[Applause] [Music] call the meeting to order good evening everybody today is Wednesday March 26
2025 sorry for being uh a few minutes late uh I do call the meeting uh a hearing of the Christian school committee to order we are here to discuss the pending debt excl I usion article concerning the air Environmental Quality and decarbon carbonization
project the meeting is being video and audio recorded for future cable broadcast please silence all cell phones for the duration of the meeting and so can um I have a motion to open so move second do a roll
call Mr hun yes Mrs Dy yes Mrs go yes Mrs padera yes Mr H yes okay and we will uh I'll ask everybody to stand so we can do the pl United States of
America stand IND and Justice all right so thank you all for being here today as members of the school committee elected by you our town residents our primary responsibility is to ensure that our students receive a
quality education in a safe and supportive environment to fulfill that responsibility we must ensure that our school buildings are equipped with the necessary infrastructure to create spaces where students can Thrive spaces that are not only safe but also conducive to learning and grow the
proposed project that you are about to hear about directly addresses critical concerns related to indoor air quality building envelope improvements and Energy Efficiency by making these necessary upgrades we can extend the life of our current school buildings ensuring that they continue to meet the
needs of our students and staff for years to come this will help us avoid the need for costly new construction while also providing a healthier more efficient learning environment tonight we are here to discuss the proposition two and a half debt exclusion ballot
question which will support the aush public schools air environment quality and clean energy project to provide you with more details on this important initiative I will now turn the presentation over to Super superintendent Dr PA Bailey and Mr Patrick McIntyre our school business
manager thank you Mr H and as uh you just pointed out we here to talk about the proposition 2 and a half dead exclusion for the ACC cushion at Public Schools air environment quality and clean energy project I would just ask if
uh people had questions that we hold them until the end so I want to talk about how we got here as you know 2 years ago oh I'm sorry do you want to go yes I'm sorry um so Patrick's going to explain
what a proposition 2 and a half debt exclusion is I think that's important for the public to understand y so as you can see on the presentation screen um a Deb exclusion is a voter approved measure um that allows a local
government to temporarily exceed the tax levy limit set by propos position 2 and a half for specific debt related costs so debt related costs only um it's specific to capital projects um typically School construction are large
infrastructure projects and it allows a municipality to raise These funds um temporarily which is important it is not a permanent increase on the tax limit but temporarily that coincides with the life of the debt so in this
instance it would approximately 20 years and it it is also critical to know that this is based on voter approval the debt exclusion must be approved by voters through the V question that will be presented on April 22nd uh why this school project so
throughout this presentation we're going to talk about how this school project addresses safety um indoor Environmental Quality improvements infrastructural needs um extending the building longev improving outdated systems and
benefiting the students staff and the community okay so now we're we how we got here um and how it started and as you recall a couple of summers ago we actually had students in our building for summer programming and we started
staff started to notice mold in the building at the elementary school and we cleaned it but it kept appearing uh so we had mold testing to make sure that it wasn't toxic um we wanted to make sure that it wasn't that black mold and
additionally we had environmental companies come in to the building and the situation because we wanted to be sure at that time that we didn't have a sick building um but we also had mechanical building envelope and humidity concerns
which inevitably caused the mold so we decided a few months after that to set up the steering committee to discuss next steps and I think it's important to realize that that steering committee consisted of many stakeholders uh we had the Town Administrator a
select board member a fincom member the Board of Health director we had school administrators faculty staff and appearent but as the mold kept reappearing we decided that we need to we actually had to close school down at
Thanksgiving time because again there were a lot of mounting frustrations with with the staff and students we didn't know what was going on so we decided to have a deep clean and a professional remediation at that time which was the Thanksgiving break so that was that was
a huge inconvenience for our families and to modify the school calendar at the time we also held informational meetings to discuss ongoing concerns uh we did testing results and possible solutions
eventually we settled on a comprehens comprehensive Energy Management Services procurement to capitalize a full investment grade audit of both school buildings which included the infrastructure the building envelope the equipment
Etc and would that take us the info would um we would then pursue this project so that we could address a permanent solution to address both buildings and the concerns that we had at the time so
we selected train as our TurnKey provider for design build solution for more efficient and effective design and Engineering there's a statutory obligation for train to generate conservation measures of energy which
