In a surprise announcement Tuesday morning, Vermont Technical College Dean Jack Daniels said that the college is withdrawing its Act 250 application to place a wood pellet boiler and two fuel storage silos outside Randolph Center’s historic Red Schoolhouse.

Dean of Administration Daniels said the college now plans to install a boiler and pellet storage bins in the basement of the Schoolhouse. Because the heating system will be entirely inside the building, no Act 250 permit is needed, Daniels noted.

“Everyone was happy at the news. It was a good surprise,” said Randolph Center resident, fire chief and general store owner Al Floyd.

Floyd was among a number of Center residents who had protested VTC’s proposal to site a boiler building and two silos, 30 and 18 feet high, between the school and an abutting cemetery, and in the Center’s historic district. Residents challenged the plan at a March 17 Act 250 hearing on the boiler, and they reaffirmed their opposition at last week’s Randolph Selectboard meeting.

Some also voiced concerns about VTC’s plan to build a 10-by-18-foot addition on the back of the Red Schoolhouse, for an enclosed staircase.

It was at Tuesday morning’s Act 250 hearing on the “enclosed stair tower” that Dean Daniels announced the pellet boiler change.
“By doing extensive weatherization in the Red Schoolhouse, we are able to put in a much smaller boiler,” Daniels told The Herald, after the hearing.

He credited the Montpelier-based Biomass Energy Resource Center (BERC), and in particular its executive director, Chris Recchia of Randolph, for “identifying the equipment and developing the plan” for the smaller system.

Recchia, who had attended the March Act 250 hearing on the boiler, noted at the time that the technology was continually evolving, and he offered to assist the college in evaluating options.

Recchia told The Herald this week that BERC found “a beautiful, state-of-the-art system that would fit in the basement,” and the college agreed to pursue that option.

“It’s an advanced, European technology for pellet burning that is orders-of-magnitude cleaner than a home woodstove, even an EPA-certified one,” Recchia said. “You will not see emissions.”

The resolution, he added, “speaks well to the public participation and to VTC’s response.”

“As a result,” Recchia added, “we have a much better project that meets everybody’s needs.

Stair Tower
VTC Daniels noted this week that the plan to put a staircase addition on the back of the Red Schoolhouse will improve fire safety and allow the college to use the second floor of the building. The stair tower would allow VTC to remove an exterior metal fire escape, and also to restore the entryway and staircase in the front of the Schoolhouse “to its original conformation.”

This week, Al Floyd said he thought the stair addition “would keep the building looking good.”

Floyd was on the selectboard at the time the town turned the building over to VTC for $1. At that time, he he recalled this week, a developer was looking into putting apartments into the Schoolhouse.

“I think this use is a lot better than apartments,” Floyd said.

While Act 250 commissioners consider the stair addition permit, Daniels will return to the Randolph Selectboard Tuesday for permission to build it. Since Randolph still owns the land, VTC needs town permission to construct the 180-square-foot addition.