News
High
fuel costs prompt varied responses
By Elizabeth Prata
With the fuel costs having risen so much, The Monument
asked local Administrators how they are coping, or
plan to cope, with the likely shortfalls due to spiked
fuel costs. SAD 15 Superintendent Victoria Burns and
SAD 15 Operations and Finance Director Terry Towle,
New Gloucester Town Manager Rosemary Kulow, and Gray
Town Manager Mitchell A. Berkowitz were asked the
following questions:
Is
the Town thinking of any cost-saving measures to offset
the upcoming fuel-driven likely shortfalls? Brainstorming
any ways to combine, realign, or change the status
quo to save $$?
Just wondering how different people and organizations
are coping with the fuel issue.
New
Gloucester action items
Manager Rosemary Kulow reported that she convened
an emergency department head meeting Friday, September
2, 2005 to brainstorm and discuss ideas for conserving
energy in light of the current energy crisis that
is facing all local governments, businesses, and citizens
nation-wide. Listed below are ideas that town staff
have pursued to help achieve the goal of conserving
energy and reducing energy costs in the Town of New
Gloucester. This is not an all-inclusive list, and
it will be re-evaluated constantly, she said. "It
is a good start produced from a one-hour meeting,"
and Ms. Kulow congratulated all department heads for
their commitment to productively serving the taxpayers
of New Gloucester.
Immediately executable cost saving measures
--Evaluate how vehicle trips are taken and reduce
the number of trips whenever possible. Public Works
will leave equipment at secure locations near jobs,
whenever practical. CEO and Assessors' Agent will
visit sites together whenever feasible. The CEO will
continue to arrange inspections along most energy-saving
routes and rethink how she schedules and responds
to inspections.
--Make buildings more energy efficient by filling
holes and cracks, insulating where possible, wrapping
pipes and water heaters, replacing doors, covering
windows with plastic or storm windows, installing
weather-stripping, etc. Use Fire/Rescue Department's
thermal imaging camera to help find inefficient energy
areas in town buildings.
--Install energy-efficient lighting wherever possible,
and turn off lights when not needed or in use.
--When replacing supplies and equipment that rely
on energy, replace with the most energy-efficient
brand possible.
--Evaluate Town Hall heating/ventilation/cooling system
to ensure it's performing at optimum level. Reset
timer every time the power goes out. Continue to run
ventilation fan without air conditioning compressor
whenever possible.
--Install energy-efficient, effective heating system
at Transfer Station - possibly a waste oil burner
or monitor heater instead of the electric heater that's
there now. Kevin and Jeff will develop a list of potential
waste oil suppliers.
Items requiring Selectmen action:
Town office closes one day, but open to the public
one hour longer per week.
--For a trial period, reduce hours of operation for
the town office and library. The number of hours employees
work will remain the same, and hours the town office
is open to the public actually increased by one hour.
Town Hall Office Hours as of October 17th will be
Monday 9 a.m. - 7 p.m., Tuesday - Thursday 8 a.m.
- 5 p.m. Friday - Sunday Closed. Selectmen approved
this action on Monday, September 12.
By closing the office one day per week on Friday (currently
the short day), the town saves on heating, cooling,
and electrical costs by shutting down equipment, heat,
air conditioning, and power a day earlier, as the
heating/cooling system thermostat would be set to
go to a more energy efficient temperature at designated
times. Staff will analyze costs to see if savings
are generated. Traveling to work one fewer day per
week will also help employees keep their personal
transportation costs down, as they will drive to work
one less day per week.
The Library Board of Trustees has re-evaluated library
hours of operation, as well, and is willing to change
business hours to save energy. The Library Board has
agreed to reduce hours of operation during the winter
months to the following schedule, but is adamant about
reinstituting Saturday hours when weather warms. As
of October 17, the Library will be open the following
hours: Tuesday - Thursday 9 a.m. - 8 p.m., Friday
9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday - Monday Closed.
Mileage reimbursements, sensitive to Town Employees
In addition, the Board also approved increasing the
rate of reimbursement for mileage for those approved
to be compensated for it (accounts in the budget).
The new rate is 48.5 cents per mile to match the new
IRS mileage rate. The Manager will keep an eye on
the individual mileage accounts and report back to
Selectmen on the status of those accounts.