have greatly benefited the project via Energy Efficiency and related grants incentives and rebates that we will be getting into later on in this presentation so here are just some images we have a a lot of images but I
just put a few in for tonight to that actually shows when the mold was present and as you can see it was in the air traveling to some of the Ducks and vents um if you go to the next one you
can see that it was even on cloth surfaces um on furniture and even in the picture underneath furniture and it obvious uh it wasn't always obvious spot so we would lift up rugs and it would be
underneath rugs um so again um we had a lot of teachers very concerned at the time we replaced many rugs many chairs many bulletin boards we took all the necessary precautions to keep everyone
safe and just a couple more photos you can see those are actually student laptops that had mold on them underneath desks um um so when we say that we had to close the building down for a deep clean we literally emptied all of our
classrooms um at that time and we had serf Pro come in in November and they came out to do a very deep cleaning during the Thanksgiving break and again that was clearing out furniture from every single room at the elementary school and doing the furniture deep
clean everything so in addition you you can see that our current Band-Aid fixes which consist of over 60 classroom and office dehumidifiers and O um and office air
purifiers some we had those purifiers we had in existence from Co but as the pictures tell these units are in the way of our teaching and learning they're right behind classroom worktables in the path of a bookshelf and they all
increase our electricity usage and give off noise and heat as they run every single day day and night which is impairing the educational environment in addition as the units fail all these
individual units we need to continue to replace them and replace the filters which obviously becomes very costly um and some of you may recall uh about a year ago we had a neighboring District um that had school closed for
several days due to a fire that started with one dehumidifier um and again we have more than 60 running day and night which is not safe so as superintendent Bailey alluded to um you know these fixes these
temporary fixes you know cost an extremely large amount of money um the deep clean was procured as an emergency procurement due to the health and safety hazards um and that cost upwards of $188,000 um we went through environmental and testing services that
cost nearly $51,000 and then with the miscellaneous equipment and replacement of furniture and fixtures that you know occurred at the time and continues to be ongoing with the filter changes and the failed dehumidifiers and air purifiers and so on um that's about $35,000 in counting
all in all the school funded through grants and revolving funds and some operating budget of oim ately $275,000 um to mitigate this problem um Can can I just add something I just want everyone to keep in mind that's nearly
$300,000 but that doesn't even talk about the intangible costs related to employees and student absences and the impact on teaching and learning um for those individuals in addition to you know
utility costs and lost labor hours for you know catering to this equipment versus doing jobs that actually need to be performed um but so in addition to this 274 again which we're able to to you know Band-Aid ourselves without asking for any additional funding which
is important um because we're very strategic about it um there's also a breakup fee with train if we were not to U move forward with this project to the tune of about $21,000 and that's for all the efforts they've put in so far um the audits that they've provided on our
buildings um as well as forfeiting potentially a half a million dollar Green community grant that we received relative to this project so in summary the project uh consists of indoor Environmental Quality improvements a building management system upgrade building envelope
improvements duct cealing and air purification um all components that work together and in harmony to ensure an effective and efficient project excuse me uh so to improve Indoor Comfort and humidity control at AES we would be
upgrading the HVAC systems and controls uh picture here some of our units um in our pen houses and on top of our roof these units which are approaching you know the end of their use for Life anyways would be retrofitted um inside out so that we can maintain the
Integrity of the structure but also um upgrade you know the necessary necessary components to get uh a new life out of these machines uh that are inevitably near fa failure um it will improve indoor air quality through advanced
dehumidification strategies and we will add equipment as well um for variable refrigerant flow heat pump technology for efficient Heating and Cooling um a part of the clean energy component of this project uh in decarbonization which we received the grant for um in addition
in order to add these compon components and again make sure they all work in harmony we would be upgrading electrical and structural infrastructure um to support the needs which is also a benefit um and en large undertaking to the project what's important about this
initiative is that we do not want to um excuse me we do not want to wait for the equipment to fail again and and approach another $275,000 plus fix we want to fix it now and we want to make sure it works and it's working properly um and it and it
dehumidifies and addresses our concerns um as eviden by daily feedback in our school ticketing system for our maintenance and custodial tasks almost every day we get tickets uh regarding temperature issues and my classroom's too hot my classroom's too cold my
