FARMINGTON — A proposal for an $11 million natural gas-fired central heating plant for the University of Maine at Farmington campus will go before the University of Maine Board of Trustees on Monday.

Trustees are scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. July 21 at the UMaine System Office in Bangor.

UMF President Kathryn A. Foster will bring the central heating plant proposal before the board, along with a proposal for a program for a bachelor of arts degree in outdoor recreation business administration and a proposed $1.37 million renovation of science labs in Preble and Ricker halls, according to the agenda.

A new central heating plant would provide heat and hot water for the entire campus using natural gas with an oil backup system and a potential for a change to biomass solid fuel in the future, according to the proposal.

In January, the board approved a shift to natural gas and the necessary changes to use it. 

Summit Natural Gas has committed to bring natural gas to the Farmington area by October 2015.

The board approved spending $2 million to $4 million for the original plan, which included converting 46 individual boilers/burners on campus to use natural gas, according to the proposal.

The investment was expected to save $4 million in fuel costs over 10 years on the 106,800 gallons of oil used and provide payback on the system in less than five years.

The plan did not account for the condition of six steam plants on campus.

The “plants are beyond their useful life and are unable to be retrofitted to accept natural gas due to their age and construction,” according to the proposal. 

The plants need to be replaced within the next three years at an anticipated cost of $5 million.

The revised plan, at an approximate cost of $11 million, could save the university $8.6 million in fuel costs over 10 years and provide for payback in less than that.

Adding a 50- by 150-foot central plant would add 7,500 gross square feet to the campus. The university plans to remove at least 4,000 gross square feet from the campus footprint within the next two years, according to the proposal.

The proposed bachelor of arts degree program in outdoor recreation business administration would replace UMF’s interdisciplinary studies in that area, according to a UMF spokesman. This study program was started in 2010.

The proposed renovation of up to 10 science laboratories is expected to be completed by September 2015, if the board approves the $1.37 million expenditure.

abryant@sunjournal.com