BETHEL — The School Administrative District 44 board of directors will revisit whether to add a pellet boiler to Crescent Park Elementary School at its meeting on Monday, April 25.
Superintendent David Murphy said the Facilities Committee looked at the possibility of adding a backup pellet boiler system to the school.
“The school currently operates on an oil furnace,” Murphy explained. “By adding a wood pellet system, it would give the district the option to take advantage of different heating methods, depending on the weather.”
He said the pellet system would work in tandem with the oil furnace at the school.
“When it’s not very cold out, or when the weather is nicer, the school would be able to work on fewer BTUs using a pellet system,” Murphy said. “When there’s extreme cold, we could switch over to an oil furnace. It could also depend on whatever is cheaper at the time.”
Murphy said at Monday evening’s board meeting that the Facilities Committee said it needed more input from the board before moving forward with the project.
“The target is April 25 to vote on a final recommendation,” Murphy said. “If the project is approved at the board level, it will have to go to a special article on the public budget meeting later this year.”
In other business, the board voted to authorize Murphy to execute and deliver a fiscal sponsorship grant agreement with Maine Mineral and Gem Museum.
Murphy said the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization, but requires a sponsor in order to apply for certain grants.
“We’ve agreed to act as a sponsor for them,” Murphy said. “It gives us an opportunity to work together with the Gem Museum, and we plan to make good use of the connection for our students.”
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