classroom feels you know humid my my classroom feels dry and it's all because this equipment along with the building management system which I'm going to get to on the next slide isn't working properly um so improving the air quality will improve the environment in the classrooms for a health and safety
perspective but also to provide comfort and provide a conducive learning environment um so the next measure that this project will upgrade is our building management system um again pictured on the right is our current system which is dated um and ineffective
you know we we can make certain tweaks to this system and the system will show that it's responding but when we get to the louvers and the vents that should have changed there is no change and we have to manually you know correct those controls ourselves um a new system will
achieve full integration and centralized visibility for all buildings um through a single web based system enhancing operations management and control um we'll be able to access it from a phone a tablet uh a laptop and it will be
essential for maximizing incentives and payments from urce because it will allow us to operate an efficient building um that will save us on utility costs and and just provide you know insurance that we know what's going on um with a new
system it will alert us if the temperature changes outside of a certain range if the humidity changes with outside of a certain range you know if there's a drop in temperature because something failed we don't have to worry about not knowing and coming into work on Monday to a surprise of an emergency the system will tell us over the weekend
we can avoid you know a Frozen pipe that would burst and and lead to more problems um which would be you know extremely expensive as well um so you know relative to the everyday citizen think of it as a new car right you get a new car with new
technology that car tells you now when you need an oil change when your tire pressure is low when something isn't working properly so you can get ahead of it rather than react to it and have to pay the big Bill of you know major repairs this project will also address building
envelope improvements um there was a separate audit involved in this process that audited just the building envelope it looked at you know Eaves doorways Windows everything related to the infrastructure of the building where there could be air leaks um moisture
leaks so on and so forth um but by addressing that we create an environment that is closed contained and that we can control um we don't want to fight against out side elements with an upgraded system and not address the
envelope where you know moisture is still sneaking in and we're just battling against it and against it and against it so this would provide the proper insulation um structural elements to to maintain the Integrity of the building and ultimately preserve the building to get more life out of the building um it will also help prevent
the entry of pollutants allergens and outside contaminants again with all these leaky areas those could come in through you know any of these Eaves and just infiltrate their way into the classroom or the systems um and then in addition it just again with the energy component it increases energy efficiency
by reducing Heating and Cooling requirements so once again we have a controlled environment there's no outside forces pushing and pulling on what we're trying to control you know so again similar to your home you're not you might have a drafty window but you're not going to let that go by and
you know have Z degree temperatures kind of weaking through those windows when you're trying to stay warm all all winter and paying for oil and so on and so forth um in addition you know if you have moisture leaks or roof leaks you're not just going to let that leak and keep dripping and and you know erode your
house you're going to address it and fix it so these are measures that we need to take now to preserve our buildings um and then quickly here in this presentation which will be shared are just more pictures of where they found infiltration um you know up in the
ceilings at the roof wall intersections and all these pictures have captions of exactly what's going on another measure is duck ceiling so similarly to the building envelope you know our air is going to be traveling through duct work we want to make sure we're controlling where that air is going and it's not leaking outside of
the duct work or better yet contaminants getting into that duct work um from outside areas um it will eliminate condensation in unconditioned spaces caused by leaked cold air it will minimize energy loss from hot and cold
air leakage into unconditioned areas and again it will make sure that the air we're trying to deliver is going where it's supposed to be delivered and not you know outside into the to the the plenums of the the buildings and the classrooms um also it ensures that the air Distribution Systems are functioning
properly uh minimizing circulation of dust dirt mold uh and improving the air quality all around and then finally uh the last measure would be air purific ation um central air peration solution with
powered active filters uh this would be new it would be a system of devices that actively clean or treat the air as it passes through the hva system um using electrical charges to neutralize contaminants um so unlike a residential
system it can control the air and force it to pass through these filters rather than relying on the air to naturally uh make its way through a filter by chance um and then in addition these filters would help capture bacteria
viruses and gases your normal um filter would not do that um so upgrading the buildings air pration system can reduce the presence of harmful Airborne pollutants allergens pathogens um and make the environment safer for students
