MINOT — Selectman Steve French told the board Monday that he expects the town’s new firetruck will be delivered by the end of this week.
“The new vehicle will be housed over at West Minot,” French said. “I imagine the people in that part of town will be happy. It’s some improvement over what we had there before.”
He spoke for fire Chief Dean Campbell, who was helping to extinguish fires at three apartment buildings in downtown Lewiston at the time.
The new mini-pumper truck will be known as “Engine-1.” It costs about $150,000.
Discussion concerning complaints about blue barrels in the front yard of a Woodman Hill Road property prompted selectmen to come up with a list of five properties that ought to be referred to the town’s code enforcement officer.
“The place on Woodman Hill Road isn’t as bad as some of the other places about town,” Selectman Dan Callahan said. “If we’re going to go after that one, we should go after them all.”
Selectmen agreed and handed a list to Town Administrator Arlan Saunders to pass on to Code Enforcement Officer Ken Pratt.
Selectman Eda Tripp noted that most of the surrounding towns are holding a spring cleanup day and suggested that Minot residents should take the time to pick up along the ditches in front of their properties.
“It would be a way for people to take a little pride in their property,” Callahan said.
In other business, selectmen authorized Saunders to sign a letter for Smith & Associates to perform an audit of the town’s books.
Selectmen agreed that polls will be open from 4 to 8 p.m. June 11 to vote on the RSU 16 school budget for 2013-14. Saunders said RSU 16 officials had asked him whether Minot intended to hold voting from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. — the hours Mechanic Falls and Poland polls are expected to be open.
Selectmen noted that there are no other state issues.
The school budget vote hasn’t been a huge draw in the past, and the extra hours create additional costs. They also noted that residents could cast absentee votes should the hours be inconvenient.
Saunders also reported that all the reimbursement paperwork for expenses the town incurred while dealing with the storm the weekend of Feb. 8-10 has been filed and accepted.
Regarding the $20,650 reimbursement the town expects, Selectman Dan Gilpatric said, “I think it’s pretty good that the feds are going to pay us for a snowstorm.”
Saunders noted that Minot, as part Androscoggin County, is on the northern edge of the area qualifying for reimbursement.
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