Special Town Meeting Set for Energy Project

Selectmen tonight set a Special Town Meeting for Feb. 13 for residents to decide on a 20-year energy initiative proposed by Honeywell.

Honeywell has studied the town’s buildings and proposed making energy upgrades to the and all of the schools except for the high school under construction.

Voters will be asked to approve borrowing about $5 million toward the project,.

In the long run, the town will make money on the project, Town Administrator Timothy McInerney said. That takes into account the amount of energy savings and includes rebates, he said.

The project will be bolstered by $1.65 million in free cash.

The original total cost of the project is $7,047,894, which includes the project price of $6,852,894 plus $195,000 in legal and contingency fees.

The town negotiated $307,500 off the price, which brings it to $6,740,394.

McInerney proposes using $1.65 million in free cash, which reduces the cost to $5,090.394. That is the amount the town will ask voters to approve borrowing.

Over 20 years, the town will save $7,254,249 in energy savings and earn an additional $111,395 in rebates.

This amount exceeds the total project cost of $7,047,894 by about $300,000, which translates to a net increase of about $15,000 per year.

Finance Committee chairman David Libbey said his board could not recommend the project until specific questions are answered.

McInerney said that, with the Special Town Meeting date set, the town must take on an outreach effort to help residents understand the project.

By agreeing to the Special Town Meeting date, selectmen have “moved off the dime’’ and allowed the process of public information sessions and Finance Committee meetings to begin, selectman Brook Padgett said.

Selectman chairman Peter Adams stressed that residents will not have to pay more in taxes as a result of this project.