
Wood Pellet Vendors
1/4/2023
Q: Brenda Fleming, Rutland Northeast SU: We are struggling with supply from our wood pellet vendor and are hoping to create a list of potential other vendors we can/should consider. If you have a wood pellet vendor you would recommend, would you please share their name and contact information with Beth Cole, our Facility Assistant at bcole@rnesu.org
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A: Shawn McNamara, Caledonia Central SU: Twinfield Union School uses " SANDRI" . They are pretty good about delivery times. 413-772-2121 ask for Heather, she sets up deliveries.
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A: Greg Harrington, Bennington-Rutland SU: We buy our pellets from Lyme Green Heat from Lyme NH. Not sure who you have been using but we seem to be having good luck. Their number is 603-359-8837.
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A: Glenn Scott, Rutland City SD: We have had good luck alternating (depending on the low bidder) between the two vendors below. Both have been reliable in service and we've never had any supply issues with either company.
Sandri Energy https://www.sandri.com/ (Greenfield, MA)
Vermont Renewable Fuels https://www.vermontrenewablefuels.com/ (E Dorset, VT)
**Lyme Green Heat in Lyme NH showed some interest- but has not provided bids. I spoke with the owner and he talked about possibly scaling up their operations in the coming year to handle Vermont.
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A: Bob Ratel, Orange East SU: I'm not sure if they do pellets, but for our wood chip fired furnace at Blue Mountain, we use Cousineau Forest Products. Our contact is Jim Donnelly, (jim@cousineaus.com). Jim's pretty resourceful and can probably steer you to some of his contacts if they don't do pellets.
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Artificial Turf Installation/Replacement
1/3/2023
Q: Glenn Scott, Rutland City SD: We will be replacing an artificial turf sports field At Rutland City School High School. .
I am interested in connecting with anyone- who has completed a similar project- (install or replacement) to discuss their experiences with the design and scope of work.
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A: Anthony Daigle, SAU 70, Hanover/Norwich SD: SAU 70, Hanover Norwich School District, did replace our artificial Turf in 2019. Our project went very well. The project also involved a repair to storm water drainage. The installation of the artificial turf took about (9) nine weeks.
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A: Danny Pickering, Kingdom East SD: If you reach out to BBA and the facility manager there I believe he was present when they updated their field and could give some good insight because their property is unique.
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Chemistry Lab Fume Hoods
1/19/2023
Q: Theresa Palagonia, North Country SU: Our High School is looking to replace some old fume hoods in their chemistry classrooms. Are there any manufacturers or supplier/installers in the state, who would you recommend, what is their contact information?
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A: Greg Frost, Windham Central SU: GSS fire suppression in Bennington could do that work. I believe Alliance Mechanical would also be interested. You could reach out to local HVAC contractors as well.
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A: Danny Pickering, Kingdome East SD: You could ask the company that does your PMs on the kitchen and culinary hoods, they do installs as well as NEV TEK.
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A: Jamie Evans, Barre UUSD: We did the exact type of work several years ago at Spaulding High School in Barre. I used Flinn Scientific for all of our fume hoods, as well as all other science related furniture. They were excellent to work with! They're not local, I wasn't successful in finding anyone that was. The contact person I worked with was Greg Chyson, 800-452-1261 ext. 3720. The fume hoods came from Flinn Scientific and a local mechanical contractor installed the ductwork that we needed as well.
You may already be aware....be careful with any old fume hoods you may have as they may contain asbestos.
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A: Lyall Smith, Burlington SD: I ran across the paperwork for the hoods we installed in 2010 and can share that if you would like? I recommend that you think about a couple of things before you tackle this project.
1. Make sure the old hoods don't have asbestos-containing materials.
2. contact your mechanical engineer to help you design a system that complies with all the codes involved.
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Cubical Partition Rental
3/30/2023
Q: Steven Reynolds, Missisquoi Valley SD: I'm looking for companies that rent high partition panel cubicles. Will need to rent cubicles for 1 year for a temporary admin office to build (4) high partition cubicles that have lockable doors & able to have outlets, phone & data lines integrated into the panels.
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Viper as530r Autoscrubber
5/31/2023
Q: Rich Holcomb, Greater Rutland County SU: I'm looking into a viper as530r ride on autoscrubber. Does anyone have this machine and what info can you give me good or bad.
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A: Greg Frost, Windham Central SU: I do not necessarily know much about the Viper but the VSCMA show is coming up and there are usually many different vendors there with their equipment available to check out. I have found getting to see different brands hands on is a great way to compare how the build quality looks and feels.
However, if you are spending money in the year's budget, (which I am assuming you are) I am not of much help. I had a Viper carpet extractor at one point, it was a solid machine that was well built and ran for some time with minimal maintenance. However, I would also shop around price wise, I have found substantially cheaper prices than Swish and that is with my discount.
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A: Shawn McNamara, Caledonia Central SU: If you have had an electrical audit, had some monitoring put in to capture highest amperage use, have spoken with an electrical company, and have figured out the rough size you will need, all you should have to do is call a company. Brookfield is a great local one that I have been dealing with for years.
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Generator RFP
5/31/2023
Q: David Hannigan, Washington Central UUSD: Our district is checking to see if anybody in our group has an RFP for a generator for one of our elementary schools.
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A: Danny Pickering, Kingdom East SD: Sample RFP for Commercial Generator
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Gym Floor Refinishing Products
7/21/2023
Q: Gregory Harrison, Bennington-Rutland SU: We are getting ready to screen and refinish our gym floors this summer. We normally use BonaSport 350 but it is not available at this time. I am wondering what product others are using and where it might be available.
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A: Ray Daigle, Harwood UUSD: We use Pro 200 from Hillyard.
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A: Greg Frost, Windham Central SU: I’ve used Betco SS gym coat. I think it’s a phenomenal product. Could possibly get it from Foley? Not sure. Or WBMason online. We contract out the gymnasium at Leland and Gray to Gymnasium floors inc. they do it just before basketball season, I’m not sure what product they use, but it’s also really good. And they do the floor for just over $2000 which is well worth it to me. If you’re interested I could send you their contact information.
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