JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- City and JEA officials are feeling the heat -- literally -- after a $17 million facility designed to cool the new downtown library failed to operate. The chilled water plant, one of three designed to perform like an oversized air-conditioning unit, malfunctioned when JEA threw the switch last week, causing pipes under the street to burst.

"There are some valves that started leaking, so we turned off the system and identified where those values were," JEA spokesman Ron Whittington said. "And we are going to replace them this month and at the end of August."

Now, several air-conditioning trucks are in place, pumping in cool air so the city can finish building the new library. A climate-controlled environment is important to keep the books from mildewing and the drywall intact.

However, keeping the trucks working will cost JEA about $40,000 per month.

"There is a little cost associated with it, but we need to make sure the books are in good shape," Whittington said. "Under our contract, we said we would provide chilled water, so we are going to provide chilled water."

The city has been under flack from taxpayers who are angry that the city is wasting tax dollars. The city pays close to $1 million per year for the "chiller plant."

To fix the piping, JEA will have to tear up Duval Street from the library all the way to the new federal courthouse and nearby "chiller plant."

City officials said they are disappointed by the setback and are negotiating with JEA on how to pay for the plant now that the city is in debt.