RUMFORD — Two weeks after voting to reject a Police Department request to approve a vehicle bid, selectmen voted 3-2 Thursday to reverse their decision.
Selectmen Jeff Sterling, Jolene Lovejoy and Brad Adley voted in favor of reversing the motion and approving the police vehicle bid; Chairman Greg Buccina and Selectman Frank DiConzo voted against it.
Discussion on the bid began Nov. 21 when police Chief Stacy Carter told the board he was looking to replace the 2008 Ford Expedition cruiser with a 2013 or 2014 Ford Police Pursuit SUV all-wheel drive.
The low bid of $21,876 came from Rowe Auburn.
The request to accept the bid was originally defeated 3-1, with Buccina, DiConzo and Sterling voting against it and Lovejoy for it. Adley was absent.
Sterling asked that discussion be tabled until Carter could get an estimate on how much it would cost to repair the 2008 Ford Expedition and get an inspection sticker for it.
On Thursday, Carter told the board that the minimum cost of repair would be $6,000.
“We try to keep our vehicles on a three-year cycle, in terms of replacing them,” Carter said. “With this vehicle, we’ve already stretched it to five years. It doesn’t make sense to keep pushing it. I respectfully request that the board reconsider the expenditure. We have the money in our capital account.”
Adley asked Buccina “what the mythology behind the rejection was.”
“Basically, we were thinking to find a new way of doing business,” Buccina said. “We thought we could try and extend the life of our vehicles instead of spending the money in the accounts just because it’s there.”
Later in the meeting, Adley said the repair suggestions made seem “logical” for a 2008 Expedition with 150,000 miles on it.
Buccina said he was “a bit concerned about this board flip-flopping.
“It seems like bad business to start getting into the habit of voting a certain way one week, and then voting a different way another week,” Buccina said. “I think that we need to stick to our guns with this decision. We need to start doing things differently.”
mdaigle@sunjournal.com
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- Rumford Town Manager Carlo Puiia takes notes while the Board of Selectmen discuss whether to reconsider approving a police vehicle bid at Thursday night’s meeting.
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