FARMINGTON — The Board of Selectmen unanimously agreed Tuesday to ask the University of Maine at Farmington to consider the Community Center in its plan for a central heating plant on campus.
Selectmen also decided to have a presentation on a pellet boiler system to compare, before making a final decision.
While the university is seeking permits for its project, it offered the town the opportunity because of the proximity of the Community Center to the proposed heating plant, Thomas Perkins of Dirigo Architectural/Engineering of Turner told the board.
It is an exciting project and perhaps premature to discuss, Town Manager Richard Davis said.
The plan is expected to go before the Planning Board at its Feb. 9 meeting.
Although the town could connect to the UMF plant in the future, “it may be more feasible to do the work now,” Jeffrey McKay, director of facilities management at UMF, said in a letter to the town.
Construction of the 5,000-square-foot, wood-chip biomass plant on Quebec Street is expected to start by April and be completed in time for the next heating season, Perkins said. It will have an liquefied petroleum gas backup with underground water distribution to 28 buildings on campus.
In the letter, McKay estimated the cost for hooking in the Community Center at $90,000. The cost is expected to be recouped in savings in about 7.6 years, based on oil at approximately $2.25 per gallon.
An increase in oil costs would make the payback period shorter, Perkins said.
The cost of the oil system at the Community Center runs about $15,000 to $18,000 a year and includes operational costs for an older boiler, Davis said.
The town would have to pay the university approximately $4,900 for the first year.
The connection would eliminate the oil and maintenance costs for the Community Center. When Davis asked about keeping the oil system for backup, Perkins said the town could do so, but the central plant will already have the liquefied petroleum gas backup.
The biomass plant will be much more efficient and uses a local product, Perkins said.
The board agreed to consider the option of pellet heat, perhaps at their Feb. 10 meeting, the night after the Planning Board meeting.
abryant@sunjournal.com
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