Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry Mike Hess of ABM Industries addresses Youngsville Borough Council regarding a proposal to bring infrastructure upgrades to the borough under the Pennsylvania Guaranteed Energy Savings Act.

Eight years ago, ABM Industries worked with Warren County to bring millions of dollars of infrastructure upgrades to the courthouse and other facilities without raising taxes.

This month, ABM made another presentation, and Youngsville Borough Council is looking at the same kind of situation.

ABM’s Mike Hess and Joe Boetsch said they expect they would be able to save the borough 25 to 35 percent on energy costs through a variety of projects.

The borough would borrow against those savings for up to 20 years to pay the company.

“Our main objective is to find ways to reallocate, preserve and generate resources,” Hess said. “Energy being the main one… we look at two years’ worth of gas, electric, water, and sewage bills in comparison to your square footage.”

“Can we reallocate some of the funds that are being used for repairs?” Hess said.

Warren County Commissioner Ben Kafferlin joined the presentation with ABM.

“We had a very successful multi-million-dollar project in Warren County,” Kafferlin said. “You didn’t see your taxes increase despite the fact that we did several million dollars of investment.”

It was more than just LEDs.

He said, when people hear about the Pennsylvania Guaranteed Energy Savings Legislation and Guaranteed Energy Savings Contracts, they think “changing out light bulbs for LED. ABM is far bigger and more comprehensive.”

“Our situation was that jail locks were not working, HVAC was completely dead. We were wasting good money on elevators that needed to be replaced,” Kafferlin said. “We were able to get out of spending that good money after bad assets.”

Boetsch suggested that the borough’s treatment plant would likely be the major source of long-term savings. “We usually save quite a bit there – make them more efficient,” he said.

Hess said ABM would look at borough facilities to see what shape they are in. Each facility would be graded. The company would primarily look at infrastructure that is failing or not working at all.

“There are going to be significant savings opportunities on things that are Ds and Fs,” Hess said.

He said the company would project a savings amount. If the projects saved $20,000 more than the projection, the borough would keep that money. If the savings was $20,000 less, ABM would write a check to cover that shortfall.

Council was interested in more information and Hess said the initial steps of the process do not obligate the municipality nor require payment.

“This is just a concept meeting,” Hess said. “There’s no charge for the first couple steps. We don’t know if there’s opportunity for us to help you or not. We would look at everything that the borough owns and controls.”