Maynard Select Board commits to $500,000 grant bid for town hall heat pumps

MAYNARD -- October 8, 2025, Maynard Select Board unanimously backs $500,000 decarbonization grant application and $350,000 in emergency utility transfers. The board voted 4-0 Wednesday to authorize a commitment letter for a Department of Energy Resources decarbonization grant targeting replacement of town hall's aging HVAC system with heat pumps; the total project cost came in at $930,571, with a Mass Save incentive of $90,000 and $270,000 in locally appropriated matching funds already in reserve. Municipal Energy Manager Rebecca Hair, hired weeks ago through an Eversource-funded grant, secured the updated Mass Save commitment letter the day of the meeting. The board also approved forwarding two emergency enterprise reserve fund transfers to the Finance Committee, $150,000 for water storage tank security fencing flagged as a DEP compliance deficiency, and $200,000 for emergency replacement of rotating biological contractor unit nine at the wastewater treatment facility. Facilities Manager Justin DeMarco warned that even the current reserve balances fall short of the town's $1 million per fund target: "We are still very far behind." The board separately appointed Daryl Whitney to a vacancy on the Board of Registrars through March 31, 2026, and tabled an animal control contract pending clarification of the scope-of-services language.