Repairs may soon be coming to Floral Street School. (Photo/Caroline Gordon)
SHREWSBURY – Heating, ventilation and air conditioning repairs and changes to Floral Street School are among the articles on the Town Meeting warrant for this fall.
Assistant Director of Public Works Keith Baldinger presented the proposed HVAC repairs and improvements, which is article nine on the Town Meeting warrant, to the Select Board on Sept. 27.
According to Baldinger, this article asks to add funding to a 2023 fiscal year capital improvement project at Floral Street School to replace the five 25-year-old HVAC units that service the administrative area, media center and classrooms. These rooms make up approximately 15,000 square feet of the school.
Baldinger said the HVAC units at the Floral Street School are “the oldest HVAC system out of all of our buildings” as the other systems are either newer or have already been updated.
The current HVAC system heats the building with natural gas, which would be replaced with a heat pump system that is fully electric.
Converting from natural gas to a heat pump system would be cheaper and “more efficient in general,” according to Baldinger.
“We will use no fossil fuels and we will heat and cool the spaces with much less energy than we currently use,” he said.
Baldinger said the total cost to repair the HVAC system would be about $327,000, but the school is seeking $185,000 from treasury funds to offset its current 2023 fiscal year capital request of $100,000.
In addition, the school has a utility incentive from SELCO, which Baldinger said has been “involved since the beginning.”
If Town Meeting were to approve the funding for Floral Street School’s new HVAC system, it would be installed next summer, according to Baldinger.
Town Meeting is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 17 at Oak Middle School.
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