe how fast that water was accumulating,” Witt said. All water mains were shut off to stop the flooding.

No books were damaged. At press time, a restoration company was drying out the carpet.

The library was closed Tuesday. It was unclear at press time whether it would open on Wednesday.

Witt said library officials plan to replace the boiler. The library recently received a $100,000 grant from the New York State Department of Library Development. North Merrick will use another $126,000 from its capital reserve account to fund the new boiler.

Witt noted, however, that a $6.5 million repair bond that the library board proposed in 2011 –– but failed in a public referendum by 87 votes in April that year –– would have funded a new boiler and a host of other repairs.

The bond, Witt said, “would have taken care of everything, every need of the library.”

Ever since that vote, the library board has turned to its reserve fund to keep up with repairs, completing a project a year, Witt said. He, though, quickly added, “In 2016, we have virtually depleted the capital fund, without having all of the repairs and upkeep that the building needs.”