and staff as far as project cost and funding goes this project has been marketed as a not to exceed $4.2 million cost um we're sticking with that um but we're able to offset that cost you know the funding
sources will be a debt exclusion if successful we have received a $500,000 Green community Grant and to date we have estimated minimum eversource rebates and incentives totaling $200,00 ,000 so where that gets us at this point
in time is a $4.2 million project offset by half a million green communities Grant related to the energy U measures of this project and then another $200,000 in rebates and incentives related to energy measures of this project so we're knocking almost a
quarter of the pie off of the cost of the project and then relying on a debt exclusion for the remaining cost um and again the scope would get us all five of these measures ultimately upgrade and enhance and uh preserve our elementary
school building and create a proper learning environment um one meas one one comment on the estimated ever Source rebates and incentives we do want to work towards a final number what ever source is doing
right now is they're taking trains plans and sequences and auditing them um they're challenging them they're asking them to make changes that are more energy efficient or just better in their opinion better controlled um and train is reacting appropriately to maximize
the incentives for this project those incentives could be upwards to $550,000 um so there there's a little more there that we could offset the costs uh and Hope come to fruition between now and the uh time that we need to borrow in addition at a previous
public meeting uh the select board and the Town Administrator spoke on how they could potentially look look into town Reserve funds to help offset the tax impact to our residents as well um and we look to receive more information from them on that matter um so in
summary uh the taxpayer impact of the debt exclusion right currently our residential tax rate is $10.79 per $1,000 of assessed home value um commercial tax rate is $15.22 per $1,000 of assess value the
average single family assessed value in a kushit as we speak is $471,000 in change the average single family tax bill per year is about $5,990 so again based on our current measures and where we would be borrowing
we would look to be borrowing $3.5 million um that would be princess princess principal excuse me princess and principal and interest Princess um principal of 3.5 million and interest of
1.47 million over 20 years um the highest year of principle in interest would be about $311,000 payment the lowest would be a $178,000 payment and your average payment over 20 years is about $248,000 um on the next slides I'm going
to show you the impact that H that those three scenarios have on a taxpayer and aush um again with the small small font right excuse me so this scenario would be your highest impact so the year that if we
borrow $3.5 million we would be looking at a $311,500 payment what this tells you is essentially the tax rate impact per $11,000 would increase 15 um per assessed value or what that
amounts to is approximately $707 6 C to the average single family tax bill in the Cushing so the tax bill for someone with a $471,000 assessed value home that usually has a tax bill of $590 will increase by
$7.7 for that year in the lowest scenario where you know we paid down a lot of the principal and there's not much interest acing on that principle um and we're looking at a $178,500 payment the increase on the tax
rate impact is 88 cents per $1,000 of assessed value or $37.75 to the average single family tax bill in the CER so again $471,000 home home um is our average a $5,000
$590 tax bill um with a 377 $377 increase for that year what that amounts to on average is a 12 12 C increase per $1,000 assessed value or about
$566 for the average single family tax bill on cushion for what is a $3.5 million project to again preserve our schools and to create a healthy environment so there's many benefits to
the community um fiscally we need facility updates right that's no secret um but where savings will help pay for the project over time I think that's important as well as lower maintenance costs um Energy savings guaranteed by
train eversource utility rebates to reduce Capital costs the green communities grant opportunities to reduce the capital cost um the potential for increase in property values improved because we'll have improved educational
outcomes and more importantly and I think I can't stress this enough is that this project really helps avoid the need for building a brand new school and that could be well over $100 million so uh $100 million so benefits socially uh
optimizing indoor air quality in our schools to solve the humidity issues at AES it will positively impact student comfort and the education Educators retention reduce sick days and mental and physical health consistent and posit
positive learning environment for all of the town's people's kids and it's really we're talking about the future of a Kush net um also as you know many Community groups use our facilities for sports and clubs meetings voting Etc and now we
want to have an improved environment for all to benefit from and then environmental uh measurable reduction in utility consumption consumption measurable reduction in greenhouse gas it could serve for a community model for
sustainability um the Incorporated Energy Efficiency and sustainable practices could serve as a model for other buildings in the town or even neighboring communities and encourage them to adopt similar strategies for their buildings leading to a broader
