$256K Emergency Request To Replace BMS Chiller Rescinded
An emergency capital request to divert more than $250,000 in ARPA funds from a sewer project in Hideaway Village to the Bourne School District to purchase a new chiller at the middle school was rescinded this week by the district with the intention of presenting it at October’s Special Town Meeting.
The request was discussed by the Bourne Finance Committee and Bourne Board of Sewer Commissioners last Monday and Tuesday evenings, respectively. Finance committee members deferred making a decision until they heard from the commissioners.
When the commissioners did meet on June 25, they decided that the request for $256,000 to replace the failed equipment at Bourne Middle School should be presented as a capital outlay request at this fall’s Special Town Meeting, instead of following through with the emergency capital request that was put forward.
That recommendation from the sewer commissioners became a reality this week. In an email sent on Tuesday afternoon, a few hours before the Bourne Select Board’s meeting set for that evening, July 2, Bourne Public Schools Superintendent Kerri Anne Quinlan-Zhou thanked the town’s officials for its consideration and ultimately withdrew the district’s request in lieu of pursuing the avenue suggested last week.
The email was read aloud by select board chairwoman Mary Jane Mastrangelo at the start of the board’s very brief joint meeting with the Bourne Finance Committee.
“On behalf of the schools, I want to sincerely thank you for discussing the emergency capital request at the meetings last week,” Dr. Zhou’s email said. “However, with the information that we have in hand now, most importantly the outlook for the long lead time, it seems best to rescind this emergency capital request. It was never our intention to divert funding away from other important town projects, rather to keep the town in the loop as we gathered more information on this unforeseen issue.”
The superintendent’s email said that through the capital planning process and various audits and assessments, the district considers itself good stewards of its buildings. It was “disheartening to learn that this piece of equipment failed,” Dr. Zhou wrote. She added that the district had hoped to keep the chiller in good working order with the recommended compressor repair, which didn’t pan out.
“We will prepare the necessary documentation and presentations for this to be considered as part of the Fall Town Meeting,” the superintendent concluded.
This fall’s Special Town Meeting has been set for Monday, October 21.