NEW GLOUCESTER — Selectmen learned Monday night a 9-year-old dump truck with a life expectancy of 15 years has a cracked engine block requiring $36,300 in repairs.
“I don’t know how this happened,” Public Works Director Ted Shane said.
The cost to replace the truck is about $185,000, compared to $100,000 when the truck was purchased.
The board said more information is needed to determine a course of action given no money is available to pay for the costly repair.
“We’re not under a time constraint to work this out, and I don’t consider this as a rushed item,” Chairman Steve Libby said. “We have a spare truck. You need to show us that maintenance was done properly.”
If money is needed to fix the truck, it might require a special town meeting to ask voters for the funding.
To replace the truck would put the entire cycle of truck replacement out of sync, said Town Manager Carrie Castonguay.
In other matters, selectmen received one sealed bid for a townwide revaluation from John E. O’Donnell &Associates of New Gloucester, which currently contracts with the town for assessing matters.
The board confirmed a sealed bid award on a foreclosed property would be awarded to Patrick and Tanya Gwinn of New Gloucester at $6501 for land on the Rice Corner Road. The board had received three bids for the property, but the first bidder failed to include a check for 10 percent, as required, of his or her $8,312.38 bid.
The board reviewed a number of capital requests for the 2019 fiscal year budget that will be reviewed and ranked by the town’s Capital Improvement Planning Committee.
Selectmen then reviewed the process to develop the town budget and clarified the required reviews that will be held by the town’s Budget Committee after the new year begins.
Castonguay also said she by Dec. 21 will start reviewing the 21 applications submitted by candidates for fire chief.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
