LIVERMORE — An ice storm in December cost the town nearly $23,000 in overtime, equipment, materials and other expenses, Administrative Assistant Kurt Schaub said Tuesday.
In addition to sanding and salting, the highway crew spent time clearing trees from the roads with the help of the Fire Department, he said. The amount covers expenses from Dec. 21 through 24, with most of it attributed to equipment.
The preliminary cost estimate for the storm was reported to the Androscoggin Unified Emergency Management Agency in late December.
Since then Schaub said he has learned that the county’s cost threshold to trigger a Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster declaration had been surpassed, Schaub said.
As of Dec. 27, with three municipalities not yet reporting costs, the county’s total was $427,238, he said county EMA Director Joanne Potvin reported. The threshold is $371,572, he said.
“So now we wait for the actual declaration and paperwork processes in order to complete our paperwork and receive reimbursement,” Schaub said.
In an unrelated topic, Schaub also noted that the town has chosen C.N. Brown of South Paris as its supplier for heating oil for the Town Office and Highway Garage. Between the two buildings the town uses about 2,200 gallons of oil annually.
Former supplier Newman’s Discount Fuel of Livermore recently sold its business to Fabian Oil.
Schaub said he called around Dec. 9 to find out what four suppliers considered local would charge the town for oil, he said. Each had a different wholesale price.
C.N. Brown, which has an office in Jay, turned out to be the lowest price, he said. The company offered $3.2871 per gallon, 21.328 cents above its wholesale price. The margin above the wholesale sale price stays fixed, he said.
The company has committed to holding that margin for a year, but the town’s intention is to put the heating oil out to bid in the summer.
The other prices given for Dec. 9 ranged from Blanchard’s Cash Fuel of Turner at $3.42 per gallon, including 25 cents over rack price; Fabian Oil with an office in Jay was $3.509 per gallon, 20 cents above rack price; and Murray Oil Co. of Turner at $3.40, 23 cents above rack price.
dperry@sunjournal.com
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