RSU 40/MSAD 40 finance committee recommends summer capital projects, including central biomass plant

RSU 40/MSAD 40’s finance committee recommended that the district board approve a package of summer capital-improvement projects that would replace failing systems and add energy upgrades, including a new septic field at the high school and a central biomass heating plant with propane backup.

The recommendation came after a presentation by Energy Efficiency Investments staff on the scope, phasing and funding for projects planned for summer 2025 and into 2026, including controls upgrades, insulation work, window replacement and ventilation improvements at multiple schools.

Energy Efficiency Investments’ project lead Carrie Worms, who presented the plan, said the work responds to older, end-of-life equipment and is being phased to fit the district’s budget and available grants. “Starting in the fall, really, we’ve been looking at how to take that large immediate need project list and break it up into projects that make the most sense to do throughout the next few summers,” Worms said. She described a three-phase approach that started in summer 2024 and continues through 2026–27.

Worms said the proposals include work already under way—controls upgrades at Union and conversion of pneumatic…