Energy savings to pay for upgrades in Bridgman
Improvements back on track after contractor change.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - South Bend Tribune

by Kate Sheridan
Tribune Correspondent

BRIDGMAN - The Bridgman Board of Education ran into a little bump in the road this spring en route to a major facilities and infrastructure improvement project.

The contractor, Atlantic Energy of South Haven, Mich., failed to secure a required performance bond to guarantee its efforts and couldn't begin work on more than a dozen projects designed to save Bridgman nearly $2 million in utilities costs over the next 12 years.

Quick negotiations with new bidders, backed by a $1.8 million bond sale, has helped ensure the proposed physical and systems upgrades will be completed before the next school year begins.

District business manager Craig Harley said Midwest Energy Group of Kalamazoo will begin the long list of projects in ail three school buildings as soon as classes dismiss for the summer Tuesday.

"As soon as the students are out, we expect Midwest to move in, and they've said they'll be here until the job is complete," Harley told school board trustees last week. "Everything should be done and up and running when school starts in the fall. "The improvements indude completely replacing several aging cooling, heating and ventilation systems, upgrading ductwork and retrofitting all lighting and electrical fixtures in school buildings. New, brighter long-life bulbs also will be part of the improvements.

The improvements won't cost the district taxpayers anything and won't draw down any of the district's facilities or general fund balances, said Harley.

The changes to the district's 30-year-old infrastructure systems are expected to save the district at least $157,000 annually in energy savings. That savings is guaranteed by the contractor in an alternative financing scheme called "performance contracting."

Bridgman's contract with Midwest Energy allows the district to make all of the improvements this summer but pay for them out of the energy savings over 12 years, Harley said.

If the school district follows the energy-savings procedural guidelines set down in the contract, Midwest will guarantee the projected savings is sufficient to pay off the cost of the $1.8 million bond sale and accrued interest, he said. New York-based J.P. Morgan Chase is handling the bond sale that will underwrite the up-front costs of improvements, he said.

Midwest Energy will install a centralized electronic control system that allows district personnel to control and monitor all of the new systems 24 hours a day. That will ensure that lights go off and thermostats go up or down when facilities aren't in use, he added. As part of the contract, Midwest Energy will train district personnel how to use and manage the control panels.

In addition to upgrading cost and energy efficiency, the changes will improve comfort, air quality and lighting effectiveness, enhancing Bridgman's student-learning environment, officials said.

Superintendent Kevin Ivers has said that the performance contract will also relieve concerns over how to plan for and finance some needed infrastructure and maintenance improvements as the state struggles to find ways to fully fund Michigan public school districts.

Through a State Education Tax, Bridgman taxpayers pay some $1.4 million more into the state school-aid fund than they receive back in annual school foundation grants. Harley said filtration, airflow and water-control improvements to the Olympic-sized swimming pool at Bridgman High School are nearly complete. They were funded and contracted for separately, and paid for by more than $235,000 in funds from the Recreational Millage Fund.

Utilities in the Aquatic Center are metered separately. The savings in heating, ventilation and lighting in the pool area will be returned to the millage fund, he said.

The pool is set to reopen to the public June 11 after weeks of closure. A sneak preview of the improvements, along with refreshments and tours of the improved facility, is set for 6 p.m. June 8.