The frayed tops of the football stadium light poles show their age. The lights and poles are set to be replaced.
Brookfield Board of Education has approved a project that officials say will save money in the long run by replacing lighting throughout the district – including the rotting poles at Nicholas Field on Addison Road – and upgrading plumbing fixtures.
The district is taking out an $835,000 loan from Cortland Bank that will be paid back over 15 years at an interest rate of 3.88 percent, said school Treasurer Julie Sloan, noting on May 21 that officials were still waiting for the final paperwork on the loan.
“It’s a lot of money but, by the end of 20 years, we’re actually saving, because we’re doing the project, $625,000,” she said. “That’s money to the good, that we’ll be at after 20 years.”
The savings will be realized through lower water and electric bills and reduced maintenance costs, she said.
The project will replace all lighting fixtures, including the lights at the football stadium, which are on rotting polls installed in 1949; and upgrade plumbing fixtures to lower flow models. It also will move an air conditioning unit that currently is placed over the district’s computer servers, Sloan said.
She added that the district’s insurance company said the stadium lighting “would have been an insurance issue for us” if the district had not proposed a way to correct it.
The project was proposed by Plug Smart, an energy services company, which will take the lead in the project and earn a commission of 8 percent.
The board on May 20 also approved becoming a member of The Interlocal Purchasing System, a consortium recommended by Plug Smart, through which purchases may be made for the project.
Although school officials had looked into whether this project could be combined with the remediation project that includes fixing the shifting shale in the middle school and roof deficiencies, they decided to handle the projects separately.