environmental impact so just to reiterate the time timeline um you know back in February of 24 we issued an RFQ to pursue an energy Management Services Company to perform
um an investment grade audit so in February 24 we issued that RFQ in May after going through the extensive review um interviews reference checks with these esos these energy man service Energy Management service companies we
selected train um by July we executed an investment grade audit um and from July to December they developed scope of improvements and provided a final investment grade audit um from September to present we've engage stakeholders at all levels
whether that's you know our students families um faculty you know Town Offices um or just publicly that public meeting for the residents um and we're going to continue to do that up until the ballot and town meeting um which takes us to the next part of the
timeline [Applause] okay so next we're going to be having a joint select board and school committee public hearing and that's on Wednesday April 16th our annual Town election will be the April 22nd and then the annual
town meeting will be June 2nd and I'd like to just say we encourage all the citizens to stay involved in this process to attend these meetings um and if anybody has any questions please reach out to the boards the Committees
the admin team we're all here to answer questions and I would just ask if Patrick could just go over that Deb exclusion ballot question so that the residents will understand what's been ask of them so we figured it would be important to share what the language might look
like on the ballot question as we approach um the ballot date as this you know doesn't happen every year um so on the slide is what was shared um with me that is going to be on the ballot which I will read um shall the town of Acushnet be allowed to exempt from the
provisions of proposition 2 and 1/2 soal the amounts required to pay for the bonds issued in order to pay costs of Energy Efficiency improvements including but not limited to air environment quality and decarbonization improvements to be made pursuant to an Energy
Services contract including the payment of costs incidental or related thet right there's no mention on the school school that is that set how it's going to be or so that is set how it's going to be
um going understand that I think what's important is is by law what we are and aren't allowed to put into this question um we can get clarification on the school but ultimately it's the select board you know entering into debt agreement at some point um but we also
aren't allowed to put the quantity the the dollar amount into this debt question um so steps to take would be one vote on this ballot question you know we're not going to tell you which way to vote but you you have to vote or
you know when you do vote this will be brought to your attention is it a yes or no what is it it will be a yes or a no question um and if the vote is successful and the ballot question moves forward the article in town meeting will speak to the
project cost not to exceed 4.2 million in borrowings and it will speak to the explanation that this is for the school project related to the measures that we've discussed so that will come into play on the town article and that will also have to be successfully voted on to
continue with this project Patrick typically there there's something besides the ballot question that provides a little bit of context in terms of what what what the ask is for will that be part not not on a ballot question again on the town article that will be below explaining what the
article speaks to but as the the ballot question goes that language is what you see is what you get um and and what you're doing is just entertaining the idea to allow it to be on the town article for then it to be voted on again to borrow and enter into contract so I
don't know if that's entirely true because we do get those red books for I don't know if anybody's seen those before and those are for ballot questions and it says if you vote Yes it says this is what will happen if you vote no this is what happen so are you saying from the town LEL and not able to
do that but from the state level you are I received motions and I know this is where this was decided through town Bond Council and through town General Council by law how it was advised to be right it can be written like that but explanations like it's like a mail or
something I did not see that on the document that I received it's a question we can ask good and also are we allowed during the um ballot uh during the town
election can people hold signs across the street regarding this that again I I'm not going to take these questions I recommend that we talk to town and school council as it as it pertains to these types of see want to make sure
that enough information is shared shared with the public so they understand what they're voting for or against correct um so I just want to make it known that we do have have some guests tonight first I want to thank you all
the school committee um and our business manager Patrick McIntyre has done an incredible amount of work to get where we are with this I want to thank him for everything the school district has also hired um Beth greenblat who is our consultant from Beacon Integrated
Solutions and she's been a tremendous help to us in our district she's an expert in this area and then we have some folks with us and and Beth is with with us as as well virtually um we have Morgan Paris with us from train um and
also we have Mr maxma who is with us in person tonight so they're also here in case you all have questions uh specific questions regarding this project I I one one question we went over some figures in the beginning uh
you know what how much has been spent to mitigate the the situation if we failed to do something the say 5 years how much we we would have spent in 5 years in
