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The July 30 meeting of the Energy and Sustainability Committee contained just one conversation: an urgent request from Sudbury’s combined facilities director, Sandra Duran, for additional funds to complete a replacement of the rooftop air units at Ephraim Curtis Middle School and Josiah Haynes Elementary School that have reached the end of their useful life.
The projects were initially funded by articles at prior Town Meetings, but the bids came in well over the appropriated budget for the work. Duran explained that she was able to scrape together enough money to cover the base bid, which would replace the internal components of 7 air units at the two schools.
But there was a catch: they recently learned that they would also need to replace the controls for those updated units to function. With nowhere else to turn for funding, Duran opted to ask for the committee’s support to draw $223,000 from the Solar Energy Revolving Fund, which is roughly equivalent to what that fund takes in each year according to discussion in the meeting.
During the deliberation, members raised concerns about the type of refrigerant being used in the existing system. It has a very high “global warming potential” (GWP) score that’s almost four times higher than what newer systems have. Adding more complexity to the matter: new regulations will kick in at the start of 2025 that limit the allowable GWP for the refrigerants used in these systems, and the current refrigerant will begin to be phased out.
That put the committee in the unenviable position of having no appealing choices.
If they voted “no,” the project would effectively be cancelled, and the end-of-life systems could fail during the school year. And if the Town does the project later, the only option will be to install entirely new units that comply with the 2025 requirements. Duran estimated that would cost four times as much, or approximately $4.8 million based on guidance that his been provided to her.
Duran noted that manufacturing of the needed equipment will cease in roughly two months in anticipation of the 2025 transition, leaving no time to redesign and re-bid the project with a different scope. Any delay could run the risk of the cost of the project quadrupling.
If the committee voted “yes,” members expressed that they would be compromising their values around sustainability, and their obligation to do thorough vetting of projects that request funding from the Solar Energy Revolving Fund. Duran repeatedly noted that the upgrades to the HVAC internals and the addition of new controls would almost certainly result in energy savings, but there was no time to do a formal analysis. While some members seemed to agree the upgrades would likely result in energy savings, continuing to use a refrigerant that is soon being phased out was a big hangup.
At times, Duran pleaded with the committee: “If I don’t order this equipment and get on the controls within the next two weeks, this project dies on the vine. I don’t even have two weeks. One week.” (51:00)
Several members indicated that they were struggling to find a way to support the request. Others were looking for ways to alter the approach of the project to make it more palatable. Duran repeatedly explained that procurement laws and the timeline for the industry transition on refrigerants wouldn’t allow for scope changes or delays.
After nearly an hour of discussion, Duran juxtaposed two paths:
“When we get the facility condition assessment and I have to go to the town to say that I need four million dollars, we’ll talk about the sustainability effort of it. And I hope that the town also embraces that at that time. Or we could pay the $223,000 and get this project going and have fresh air for the students that we know we can rely on for a while and continue to work on our goals as an organization and as a town and as a committee. I’m hoping that folks will kind of meet me in the middle on this one.” (58:50)
Chair Alwan later responded: “What I really want to say is, I don’t want to be put in this position in the future. We have a history of being a deliberative body that gets a lot of information, does a lot of research, works through issues and problems in a complete manner, and this does not feel like we’re doing our due diligence and it just doesn’t feel right to me.”
Two other members also voiced their discomfort at that time, but just as Chair Alwan was going to ask for a motion and a vote, Duran encouraged the committee to ask questions of Town Manager Andy Sheehan and Sudbury Public School Superintendent Brad Crozier, as both were present for the meeting. The committee didn’t have questions for them, but both made comments in support of the project and empathized with the position the committee was in.
Crozier noted that Sudbury Public Schools had found “over a quarter of a million dollars” from other sources to cover the higher-than-expected base bid. He then added a little pressure: “Also, I’m the one that’s going to stand in front of Town Meeting to ask for four times the amount for this project, and that’s not something that I’m looking forward to, and certainly I’m happy to be able to say that we’ve exhausted all the funding sources possible, including coming to you, if that were to transpire.” (1:04:40)
The committee breezed past those comments, and continued looking for ways to alter the project to gain more support. One idea was to only do the five units at Curtis Middle School. But Duran explained that procurement laws wouldn’t allow such a scope change, and she would have to go back out to bid. If the Town went back out to bid, they’d miss the window to buy the components they need before manufacturing ceases.
Discussion continued until the committee discovered that not all the members had received the materials that were circulated by Duran the week prior. They wanted to see some efficiency data regarding the new equipment. After some confusion around those materials and the committee’s email alias, they opted to take a few days to review the data, and reconvene next week. Duran cautioned that even a one week delay could endanger the project, but did not explicitly press the committee to take a vote on the spot.
The Energy and Sustainability Committee is now scheduled to meet next Tuesday, August 6.