Committee hears geothermal feasibility pitch for Peter Bulkley Terrace; short grant deadline prompts deferral

Speaker S3 presented a proposal to pursue a New England Heat Pump Accelerator grant to study whether a ground-source (geothermal) system would work at Peter Bulkley Terrace, a housing property identified in the presentation. S3 said geothermal "would be the lowest operating cost system once installed" and cited a federal tax credit described in the transcript as "up to 40%" alongside state rebate incentives. The presentation noted federal funding sources (referenced as EPA/federal grant funds) and framed the proposal as a design/feasibility study that could later inform a broader neighborhood or networked thermal system.

Committee members raised eligibility and logistical questions: the grant requires recent experience managing federal grants, so the presenter said the town would likely need to be the applicant rather than the Concord Housing Authority, which the presenter said lacks that recent experience. Several members, including the acting town manager (speaker S5), said the application deadline is imminently near (described in the meeting as "this Friday") and that staff could not complete the work in time. The group therefore decided not to file an application this round and to instead consider further groundwork and stakeholder engagement for future grant rounds.