mitigating uh the ISS the issue of uh of the moisture and the I'm going to let Patrick take that but before he does I just want to say as you know it it's $275,000 that I need to make it known this was Sr funds we no longer have Sr
funds so if we run into another problem with mold Etc we don't have the money in our operating budget to handle and mitigate the problem like we did with the Esser funding so I don't know if we even
know um the cost in the future what could potentially be right I I think that's the risk that's posed is we don't know um we know what the cost of a replacement dehumidifier is we know what the cost of filters are we know what we're paying our team for labor hours
and over time to maintain those um superintendent Bailey talked about how we can't put a cost on health we can't put a cost on absentee whether student or teacher um and then you know if these larger components and larger equipment that we know is failing and have an audit to show that they're approaching
their useful Life begin to fail it's going to be like any other you know Capital need it's going to be extremely high it's going to be reactive it's going to be an emergency we're going to need it yesterday and it's going to cost you know twice as much to to get it in in the time that we need versus having a
planned approach which would be this project half a project in 5 years and you're still still a square one that's that would be mes sense and while we weren't deemed a stick building it was not considered black mold um everybody
has different sensitivity to mold so we did have staff impacted by this and students um nobody wants to miss out on being here with the kids or the kids being here for their education so um during that time I spoke to many many
parents and families as well as staff um and we've been on it like I said for 2 years now dealing with this and what we have going on right now is a Band-Aid so we don't have any questions does anybody have any
questions I mean we have our consultant here um we have Morgan Harris here we do have someone who wants to come up anybody else in the public that wants to say absolutely to the should I okay so we'd like to open
the floor for public comments we welcome your thoughts questions feedback on this important initiative it will shape the future of our schools and Community um for those folks who have signed up for public comment I think we're roll out the 3 minutes for comments and feedback and so if you could step to the podium
kindly state your name and address for the record before you provide your comments and we thank you for your uh participation but excuse my voice sick but uh David Flynn 36 w Road by way of this I've been a school Finance operations director for more
than 28 years myself so I am in support of schools and keeping them healthy and safety just a couple questions though so this this being procured under chapter 25A proposing okay so typically under these Esco Energy Management savings contracts at least in the past I know
equipment's more more expensive now it were funded by the guaranteed savings that he would realize and given here so um what are the predicted savings that would recur from spending this $4.2 million I can take that but more than Max feel free to jump in um so there
will be minor energ or cost savings from the energy improvements um I think estimations are in the $3,000 range annually at three three singular singular three and it's because of the need for um the improved equipment that we need and the equipment that we need
to add to dehumidify thinking this a quick fall take to dehumidify again in a brand new school building that we built right worked a couple years ago the building was dehumidified it wasn't cooled I'm just curious was that an option that was look that to condition and keep it at a
relative humidity level that is very comfortable without the added expense of constantly cooling as well so of course we can't speak to other buildings and how they're engineered but we have explored other options um you know this was a good better best approach this was the best
approach for Kush at Public Schools um we've looked into other ways to dehumidify the air um and I'm going to actually turn it over to Morgan and Max if they want to speak in detail on that absolutely thank you for the comment my name is Max M I'm a project developer
with train I have the privilege of working on a lot of engineering aspects with uh the school administration uh so I'll speak to I'll share with folks some of the work the background work that we did in terms of engineering to come up with this Suite of solutions uh we
consider several methods of addressing the problem as you mentioned right there are many ways to deify for example technology exists that does a desant deification without having necessarily the space um but based on the infrastructure at the cionet at the schools at the cionet uh the constraints
are such that for example there is no availability of natural gas um the um centry units are on the roof right uh which makes accessibility and structurally uh other aspects u a constraint so the really cooling the air
down um dehumidification through refrigeration cycle is the most cost effective solution at this at this facility so that's the that's the um that's a heat pump solution that we ultimately move forward with uh now to your point of um energy consumption um
it we understand that to address a uh humidification problem uh to to improve the dehumidification of the school control the humidification it is necessary to use some form of energy right our goal is to use the energy in the most responsible in in the least
