Former Haines Borough executive assistant to the manager Darsie Culbeck is handling the municipality’s $1.2 million biomass grant from the Alaska Energy Authority to install wood pellet boilers in 10 public buildings.
Culbeck, in addition to writing the AEA grant, has championed the use of wood pellets and worked intensively on getting the pilot-program pellet boiler installed at the Haines Senior Center in November 2012. Culbeck left his job as executive assistant in May 2014 and passed up a job offer for community and economic development director in September 2014.
According to chief fiscal officer Jila Stuart, the borough has contracted with Culbeck from July 6 through Sept. 30 to work for $75 an hour, up to 45 hours. The contract may be extended for an additional six-month period, Stuart said.
In an interview this week, Culbeck said manager David Sosa and AEA employees asked him to come back and handle the grant. Culbeck met with AEA representatives when they were in town, who were “bemoaning the fact that the grant was sort of languishing.”
Former community and economic development director Bill Mandeville previously handled the grant. Mandeville was attempting to negotiate revisions of the grant, which entailed building a 300-ton wood pellet silo farm, acquiring a vacuum truck and forming a cooperative to supply wood pellets on-demand.
Culbeck said he was unaware of Mandeville’s revisions, and that the grant administrator didn’t mention any amendments when they spoke Tuesday.
Culbeck is currently working with AEA to delve into flame tube failures at four OkoFEN boilers in Haines, including the one at the borough-owned Senior Center. One of the potential solutions is using pellets with a lower chlorine content, he said.
The borough may also pursue a second grant AEA is putting together to install “thermal storage” capabilities at the Senior Center. Thermal storage allows the boiler to reduce the number of stop and start cycles, which means less wear and tear on the boiler, Culbeck said.
The next building set for pellet boiler installation is the wastewater treatment plant. Culbeck said it is manager Sosa’s goal to have two pellet boilers installed by next year.
The installed pellet boilers will not replace the facilities’ oil boilers, Culbeck said. The oil boilers will remain installed as a back-up and to supplement the pellet boilers on particularly cold days.
“I’m excited for this. It’s an awesome project, and if we are successful it means the Haines Borough is heating itself with renewable energy and saving money,” he said.