October 20, 2011
Energy Savings Project
The town and school system spends a great deal of money on energy. Our facilities require a lot of energy to operate the heating, cooling, lighting, and other systems. Over the years, we have made some progress in containing energy costs through bulk purchasing and other means. However, the time has come to explore a new concept that will modernize our facilities and contain energy costs.
Performance contracting is a model which other towns and schools have used to contain energy costs. In this model, an Energy Service Company (ESCO) audits facilities and identifies all the improvements that should occur and what the associated cost savings will be. The improvements are financed over time through the savings realized in the reduction of energy required.
The bottom line is that the town can contain energy costs over time even while the cost of energy rises. The best part of the project is the assurances given to the town through the performance contract. Should the energy savings projected by the ESCO not be realized, the ESCO must pay the town for the increase in costs. This transfers all risk from the town to the ESCO and assures us we will save energy.
I am extremely excited about this project as we have been working internally on it for a while now. Our next step is to begin discussions with the various boards to gain approval and structure the project in a manner that works for everyone involved.
All told, the potential exists to significantly reduce the amount of energy we use, modernize facilities, and contain costs. I look forward to working with the various boards to move this project forward.
Fire Department Community Survey Launched
As we move forward with the strategic planning process for our Fire Department, we decided to take a little pause and survey the community to see what your expectations are of the department. With a mixture of paid staff, volunteers, fire, rescue, and EMS components, there are a lot of different directions we can take the department.
As Colchester grows, it’s important to ensure that our emergency services are able to meet the growing demands of the community. This survey is designed to help understand the needs of the community and begin a dialogue about what the department should be able to support.
Once we have an understanding of the future needs of the community, we can plan for the necessary staff, volunteers, training, and equipment to support that mission. I’m asking everyone to take a couple minute and go to the town website at www.colchesterct.gov and take the survey. We need to hear from you so we can ensure the fire department will always meet your needs.
- Gregg Schuster
First Selectman
Previous Selectman Notes can be viewed at
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