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Coming to a Boil

A few weeks ago School District Business Administrator Gary Alger brought a couple of lengths of rusty, clogged pipes to the school board meeting and handed it around. Not all the board members wanted to touch them. They were pieces of what is left of the Middle School boilers. The school has two boilers, one that doesn't work and one that is seriously leaking. The main boiler failed recently, just in time for the warm weather. If it had failed in January the school would have had to be closed for weeks until it could be replaced.

Faced with replacing the boilers or not opening the Middle School, the School Board is putting boiler replacement on the fast track. They approved a resolution to replace the boilers before the legally required September 15 date. In this resolution $250,000 is allocated from the unallocated reserve fund. This is cash the district has on hand.

Over a 15 year period state aid for the project will pay back most of it, with the final cost to the district being $37,676.00. This money may be included in a planned capital investment resolution for improvements on the school buildings, and if residents approve the project the money could be used for other projects.

Mr. Alger explained that the project may not cost the entire $250,000, but once a resolution is approved you can't add funding to it. Depending on how much of the pipes and distribution equipment needs to be replaced the project could cost about $130,000. Geoff Mead of IBC Engineering Group in Buffalo outlined specifications for two new boilers. They both have a capacity of 3,563,000 btu/hr for a total output of 7,126,000 btu/hr. The first, of cast iron construction was chosen in part because it can be delivered "off the shelf" with only 4 weeks lead time. This boiler can handle heating needs until a Unilux Steel Flex Tube boiler, needing eight to twelve weeks before delivery, can be added.

Because capital improvement is planned for the future, the new boilers will have a larger capacity than is currently needed. This will insure they can remain in service as the building is enhanced. It also means greater control. "The goal is for the engineer to be able to sit in his office and see the temperatures of every room in the district," said Mr. Alger in a phone interview. Thermostats and related equipment to make that happen would be a future project, but these boilers would be able to be a part of making that happen.

While there is a plan to install a temporary boiler if the project can not be completed on time, the time table for getting the first boiler installed before the mandated September 15 date looks realistic. Either way, middle school students will be starting school on time next year.

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