Barre school heating system upgrade on track
By David Delcore
STAFF WRITER | September 14,2016
BARRE Barre City Elementary and Middle School shouldn t have a problem with its heating system this winter because, while there s still a little work to do, it s all brand new.
Superintendent John Pandolfo told school commissioners this week that the new wood chip-fueled boiler has been installed, the electrical work is almost finished, and the controls needed to end a chronic problem of temperatures fluctuating wildly from one room to the next are on the way. Armed with a waiver from the state Agency of Education that allowed it to accept the lone bid for the new controls, board members took care of that last bit of business Monday night. According to Pandolfo, only one of the three companies asked to submit bids for the controls they re needed to ensure the school s new biomass boiler operates at maximum efficiency actually did. He said school officials requested, and the state subsequently granted, permission to accept the proposal submitted by Temperature Controls of Vermont. Though the $124,030 bid was somewhat higher than was originally estimated for a package of building upgrades, board members were told the total cost of the improvements was within the $600,000 approved by voters in March. Those improvements include an impressive new boiler that Pandolfo predicted would cut the school s heating costs and some strategic security-related improvements. Pandolfo told board members the plan is to replace thermostats and other controls throughout the school in order to efficiently integrate the newly installed heating system. It s replacing a lot of what we have, he said, noting some of the existing controls would be salvaged. Word that work on the heating system will soon be complete was welcome news for board members who no longer have to worry about an old boiler that occasionally malfunctioned and had come to require increasingly expensive repairs.
The board had hoped to replace the boiler last year, but time constraints forced them to squeeze one last heating season out of the old system. In retrospect the delay was useful. Although it required a modest investment in repairs to the old boiler, it bought the board time to analyze disparate bids and consider other building needs before asking voters to approve $600,000 in long-term financing in March. Much of that work including the most visible improvement was done over the summer. In addition to replacing the boiler, security-related renovations to the front office and the school s main entrance were completed. The new layout requires visitors to check in with office personnel before actually gaining access to the school through the secure doors in the main vestibule. The new arrangement replaces a more informal one that assumed visitors would follow the rules and check in at the nearby office after being remotely admitted by secretarial staff located several yards and a closed door away. Requiring face-to-face contact with all visitors prior to their being admitted to the building was considered an important safety upgrade. It seems to be working, according to Pandolfo, who said two minor upgrades might need to be considered.
Due to noise in the vestibule, Pandolfo said the speaker, which allows visitors to communicate with staff on the other side of a new window, might need to be replaced. He said the same is true of a new crash bar on the new door to the reconfigured main office. Absent any modification, Pandolfo said that door would be time-consuming to secure in the event of an emergency lockdown.
In a related matter, the board accepted Integrity Communications low-bid of $23,198 to install electronic access controls on 11 of the school s exterior doors. The doors will be opened with programmable cards issued to staff members instead of keys that are occasionally lost or not returned. david.delcore
@timesargus.com