NEILLSVILLE SCHOOL TO GET NEW HEATING SYSTEM
Wednesday, February 23rd, 2005 -- 11:36 AM
The Neillsville board of education has decided to move forward with updating the school?s antiquated heating and ventilation system.At a meeting earlier this week, the board decided to forge ahead with the roughly $935,000 project. It will see the district bringing in two new boilers and keeping two of the current boilers on-line. The project will also require the retrofitting of the remaining portions of the heating system and the installation of a rooftop cooling unit that will serve a few ?hard-to-cool? areas, including the Commons, Teacher?s Lounge and Home EC areas.
Superintendent John Gaier says some portions of the current heating system date back to 1954.
Because the new system will be much more efficient, the district stands to save a huge sum of money annually.
"The best information we get (shows) a savings of about $40,000 in energy costs," Gaier said.
With a price tag of nearly $1-million, the district will be using a combination of grants and borrowing to pay the project.
"At this point, we are looking at some grants and some matching funds," Gaier explained, "We'll take out a loan for the remainder of the project."
Gaier said the district will pay off the project over a 10-year period.
The district currently has an annual debt load of around $424-thousand; that?s very low as a percentage of their overall budget, Gaier said.
The demolition of the two old boilers and installation of the new system will take place over the summer.
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