CANTON — Voters at town meeting Thursday overwhelmingly passed a controversial request to spend $200,000 on a tandem-axle plow truck.
Resident Percy Butler first requested a vote to pass over the article. When that vote failed, he requested a vote for a written ballot, which also failed.
Selectman Donald Hutchins said the question passed on a show of hands after some debate.
Butler said the town had “gotten by with what trucks we have,” and that a new tandem-axle truck “is ridiculous for a town like this.” He said a good example was the town of Hartford, which contracts out their snowplows for 50 miles of roads and pays $33,000 a year for services.
“We’re currently replacing a 1998 international single-axle truck,” Hutchins said. “Last year, we put $17,000 into maintenance and that was just to keep it going. The reason we’re upgrading to a larger truck is we’ve been having some issues on some roads pushing back snow, particularly on (Route) 140 on the flats. We’ve had to ask for help from Maine DOT.”
Hutchins said River Road and Farrand Hill Road also caused problems for the single-axle truck the town now has.
“This is a huge capital investment,” he said. “We try to make the money work as best we can and to keep taxes down, but we do need a piece of equipment that’s going to do the job.”
Selectmen Brian Keene and Rob Walker also spoke about the town’s need for the tandem-axle truck. Walker stated that the truck would have a dump body, which would make it more versatile and able to haul gravel.
Keene said the new truck would save the town money because the town could take care of its own ditching on town roads, allowing leeway to do more improvement projects.
In other action:
* Voters passed a town budget of $631,517.
• Article 16, a vote for general government compensation at $76,500, includes the pay rates for the town’s administrative assistant and deputy assistant, $38,000 and $17,000, respectively.
One resident questioned the amounts and asked what the rates were last year. Hutchins said that this fiscal year’s budget reflected a 4 percent increase in their pay.
• Article 17, the vote for general government administration at $36,410, included a discussion about computer equipment.
Selectman Brian Keene said that the $4,300 cost included a sound system needed for the town’s movie nights in the ball field.
Hutchins added that the sound system would also be used at the Town Office during selectmen or town meetings.
• Article 20, seeking recreation funding at $7,425, was also appropriated funds of $15,000, due to ruts and other needed repairs in the baseball field, along with other repairs at the field, according to Hutchins.
In other business, Canton’s Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to Phyllis and Rene Ouellette by Deputy Clerk Kathy Walker. Emma Lueders, the valedictorian at Dirigo High school, was this year’s recipient of Canton’s town scholarship.
mhutchinson@sunmediagroup.net
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