Mayor’s Plan to Use Energy Savings to Pay for Capital Improvements

Mayor James J. Fiorentini has laid out an ambitious plan to use energy savings to pay for capital improvements to city and school buildings.

Fiorentini said the city received approval last month for a Federal energy grant to pay for new capital improvements to the Citizen’s Center and the Hunking School. These improvements will cost a total of about $250,000 and will allow for a new heating and HVAC system for the Citizen’s Center and a new building automation and control system for the Hunking School.

The Mayor also announced that the city was in the process of installing new LED lighting downtown and new LED traffic lights at various intersections around the city. He also announced that the city would be seeking to pay for a much larger group of capital improvements by making energy improvements and using the money that is saved to pay for other capital projects. The city has joined a regional contract to hire an energy services firm called Ameresco to make energy improvements to city and school buildings.

These improvements, expected to run in the millions of dollars, will generate energy savings that are expected to exceed the yearly cost of repairs. The Mayor said that the city will use the savings to make other needed capital repairs to city and school buildings.

“We cannot do everything” said Mayor Fiorentini “but by using energy savings ideas and grants, we can do some things, and then prioritize our list of what else can be done. No city in America can meet all its capital needs right now, but this will be a start.”

The Mayor indicated that the city was in the process of updating its five year capital plan and would ask for the city council and the public to weight in and vote on its priorities.