Font ResizeTOWNSEND -- If all goes right, the town's Water Department could soon be on the receiving end of federal stimulus funds aimed at promoting "green" energy projects.
At a meeting of the Board of Selectmen June 30, members voted to sign a letter of support allowing Water Commissioner Paul Rafuse to apply for a $365,000 grant from federal stimulus funds to pay for energy-use upgrades at five Water Department pumping stations.
According to a statement by Rafuse, who appeared before the board Tuesday night, Townsend became one of 14 sites around Massachusetts to be audited by the state for energy use. Recommendations were made about how the department's facilities could be improved using renewable energy sources, and feelers extended to gauge the town's interest in using stimulus money for the "shovel ready" upgrade project.
In his statement dated June 30, Rafuse said that his department worked with the state Legislature to enact a provision for Massachusetts' share of the stimulus funds specifically earmarked for fully-subsidized upgrades of the 14 towns whose facilities had participated in the original energy audit.
Under the plan, $320,000 of the total request of $365,000 would be used to install solar photovoltaic cells at the five pumping stations and $45,000 will be used to install more energy-efficient motors.
With the improvements, Rafuse estimated that savings for his department would total 40 percent of current expenditures or $13,640 each
Friendly to the request, the only concern for selectmen was the fact that due to bureaucracy, the grant had to be applied for in the form of a loan at 2 percent interest, even though there would be no monetary obligation incurred by the town. Although the board ended up voting to sign a letter of support, members instructed Town Administrator Gregory Barnes to consult with legal counsel for an opinion on the transition from a loan to a grant.
In other news, board members:
* Voted to accept an offer by the state Division of Conservation and Recreation to install gates blocking unmaintained portions of Fessenden Hill Road where it leads to the Townsend Forest. The request was made due to vandalism, dumping and other unauthorized activity along the roadway.
* Voted to declare a pair of unused balers at the transfer station as surplus equipment.
* Announced the preservation by the state's Division of Fish and Wildlife of three parcels of land in town, including 113.3 acres on Wallace Hill Road, 87.5 acres on Haynes Road and 26.4 acres off Warren Road. According to Barnes, the parcels will be made permanent conservation land, and that the division had plans to acquire more property in the future.
* Voted to approve an exemption to state law approving demolition work performed in town by Gregg Shepherd. The move was made in order to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest as Shepherd did the work for the Fire Department, of which he is a member.
* Board voted to reappoint a number of town officials to their jobs including Barnes as Town Administrator and chief procurement officer, officers in the Police Department, and members of the Zoning Board of Appeals, wiring, plumbing and gas inspectors, and the representative to the Montachusett Joint Transportation Committee. Many of those reappointed were on hand in Town Hall immediately after the board's vote to be sworn into office by the town clerk.
