CHESTERVILLE — On-call highway worker Aaron Forbes will only drive the one-ton truck or the loader until his Class B commercial driver’s license is reinstated in August, Board of Selectmen Chairman Guy Iverson said at Thursday night’s board meeting.
Forbes had his Class B license suspended because of a drunken-driving charge, which Road Foreman Mike Cote knew Feb. 13 when he asked Forbes to help plow after a week of snowstorms, according to discussion at the meeting.
Cote said drivers had worked long hours and were not available, and Forbes had recently driven a town firetruck.
Because Iverson and Selectman Tyler Jenness were unavailable that day, Cote brought the situation to Selectman Tiffany Estabrook, who contacted the Maine Municipal Association. She was advised there are two instances where, in an emergency, a person with a Class C license could operate a heavier vehicle, which requires a Class B license.
Based on that information, Cote had Forbes plow and sand for the town that day.
Three days later, selectmen officially hired Forbes and asked Estabrook to get MMA’s opinion in writing.
At this week’s board meeting, Jenness read part of an email he received from Melissa Couture of the Office of the Secretary of State. It said, “If a driver’s CDL license is suspended, he/she is prohibited from operating a vehicle that requires a CDL, regardless of the circumstances, until that suspension has been lifted.”
Iverson read a section of Maine law that says if a town’s plow truck requires a Class A or Class B license to operate, the driver would need a Class A or B license to operate it. However, the law makes an exception that allows a person with a Class C license to drive a commercial motor vehicle for the purpose of removing snow or ice from a roadway if:
• The municipality has a population of 3,000 or less; and
• Either the properly licensed employee who ordinarily operates a commercial motor vehicle for those purposes is unable to operate the vehicle, or the employing governmental agency determines that a snow or ice emergency exists that requires additional assistance.
“We needed a driver to survive,” Iverson said. “No one intentionally tried to commit a crime or mislead anyone. We’ll learn from our mistakes.”
“It was my call. I’ll take the heat. It won’t happen again,” Cote said.
Resident Ed Hastings said, “There needs to be a healthy discussion about what to do going forward so no one else is hired who shouldn’t be.”
pharnden@sunmediagroup.net
Chesterville selectmen from left Matt Welch, Chairman Guy Iverson, Tyler Jenness and Tiffany Estabrook at their Thursday night meeting. Among the items discussed was whether in an emergency an individual with a suspended commercial driver’s license can operate vehicles for which the license is required.
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