WELD — Voters will be asked Wednesday at a special town meeting if they want to purchase a used road grader, estimated to cost $16,000.
If voters approve that article at the 7 p.m. meeting on July 18 at the Town Hall, then they will move on to a second article pertaining to borrowing and/or appropriating money for the purchase.
Selectmen are recommending that the town enter into a lease agreement with Androscoggin Bank for up to $16,000 for two years with an interest rate at less than 2 percent.
The town’s existing grader is a 1968, Chairman Wayne DuBois said Friday.
“Besides the fact it is nearing the end of its working life, it is obsolete and parts are either impossible or difficult to find,” he said. “It is still running.”
It is a matter of trying to find parts for the obsolete brand. The town has had to have some made special for the machine.
There are several graders at the state surplus in Augusta that will be going up for auction in August.
“Hopefully we would get a reasonable grader for a reasonable price,” DuBois said.
The graders at the auction lot are made by an existing company, if any parts are ever needed.
“Our goal is to find one that has less than 10,000 miles on it,” he said.
Three at the surplus lot have 3,000 to 4,000 miles on them, he said, and more graders are expected to come in before the auction.
dperry@sunjournal.com
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