Council, School Board OK Energy Contract

Farmington will be among the state’s first municipalities to leverage an energy savings to fund improvements to the town’s buildings.

The Town Council and Board of Education agreed to go forward with a $3.4 million performance contract with Ameresco Inc. this week. The contract is the product of a joint Green Efforts Committee, made up of board and council members as well as knowledgeable residents.

Cost of the projects will be paid for entirely through resulting energy savings, which are guaranteed by Ameresco for five years. The Town has the option to extend the guarantee at a cost.

Benefits of the contract, which includes 94 projects in 22 Town and school buildings, as presented by Town Manager Kathy Eagen:

• Replace old end-of-life equipment with new, efficient systems
• Free up dollars for other capital items
• Reduce energy use and maintenance expense
• Create a better working environment for students and employees
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions

The HVAC system at Town Hall, which has been failing for the past few years and would likely have been paid for by the town in this year’s budget at $800,000, will be removed from the capital plan, as will two boilers ($600,000) at Farmington High School.

If the Town can secure funding for the 16-year contract at less than 4 percent interest, additional projects will be included in the plan up to the anticipated cost.

“When capital budgets get hit as they have for years, there are things that just don’t get fixed,” said council Chairman Jeff Hogan. “We don’t have people come up during the budget process and say please allocate money for dump trucks.”