The Tamaqua Area School Board will consider a Harrisburg firm to undertake a $3 million infrastructure upgrade that will save the district $2 million in energy costs over the next 20 years.

The board’s finance committee approved the McClure Company to complete the improvements needed, including a boiler and chiller upgrade at the middle school and the high school pool unit.

The district has worked with McClure in the past on its geothermal project and the HVAC work at the high school.

Business Manager Connie Ligenza said that three firms submitted proposals, which were reviewed and ranked by the district’s top administrators, who selected McClure.

The other firms that submitted proposals were the Quandel Group and Honeywell Inc.

The infrastructure work, which also includes LED lighting retrofits in all the schools, is being done as part of an investment-grade energy audit under Act 163, the Guaranteed Energy Savings Act.

The district is also seeking a state Public School Facility Improvement grant to help fund two of the upgrades under the Energy Services Company project, Ligenza said.

Assistant Superintendent Stephen Toth and high school Principal Tom McCabe applied for $102,150 for the middle school boiler and $192,799.50 for the middle school chiller, she said.

Those amounts represent the district’s 25% match of the overall cost for these upgrades. The middle school boiler is expected to cost $413,006, and the chiller tops out at $771.198, Ligenza said.

Projected energy savings for the two projects over 20 years comes in at $37,569 and $24,112, respectively, but in other areas of the overall energy savings project, such as lighting, the savings exceed the costs, according to information provided by McClure.

Board President Larry Wittig pointed out during the company’s presentation in January that the projected energy savings might not pan out, and the district should undertake the upgrades because they’re necessary.

Toth and McCabe, who sought the grant to help fund upgrades, will be leading the district next school year as superintendent and assistant superintendent, respectively, after current Superintendent Ray Kinder retires this summer.