PERU — Selectmen instructed Road Commissioner Joe Roach Monday night to come up with a new funding plan to get his equipment account out of the red.
Roach told the board that he maintains accounts for winter roads, summer roads and paving. When equipment is used for one of the three categories, that account is charged $25 an hour for the equipment use and that money is put into an equipment account.
The equipment account is used partially to pay for fuel and partially for maintenance. It is in the red because fuel costs are high and there has been very little snow plowing so there is little charged in the other accounts to go into the equipment account.
Selectmen told Roach to come up with a plan to present to them next Monday night that will get the equipment account out of the red. Roach said he will probably charge more per hour for equipment.
One area of concern voiced Monday is that for the last few years, the road budget has been around $61,000 and Roach said he has already spent $30,000 and winter plowing hasn’t really begun yet.
Roach also said that insurance costs were taken out of the equipment account this year but not last year. This has made a difference.
In other news, the board approved building permits for Ed Patenaude on High Street for a culvert and Brent Bailey on Mary Turner Road for a woodshed.
The following appointments were made: William Dubee to the Finance Committee and Jack Plumley as code enforcement officer and David Errington as plumbing inspector.
The selectmen will have a budget workshop on Jan. 23 and will not have a meeting.
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