Like a phoenix rising from its ashes, the Kane school wood-fired heating project is flying high again.

Once on the verge of going up in smoke due to exorbitant bids, the wood-burner plan has been given new life by the Kane School Board.

The low base bids include $457,300 from Highlander Energy Products of Kane for general construction. Rabe Environmental of Erie received the contract for heating, ventilation and air conditioning with a low bid of $842,495. The electrical contract went to Elco Electrical Co. of Ridgway with a low bid of $58,260.

Acting on the advice of the project architects, the school board also accepted a $1,800 addition to the Highlander contract to include a roof with a 20-year life. This addition raises the general construction contract to $457,300.

The total project cost is listed at $1,358,055 under the new low bids. Under the initial bidding, the cost was nearly $1.6 million. The project estimate was $1.2 million.

Although the new low bids still exceed the estimate, figures indicate that the project is more than viable now because it will take less than eight years for the school district to recover its financial outlay for the project.

The U.S. Forest Service already has pledged $355,000 for the project. The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has approved a grant of $250,000.

These allocations total $605,000, leaving the school district to pick up the balance of $753,055.

However, the actual amount of the local share is estimated at only $503,055 based on calculations prepared by HHSDR Architects/Engineers of Sharon.

Here’s why.

Without switching to a wood-fired heating system, the architects claim the school district would need to spend $400,000 to update its existing gas-fired boiler room. Even with the wood system, the district will need to spend an estimated $150,000 to improve the gas-fired unit for use as a backup. The difference of $250,000 between a total boiler overall and partial work reduces the local share of the wood-fired system from $753,055 to $503,055, the architects point out in their figures.

Jim Vizzini, principal of CJL Engineering of Johnstown, and Bob Englebaugh, executive vice president of HHSDR Architects, addressed the school board at a forum prior to the regular meeting at the middle school.

According to Vizzini, the upgrading of the gas-fired boiler system at the high school is “a necessary evil.” But the difference in the estimated cost of a total gas boiler-room upgrade for and the local share for the wood-burning system is only $103,000, Vizzini pointed out.

In endorsing the move to go with the wood-fired unit, Vizzini said “you are only spending $103,000 more to get a much more efficient system.” He said the wood-fired unit “is the much better way to go.”

Vizzini said chips and other “biomass” to fuel the wood-fired unit aren’t totally “free.”

“But compared with gas, it almost is,” he said.

He believes the wood-fired system is “a win-win” situation “for everybody.”

Soaring prices for natural gas and the availability of wood chips and biomass from area forests make a wood-fired heating system very attractive for the Kane school, it has been noted.

The school district last year spent $106,000 for gas to heat the high school complex. The cost for “biomass” as fuel for the wood-heating unit is estimated at only $20,150 a year.

Calculations compiled by the architects estimate total annual expenditures with a wood system at $40,567. In addition to the cost of wood as fuel, the expenses include salaries and benefits for employee time spent at the wood-heating plant and the loss of interest income on $503,055, the local share of the cost for the project. The $503,055 is expected to come from the district’s existing capital reserve fund.

By switching from gas to wood heating at the high school, the net annual savings are pegged at $64,756, according to calculations from the architects. Based on these figures, the “payback” period for the initial outlay of district funds will be 7.8 years. The cost-recovery period could come even sooner if natural gas prices continue to escalate, officials have said.

With board approval of the bids, Englebaugh said the construction project could begin “in about three weeks” following a “job conference.”

“I’m proud we could do something positive,” John Rook said. He is the facilities manager for the school district and played a major role in developing the application for the federal and state grants for the project. These grants would have been lost had the school board scrapped the wood-burner project.

Rook believes the wood-burner will provide “a good learning experience for our students and the public.”

Certain changes were made in the specifications before the school board called for new bids for the project.

The location for the building to house the wood-burner has been altered to eliminate certain site work, Englebaugh explained. The site is near the vo-ag building at the high school complex. A ticket booth for the athletic field will be re-located to make way for the building.

The building, which measures 68x32 feet, also is smaller than the original plan, he said.

Vizzini said trucks would unload chips and other “biomass” in a dumping area at the building. Rook estimated that “three truckloads a week” would be deposited at the building during the prime heating season. Vizzini said an auger would transport the wood fuel into the combustion unit. Water heated in the boiler room will be pumped into the existing heating pipes in the school. Vizzini said the connecting six and eight-inch pipes have a 50-year lifetime.

There were three bids for the general construction contract. In addition to Highlander, which had the low figure, other bids include: Rien Construction, Brookfield, Ohio, $508,924; and Remco Construction, Warren, $607,000.

Highlander also submitted a bid of $888,800 for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning contract. This bid was the second lowest.

In addition to Elco, which received the contract, other bidders for the electrical construction include: Northwest Services, Warren, $68,594; and Tech Services, Ridgway, $70,500.

Wood-burners have been recently installed at the Elk County Medical Center in St. Marys and at the Clearfield Middle School, it was noted during the discussion.