Blackstone hires consulting firmfor upcoming projects
BLACKSTONE — The selectmen Tuesday unanimously voted to hire the architectural firm of Kaestle Boos Associates of Foxboro to determine the feasibility of building a new senior center, community facility and public safety center.
The firm was one of six firms interviewed by a town task force building committee, which was charged with reviewing bid proposals and recommending a consultant to the selectmen.
Voters at an annual town meeting a few years ago voted to appropriate $75,000 for a feasibility and preliminary architectural study for the proposed facility. Kaestle Boos, awarded a contract by the selectmen on Tuesday, is the same firm that designed the Frederick W. Hartnett Middle School in Blackstone and the new police station in Bellingham.
Supporters of a new senior center, community facility and public safety center say the current senior center located in two rooms in the basement of the Municipal Center on St. Paul Street has outgrown its use and is no longer adequate to serve the needs of the town’s senior population.
The circa 1977 Municipal Center also houses the police and fire departments, which have also outgrown the current building.
The building’s 40-year-old roof was replaced last year. It was the second major capital improvement to the Municipal Center in the past two years.
In 2014, the town installed a new heating, ventilating and air conditioning system in the building, a $151,000 project that was paid for the most part by grant money. The new system replaced a 30-year-old HVAC system, which hadn’t been operating properly for years.
In other business Tuesday, the board voted to award a contract to George E. Sansoucy of New Hampshire to provide appraisal services for the town, which is negotiating a 10-year extension of a payment- in- lieu- of- taxes (PILOT) agreement with the owners of the former International Power America (IPA) of Blackstone.
Sansoucy specializes in valuation of utility properties, including electric power plants.
A negotiating team made up of Selectmen Chairman Daniel Keefe, Selectman Robert J. Dubois, Town Administrator Daniel M. Keyes and Town Counsel Patrick Costello have started preliminary talks with Plant Manager Jeff Stewart and representatives of Dynegy, Inc. which recently acquired global energy and services provider ENGIE’s United States portfolio – including IPA in Blackstone – for a total purchase price of $3.3 billion.
That acquisition, which was finalized back in February, also included the NEA Bellingham cogeneration and ANP Bellingham power plants in Bellingham and the Milford Power LP in Milford.
The town’s 20-year agreement PILOT agreement with the power plant, which was brokered back in the 1990s when the Elm Street power plant was built, is set to expire in three years and the selectmen are hoping to extend the agreement by 10 years by the time it expires in 2020.
Any agreement extension would need to be ratified by voters at a town meeting.
Instead of the plant paying taxes directly into the general fund, the PILOT agreement ratified by town meeting voters back in the 1990s allows the money – about $2.1 million annually through fiscal year 2020 – to be placed in a capitol investment fund that was approved by special legislation. Over the years, that fund has been used to fund projects like water sewer infrastructure, road improvements – even a new library.
Currently, the town has a formal long-range plan that balances most of its capital project needs and existing debt service annual payments with projected PILOT funds through 2020.
The Blackstone facility – initially owned and operated by American National Power – is a 570-megawatt power plant utilizing two gas turbines that employ sequential combustion technology to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions, compared to traditional power plants.
Construction on the plant began in 1999, and has been in successful commercial operation since 2002.