Hollywood resident calls 'Leave it to Layron' team about annoying, humming sound

Noise found to be coming from chillers at Broward South Regional Courthouse

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – On scale from one to 10, Bea Mazzrillo pegged it a 30.

"I decided that maybe we should give you a call," she said.

Mazzrillo reached out to the "Leave it to Layron" team for help silencing a loud, mechanical humming sound she said she and her neighbors had been dealing with for some time.

The racket was round-the-clock. 

Mazzrillo said the droning was worse at night and early in the morning. She recorded the noise on her cellphone from inside her apartment, just before 5 a.m. one morning.

In the video, you can hear the hum, humming away. Seconds later, the video shows Mazzrillo unlocking her front door, opening it, allowing the listener to get the full effect.

"I documented it, as well as [talked] to different people, different neighbors," she said.

Mazzrillo knew the sound was coming from the Broward County South Regional Courthouse building across the street from her condo, but what was causing it remained a mystery.

The "Leave it to Layron" team later learned the annoying noise was coming from chillers located in utility rooms at the back of the building. The chillers are part of the building's cooling system. 

Our calls eventually led us to the county's public works director.

"We wish we'd known about it earlier," Thomas Hutka said.

Hutka said many county buildings' cooling equipment is located on the roof.  The chillers at the South Regional Courthouse are located inside utility rooms, at the back of the building.  

He said the building's air conditioning system can function properly without the chillers running during the evening and overnight hours, and immediately began shutting the chillers down at the end of the day to make things quiet when no one's using the building.

Mazzrillo documented the evening silence in another cellphone video.

"Shhh," she said in the video.

Hutka said buffer walls and foam have also been installed inside the utility rooms that house the chillers to absorb the noise during the day.

"A month later, now it's all quiet and nice," Mazzrillo said.

She recorded another video, showing the newly-installed fence behind the courthouse.

Hutka said the double-sided fence was built with sound-buffering foam in the middle to provide another layer of soundproofing.

Mazzrillo said peace and quiet have returned to the neighborhood.

"I'm so psyched it's all over," Mazzrillo said.


About the Author:

Layron Livingston made the move from Ohio's Miami Valley to Miami, Florida, to join the Local 10 News team.