Ms. Kulow reported that if it looks like they're going
over budget, Selectmen will reconsider and probably
return the reimbursement rate back to 37.5 cents per
mile, or some other mileage reimbursement rate lower
than 48.5 cents.
Ongoing cost saving items
Siemens will be asked to fully evaluate the heating
system at the Library to ensure that it runs at optimum
efficiency. This action was also taken at the Monday
Selectmen meeting.
--Temperature on all electric water heaters will be
turned down.
--Continue to keep workplace temperatures at levels
that encourage most productivity according to the
type of workplace. Recommended temperatures are 68-72
for offices and 62-65 in areas where workers are very
active and frequently moving.
--Fire/Rescue daytime personnel will continue to man
the station five days per week for safety reasons
and maximum response to emergencies.
--Consider not heating the storage building behind
the salt-sand shed, but use block heaters for equipment
instead.
SAD 15: Mr. Towle and Ms. Burns
Gray-New
Gloucester School District
Mr. Towle said that the first thing he did was to
assess the likely fuel shortfall in the budget lines.
He said that the SAD had fuel delivered on September
3, just before the worst of the spikes, at a rate
of $2.26 per gallon. The SAD had budgeted diesel fuel
at $1.70 per gallon, "A price we had thought
high back then," Mr. Towle said. The District
uses approximately 32,500 gallons over the course
of the year for 16 bus runs. There are fewer overall
runs this year due to the implementation of All Day
Kindergarten, which eliminates the to-and from at
noon.
"We estimate an $18,000 shortfall, and are looking
at areas to make up the difference now." They
noted that the price of $2.26 may not stay as high
all year, and therefore the shortfall may be reduced.
The Administrators are meeting to discuss these items.
Of the Administrative decisions, Ms. Burns can begin
immediately implementing those that Administrators
deem highest savings balanced against least impact
to teaching. Those needing Board or community input
will take longer to implement. Assessment will be
ongoing, Mr. Towle said.
Transportation tweaks:
Items Mr. Towle and Ms. Burns are considering as prospective
cost saving measures are:
--reduce or eliminate bus idling, something the SAD
was looking into anyway in order to reduce diesel
fumes accumulation at the doorways and lobby entrances.
--reduce the number of bus stops, consolidating bus
clusters.
--Enforce the District walking policy of half-mile.
--Early delivery of the elementary schools, getting
the K-2 kids to school by 8:30 and the 3-5 grades
to Dunn by 8:50. "It's less miles but the drawback
is the younger kids are waiting that half hour at
school before school starts."
--Reduce or eliminate field trips.
--Bus transfers between Dunn and Russell school.
--Review athletic field trips. Perhaps eliminate practice
trips, or consolidate teams. "For example, if
the Tennis team is going to Scarborough and the Golf
team is going to Gorham, maybe the two teams can consolidate
their trip and go in the same bus," Mr. Towle
said.
Buildings/Operations tweaks:
--Ensure all systems work correctly and that day/night
settings are appropriate
--reduce cold air intrusion at entries and cracks
--This is where the upcoming bond will help, make
these old inefficient buildings more efficient, Mr.
Towle said.
Gray Town Manager Mitchell A. Berkowitz
Shortly
after the Katrina issues I began thinking through
the issues of energy consumption so that I could then
meet with the appropriate staff.
There are several categories that must be considered:
electrical consumption issues, Gas and Diesel for
emergency and non-emergency vehicles, Propane heating
issues.
In briefly talking with Fire and Rescue we realize
that some of the idling of the trucks can be curtailed.
Unlike a fixed route fleet.....buses, our emergency
responses tend to control the lion share of use and
we will need to look at that more closely.
Also, since it is likely you will ask, I have asked
the Chief Barton to discuss with Gary Wood the likelihood
that we must go back and review our Emergency Preparedness
plans since we are seeing natural disasters as the
bigger threat and our assumptions for the plans need
to be reviewed as well.
My own personal comment is that those environmentalists
who have been predicting catastrophic weather changes
due to poor global environmental stewardship will
enjoy more light on their issues though I believe
they are correct for a 100 + year cycle. The current
weather trends are more severe but likely to be the
El Nino and La Nino cycles which are precursors to
the 100 year issues.
Either way...the game is changing for which we must
prepare.
