Interim CAPA Director Ben Weil talks about the replacement of boilers at Leeds Elementary School.
Photo credit: Northampton Open Media
NORTHAMPTON — In a unanimous vote, the Northampton City Council approved the appropriation of $354,250 from the General Stabilization Fund for the replacement of boilers at Leeds Elementary School during its Aug. 15 meeting.
According to the order that went in front of the council, a replacement is necessary because the existing steam boilers at the school are leaking and inoperable. The appropriated money will be used to replace the boilers with two modern modulating condensing boilers that will increase efficiency to 92% and 97%.
The current boilers at Leeds have already been repaired several times in the past few years and would continue to need regular repairs. However, because of old age, replacement parts for the current boilers are no longer manufactured.
The order states that the two modern modulating condensing boilers replacing the current ones at Leeds will provide many benefits like reducing annual operating costs, lower fossil gas consumption, improved system redundancy and significant reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from current levels.
“These boilers need to be functional by Oct. 15 legally,” said Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra during the Aug. 15 regular council meeting. “So, this is something that has to be dealt with quickly.”
The two boilers that will be implemented at the school were a part of the 33 King St. property when the state sold the property to the city of Northampton for $1, according to Ben Weil, the interim director for the Climate Action and Project Administration Department. Therefore, the city owns these boilers.
“We looked into the cost for rigging and extracting [the boilers] from [33 King St.] and moving it to the [school] and found that that was significantly less expensive than purchasing new boilers,” said Weil, who added that the heat load at Leeds Elementary “almost perfectly” matches the two boilers from 33 King St.
According to Weil, the failed boiler at Leeds will be disassembled and certain parts from that boiler will be used to help repair a failing boiler at the DPW office.
“We have two boilers that are efficient and currently sitting unused; they will do the job,” said Ward 1 City Councilor Stan Moulton. “And we’re also salvaging parts from the inefficient boilers to be used elsewhere in the city. I think this is a great opportunity.”
Ward 3 City Councilor Quaverly Rothenberg also supported the replacement of the boilers but expressed concern about the “rapidity” in which large expenditures are passed through the council.
“I understand that now we’re on this deadline; I understand the weather; I also understand that this boiler has been breaking for however many years,” Rothenberg said. “I just want to flag for City Hall that the large rush appropriations in general are not something I’m comfortable with.”
Sciarra responded by saying this was something that the city could not control.
“That is the point of having these stabilization funds,” Sciarra said. “There are things outside of our control that need to be dealt with.”
Ward 7 City Councilor also spoke in favor of the boiler replacements and commended Weil for his creativity in this process.
“You’re doing a great job with the upcycling,” Maiore said. “I’m very glad that there’s a somewhat in-house solution.”
The council suspended the rules to push this item through so the replacement can happen in time before the Oct. 15 deadline.
Other items
The council also officially approved an order that will turn the Hatfield Street to Cooke Avenue intersection into an all-way stop-controlled intersection to help control traffic flow and increase safety.
The intersection will be an all-way stop for a trial period of 120 days. According to DPW Director Donna LaScaleia, if the all-way stop helps mitigate traffic concerns, then she will return to the council to ask for a permanent ordinance.
The council also conducted preliminary discussions around the possibility of forming a four-to-six-person collaborative work group between the City Council and School Committee to discuss and make recommendations for actions to address future budget shortfalls.
There appeared to be interest in this from the council, but further discussion will be had to determine how this work group will be formed.
Discussions about this comes after a challenging fiscal year 2025 budget season for the schools where close to 20 full time positions were cut in the district.