operational cost way possible so we've selected High effici equipment uh in addressing this issue uh those are the varable refrigerate flow technology we have brf units we have heat replacement for the existing rooftop units uh so the
energy uh piece has absolutely been cons been analyzed and be reviewed and that's why we work collaboratively not only with the uh the consultant Miss uh green blad but also with eversource we want to make sure that everybody agrees that we
are taking and not only we are seeking their agreement but also their input to make sure that we've considered the most responsible way to move forward with a uh humidification control and the other point to the energy conservation measures that I just wanted to add though we are adding to
you know maybe the utility load more than you know what's favorable in one of these types of projects we're nearly eliminating the use of our fossil fuels so the decarbonization aspect there will be savings on the heating oil you know that we will be not using As Much
Anymore um because of these VF heat pumps so that that's important measure too thank you question please and just the other thing about it's really like addressing the root cause of the moisture infiltration my standing from one of your engineers that you know the
brick facade is a major source of moisture and water infiltration into the buildings not just around like the windows and doors what's being done to address the cause of the moisture in the first place I we're trying to eradicate with the system it's as um Mr McIntyre um show
showed in the some of the slides right uh part of the solution part of The Suite of solutions is to uh improve the envelope so that comes with uh improved infiltration control improved uh improved um control of heat masses and
and of moisture migration as so that that's going to be part of the solution now again we recommended that this the solution be looked at holistically rather than at a piece at a time right for example you don't want to address a a part of the
building at a time you don't want to address a single system at a time when we have the opportunity to look at this as a holistic solution we want to make sure that we address how the moisture comes in how the moisture is controlled and how can we uh eliminate the moisture
as necessary through a central system and that's what we we've uh proposed because if you got a hole in your boat you don't want to dig a build puff you want to fix the hole in both absolutely absolutely but we also want to we understand the buildings will never be 100% uh tight for one even a um
well-engineered tight building requires ventilation right and our solution is not to start the ventilation we will have CO2 sensors in spaces to make sure that ventilation rates are sufficient right as the ventilation brings in air and if the air has a high moisture
content then there is a need for um dehumidified air right or we are not saying moisture is unnatural that any moisture in the building is not to be expected but um it has to be in the way that we control the moisture how it gets into the building if it gets in through
the ventilation air that's not a problem because our coils are there our uh Central systems are meant to capture that uh moisture and remove it or control it um but we don't want moisture to come in through um uncontrolled methods and that's where condensation happens that's where potential mod
issues happen and I just want to I want to add to that too as well I don't think that there's anyone that has made uh or uh I don't I want WR this I guess uh found evidence that the brick facade is
allowing in moisture or air um I think what you're referring to is where we had a roof wall intersection where the flashing was improperly constructed which isn't related to you know these energy measures but is a construction need that we need to address um so yes it's a separate project and I think
what's important right is we're working towards preserving these school buildings just because this project succeeds or fails doesn't mean it's going to be the last repair that we put into these buildings that would be silly to say you know we will still with a building improve envelope Improvement um
you know we will still experience roof leaks we will still experience infiltration at at weaknesses but we will be able to combat them better um and we're getting you know most of the work out of the way by controlling the environment so that one issues happen because they happen
everywhere new construction and old it's not going to impact every single classroom the same way that it has in the past thank you very much thank you there any other questions I just want to give U Miss
greenblat and Morgan an opportunity to comment on any of those questions if they you know felt necessary or just you know make any statements before we wrap this [Applause] up I can go ahead if you can hear me can
hear awesome thank you um just a really great qu a set of questions coming through um from the community right and it shows that the community really cares that this solution has been thought of um and worked through and that we didn't just throw you know one specific um
solution at of wall and call that what we would move forward with right and I just wanted to emphasize that we we did right we did go through a very comprehensive very long process of developing um multiple solutions that we thought might address this problem
comprehensively right it involved multiple months of site visits walking subcontractors performing energy calulations looking at the impact of different systems on the humidity and on the temperature uh and really ultimately
wasn't um just related to what would um reduce the humidity the most it was what will address the problem reduce the humidity provide more Comfort um provide great greater controls reduce energy or increase energy efficiency by reducing
