BETHEL — The SAD 44 board set a public hearing Oct. 22 on a proposed $2.5 million project to update air quality and energy efficiency at Telstar Regional High/Middle School on Route 26.

The hearing begins at 7 p.m. in the Helen C. Berry Auditorium of the  40-plus-year-old school.

Plans for the project have been in the works for several years.

Superintendent David Murphy said the district has $1.2 million in a capital reserve account. The remainder of the money will come from a federal Quality Schools Construction Bond at no interest for either 10 or 20 years. The term will be determined later.

Voters from Andover, Bethel, Greenwood, Newry and Woodstock will decide whether to approve the project at the polls Nov. 6.

He has said that if the district does not use the approved loan by the end of the year, it will revert to the lending agency and be made available for another school district.

The work includes upgrading lighting, refrigeration, the roof, and the infrastructure of the building.

Murphy has said that if the project is approved, an engineering study would be conducted later as a preliminary action for seeking voter approval once again for installation of a wood pellet heating system.

The school is heated by oil. A wood pellet burner is expected to save the district a considerable amount of money.

Another Quality Schools Construction Bond is expected to be available for the wood pellet burner installation.

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