RUMFORD — The Board of Selectmen on Thursday approved the lone bid for a new cruiser for the Police Department.
Police Chief Stacy Carter said the cruiser will replace a “tired” 2012 Dodge Charger, with 114,000 miles and a lot of idling time.
He said they usually trade every three years to get a better trade-in but elected to stretch the time to four years, two months so they could save money by buying a leftover 2015 vehicle.
The only vendor with a 2015 police vehicle in stock was Quirk Auto, with an all-wheel drive Ford Interceptor at a cost of $21,760, with trade-in.
The measure was approved 3-2, with Selectmen Frank DiConzo and Mark Belanger voting against the motion.
Carter said buying a new cruiser was approved in the capital plan and is covered by the capital budget. The department has a fleet of six vehicles.
Selectmen also voted to place signs at both ends of a residential area of Rumford Center on Route 2 asking that drivers of all types of vehicles be courteous about engine noise.
This was done in response to issues raised at the previous meeting by Gina Hinckley, spokeswoman for a group of eight people from Rumford Center.
She said that besides the engine noise, trucks, mostly logging and chip trucks, are exceeding the 35-mph speed limit through the village, where houses are close to each other and the road, including a restaurant called the River Valley Grill.
The speed limit goes from 55 to 35 into the area. Hinckley asked for the speed limit to be lowered to 25 mph.
Town Manager John Madigan said town officials would ask the Maine Department of Transportation to do a study of that area “to see if they would lower it to 25. I think that’s the only thing that may be possible because it is quite congested there.”
In other business:
* The board agreed that a visual inspection of the library roof will take place next week before working on a plan to find out what the actual cost of the repairs will be. H.E. Callahan had submitted a base bid of $154,000 for exterior repairs. Part of the contract is to investigate the roof to see what repairs are necessary.
* Selectmen approved the appointment of Gina Hinckley as an alternate to the Planning Board.
* The board OK’d a request by Dorie Oakes of the Local Council of Consumer Council System of Maine to use water-based painted footprints at various places in town during the month of May as a way for the community to remember people with mental illnesses.
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