utility bills and allow the least High first cost option right so allowing with the most incentives possible to offset what the first cost of this project might be um so really it was holistic our team evaluated multiple options Max
as you can see is really in depth with every single part of this solution um and just we're happy to be here and to be presenting a project to you that that we believe really um address the community's needs and and provide buildings that are safe comfortable and efficient uh we like to say sun and 70
so um hopefully that that addresses most questions but happy to answer any more if they come up and I'll pass it off to Beth thank you thank you Morgan I I would like to take this opportunity to to congratulate and and to to thank
Patrick um and the superintendent for their hard work in in putting this together municipalities public sectors public schools have an opportunity through um a a procurement opportunity available under Massachusetts general
laws that allows for the public sector to look at its INF structure and facilities in a comprehensive way identify issues and address them um specifically in comprehensively to gain energy efficient solutions that
supported through as as one Community member just said supported through a combination of of debt service and Energy savings in short reinvesting those Energy savings back into the the
specific buildings um and it's a the the benefit of this type of approach to solve these specific problems is that the community can best tailor the solution to address the specific needs realize more efficient and better
operating facilities and allow your school department to do their jobs more efficiently and more effectively um while simultaneously improving the infrastructure of your building and secur uring its longevity and it's it's
a good intersection of all of those issues and it a kushit would not be the first public entity to address these types of projects in this way performance Contracting as this is referred to is an approach that's been
undertaken by hundreds of municipalities in fact I would I would suggest just by the nature of the the municipalities that I've supported in this regard at least 50% of the Commonwealth public sectors whether it's Department
school districts Regional School Districts or or municipalities in its entirety have undertaken some form of energy management performance Contracting because it's found to be a very good way to address these very
specific issues in upgrading and renewing infrastructure while simultaneously doing it in the most economical and energy efficient way and so I see this as an opportunity certainly and I'm delighted that eversource and
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts also recognize that this is truly a a tremendous opportunity and they're recognizing it not only with their ad but they're recognizing it also with their wallets the green the half a million dollar green communities grant
that um that that you all have been able to secure quite frankly is is specifically tied to this project trly another project as an example a dehumidification only project would would dis be disqualified under that
Grant application and so truly it it was an opportunity to sort of jump into the flow of the stream of available resources eversource is working very hard with um Patrick um and with train
to maximize the incentives it can offer to squeak out even more energy savings and improve the overall solution so that it can help offset the first cost of the project and so I think that's really the opportunity that the community has in
front of itself it there's a need it's been documented and demonstrated it is clearly creating potentially some Integrity issues for the building and for the the the stakeholders in the building and the solutions that have been identified not
only will are more efficient more effective are new and will and and new only in they're new to your building their technologies that have been utilized across the country um and and now even more so integrated into the mass into the sort of the New England
Market but they are tried andr Technologies there's nothing that's you know groundbreaking here but how of there being used in this situation will improveing efficent the efficiency of the buildings if it will enhance the indoor air and the indoor Environmental
Quality and as a result will allow you to to retain a much longer life for your building and for your stakeholders to utilize the buildings thank you be thank you so uh Dr baile think I could just say a couple things in closing before we before we
wrap up so so thank you Dr Bailey Mr McIntyre training Representatives Beth for your uh feedback participation thus far as we've discussed today this project is critical for improving the indoor environment extending the life of our existing school buildings and creating a healthier more energy
efficient learning space for our students and staff the upgrades we're proposing will help us address pressing issues related to air quality building infrastructure and energy use all while avoiding the need for costly new construction as elected school committee officials we are committed to doing our
proper due diligence to ensure that any decisions made are in the best interest of our student staff and Community we believe in this project and we believe it's the best option that will address the problems that the schools have uh faced in recent years so again I thank all of the folks community members who
are here who asked questions who participated um and so given that um I think I will uh we will adjourn I will ask for a motion to close the meeting Mo second all those in favor I any desent seeing none uh the motion passes the
meeting is adjurned thank you thank you [Music]