The Fayette school district has officially begun upgrading its HVAC system district-wide. The Board of Education held a special meeting on Monday, February 7 at which six of the seven board members present gave unanimous approval to enter into a contract with Veregy.

The $1,331,159 project includes HVAC and energy improvements including the full replacement of all furnaces and condensers at the elementary and middle schools, the replacement of several ground-source heat pumps at the high school, the replacement of controls at all three schools, the addition of bipolar ionization to new and existing HVAC units, and upgrades the ground-source heat pump fluid cooler to mitigate loop temperature control problems.

“This project will decrease energy consumption, improve system performance, and substantially improve air quality across all facilities resulting in annual operational and energy cost savings to the district of over $94,000,” said Superintendent Jill Wiseman.

The contract with Veregy includes a guarantee of savings valued at $1,442,029 over 15 years, nearly $95,000 a year. It will be measured by comparing monthly energy bills to past costs.

The project does not include upgrades to the HVAC system in the high school gymnasium. Estimates on that portion of the school have not yet been given. However, it is expected to raise the total cost of the project by a range of $170,000 to $300,000. Wiseman said she had capped the cost of the project at $1.5 million, but now the price could inch closer to $1.6 million.

She said that if the project ends up exceeding $1.5 million, the district will have to transfer additional money to the fund. 

Regardless of the project’s final price tag, the district is able to pay for this project without issuing bonds or asking voters for another tax increase. Monies will be used that were provided to the school district from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER II) Fund and Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020. Approved uses of those funds include HVAC improvements and other mitigation expenses related to covid-19.

The district plans to pay for the project over two fiscal years. At the special meeting, the board approved to transfer $800,000 into Fund 4 to begin the project. The balance will be paid in the next fiscal year.

Wiseman said that she expects to end the fiscal year with a fund balance of around 31%, which is still higher than the 25% the board set as a minimum.

“It’s kind of exciting,” said board president Skip Vandelicht. “It’s nice that we have the funds to do it.”

When the majority of the current high school was built in 2001, a ground-source heating and cooling system was included. However, the system has been used to heat and cool more buildings and space than for what it was designed. The new system will remove some buildings from the ground-source system, such as the one that houses the high school weight room. The expectation is that the 21-year old system will be able to work as intended.

“We are so pleased to be able to make these necessary improvements to our aging HVAC systems,” Wiseman said. “This will be a tremendous improvement to our facilities.

The board’s action on February 7 officially kicked off the project. It is scheduled to be completed before the first day of the next fall semester on August 24. Most of the work will be completed over the summer when buildings are empty.

The board also approved the purchase of a new steamer for the district’s food-service division at a cost of $33,285. “With the free and reduced (lunch) money coming in, we couldn’t have had a better year for it to break,” said middle school principal and future superintendent Brent Doolin. 

Doolin was hired as the district’s superintendent starting next school year. He said the food-service program has been running in the black for the past two years.