Boothbay-Boothbay Harbor CSD Board of Trustees

Trustees consider $225K in reserves, $36K in credit

Generator, phone system problems after outage; door project goes out to bid
Fri, 01/10/2020 - 11:00am

The Boothbay-Boothbay Harbor Community School District Board of Trustees learned Jan. 8, a re-estimation of project costs will free up about $225,000. Transportation and Maintenance Director Dave Benner said Lewis and Malm Architects lowered the estimate by dropping the Boothbay Region High School front entry and oil tank removal projects.

LMA suggested holding off on identifying new projects until bidding is complete and the board will know how much extra in funds it has to spend.

“We (also) have a credit of $36,923 because of some contract changes primarily because the lack of that blowed-in insulation that we did …”

Should the $225,000 in reserve funds not change much, trustees may want to consider upgrading Boothbay Region Elementary School lighting to LEDs, suggested Superintendent Keith Laser. “We'd save money and get a much brighter building … I remember we nixed it because it was too expensive.”

Benner suggested the $36,923 could go toward long awaited insulation in BRES's music room. Honeywell said it would cost about $22,850 to install three inches of rigid foam insulation inside each of the three walls exposed to the outside. Benner said the project would be turnkey with all electric, sheetrock and paint included.

“You've heard me growl and complain about how cold it is in the music room … They said they could do that during February break,” said Benner. “I think the option is either we wait and see if the new HVAC units do it, but I don't think they're going to fix whole walls … (because) we've got about a 20-degree loss on the outside walls.”

Power outage

The BRES generator failed to start Jan. 6 in a power outage caused by a downed telephone pole. The generator gets serviced twice a year, including a major one with oil and fluid changes, said Benner, not entirely surprised due to the equipment’s age.

“That generator came to us from Lincoln County Courthouse probably 20 years ago, and they got rid of it because it was too old for them even.”

It runs about one-third of the building: the kitchen, boiler room, part of the bottom floor and the gym, said Benner. He said the last time he checked, a new generator would cost about $100,000.

Trustee Ashleeann Lowery said if the $250,000 in reserve funds does not change after bidding, they may want to think about a new generator for BRES. “I mean, especially since it's a shelter. I feel like we have to do that.”

Benner said the outage also downed the motherboard on BRHS’s telephone system and the superintendent office’s wireless router and other components. Replacement costs total $7,255 and insurance will cover the costs.

Trustees also voted to put a door replacement project out to bid. Thirteen doors will be replaced in BRHS, the bidding process starts Jan. 15 and will close Feb. 12.