WEST PARIS — On December 14, West Paris Fire Chief Kevin Davis asked the select board to approve monies for a new extraction tool (similar to the Jaws of Life).
He explained that the department was not equipped for the serious head-on collision at Snow Falls on Route 26, Nov. 11. “The two cars hit at about 60 miles per hour head-on. I don’t even know where the engine went from either one of them.
The operator’s leg was out through the window. The other one was somewhere underneath the dash. We were able to open the car just so far and had to wait for Paris [fire department] to get him the rest of the way out.
“The golden hour for a trauma like that is an hour to a trauma center. It took longer than that to get him out.
“We have the training and we know how to do it, but we don’t have the tools to do it with,” said Davis, who became chief two years ago and has been inventorying the equipment.
Select board members, John Eli White, Wade Rainey, and Shawn Boutlier who met at town office quickly approved the $8,500 purchase.
The existing extractor has a motor that is dying and can’t be rebuilt said Davis.
Davis brought an obsolete air tank and new demo tank to the meeting to show the differences. He said 10 out of 12 of the department’s air tanks are no longer serviceable. “Every 15 years they have to go … we either need some new ones or we can’t operate,” he said.
Davis said the air alarms are supposed to go off when a firefighter has 35% of their air remaining. “Ours go off at 12 [minutes], which isn’t enough time to get out of the building,” he said.
The 1998 masks on the air tanks don’t comply either. The new ones come with masks, have a defogger and are one-size-fits-all. They need four tanks for each of their two fire trucks, he explained.
“It’s not something we can wait for … That’s a safety issue,” said Town Manager Joy Downing.
The board agreed to allocate the money for new air tanks from the fire department budget. They will lease to buy the eight $7,500 dollar tanks. The lease is for three years. The timing of the purchase has not be determined, yet, said Downing.
Following the meeting, that had 13 people in attendance, resident Toby Whitman and a few others stood talking at the end of the room.
“If you think about how the growth of this town has changed … We’ve got five times the traffic volume out there. Ask the state, that’s why they have the tubes out there all the time, they are checking it. We’ve never comprehended that fact for what you guys [the firefighters] might need for it… Some towns are quick to forget how much volunteer time gets put into these types of situations,” said Whitman.
Another resident had a drawn a map showing 27 businesses’ entrances and exits onto Route 26 in West Paris. He said this has increased traffic flow. Requiring site plans for new businesses will be decided at the West Paris Town Meeting in March.
Other business
The board approved $6,000 from the sale of the Fire Department’s fire truck to deposit into the new fire truck account. They spent $250. for junior firefighter hats for the Oxford County Fair.
They approved donations to: the West Paris Public Library for $7, 107.55; the downhill derby for $820; and the recreation department for $5oo.05.
They transferred $300,000 into certificates of deposit for three months. The 5.05% interest will yield a return of $3,787.50 in interest, said Downing.
“Based on our population among other things, Pretty much everyone [town employees] is making less than they should be compared to other towns. There are some increases, not huge, we are slowly trying to get to where we should be [for salary levels],” said Downing who added that they follow the guidelines used in the Municipal Salary Survey to determine payroll increase.
There will be some cuts in the recreation budget said Downing.
Downing said she was waiting on estimates for repairs of Gates Hill Road; Greenwood Street; Pine Tree Lane; the apron on Snow Falls Road; and Perham Road “These roads have been a long time coming,” said Downing. Rob Mowatt, of Pike Industries (paving) will estimate them individually. His numbers will help with budget planning.
A resident asked about Trask Road. Downing said that road needs repair, too, but will have to wait until the following year.
In her library report, Brenda Lynn Gould said resident Elaine Emery had held three ornament making workshops: one for adults and two for children. “They were very well attended,” said Gould. Their upcoming open house with peppermint spoons for the hot cocoa and recorded music would be, “an informal opportunity to check out the Christmas decorations, again thanks to Elaine,” said Gould.
Davis said Rob Stine has completed and passed all his tests to become a firefighter.
The meeting adjourned at 5:35 p.m.
West Paris Town Office will be closed on Dec. 22.
A special town meeting will be held on Dec. 28 at 5 p.m. at town office. The select board meeting will follow.
The first budget meeting is Jan 11 at 5 p.m.
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