FARMINGTON — RSU 9 directors will get a presentation Tuesday from Thayer Corp. on a pellet boiler system to heat Mt. Blue Middle School, Cascade Brook School and the bus garage.
The Board of Directors will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27, in the conference room at the middle school. Prior to Thayer’s presentation the Lego League will give a short presentation in the cafeteria of the work that has been done this year.
The district received three proposals for the pellet system, and Thayer Corp. was chosen, Superintendent Mike Cormier said Tuesday.
Directors gave district Support Services Director David Leavitt permission in August to get proposals for the pellet boiler. He will have information regarding the cost and financing of the project.
The project would have to be approved by the board and voters in 10 towns before it would be bought and installed, Leavitt said previously.
The buildings, which are heated by oil, are in the same area off Middle Street in Farmington.
Leavitt previously estimated that the switch to the pellet system would save $600,000 over 20 years.
The system, including installation and pellets, was estimated in August to cost $767,000 and would pay for itself in 14 years. It has a life expectancy of 30 years, Leavitt had said.
The money budgeted for oil for the three buildings would pay for the system.
The U.S. Forest Service did a feasibility study on which heating method would work best for the buildings and be the most cost efficient. The study looked at wood chips, wood chips/shavings/sawmill residue and wood pellets.
The study indicated a pellet system would have a quicker payback and replace 95 percent of the oil used at the buildings, Leavitt said in August.
The district used a pellet boiler at the new Mallett School during the last school year until mid-May.
Only 1,100 gallons of oil were used during the 2011-12 school year.
If the proposal for the two schools and garage moves forward, the system is not expected to be online until the 2013-14 school year.
dperry@sunjournal.com
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