MEXICO – Selectmen on Wednesday elected new officers, welcomed a new board member and reinstated call pay for the town’s fire chief.

The meeting was the first since the annual town meeting on Monday and the elections on Tuesday.

At Monday’s annual meeting, townspeople voted to add $10,000 to the fire department account which would, in part, return the call pay for Chief Gary Wentzell. During budget deliberations, selectmen cut out that portion of the department’s budget.

But residents disagreed.

Only a small portion will go to Wentzell, depending upon the number of times he must leave his regular job to answer an emergency call. Last year, he earned about $1,800, at a rate of $9 per hour.

Part of the additional money will go for volunteer firefighters who answer emergency calls. Wentzell had said that the amount of money generally placed in that account is insufficient to pay for the number of calls firefighters answer.

The remainder of the money will go toward purchasing turnout gear, fire prevention projects, and equipment that was cut during the budgeting process.

In other town meeting-related business, the board authorized spending $4,900 for social service agency requests, $5,000 for the snowmobile club, and $8,000 for a spring cleanup. All three were cut from the budget, but reinstated through petitions or action during the town meeting.

The board also set a special town meeting for 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 25, to clarify an action at the town meeting that authorized a 2 percent discount for property owners who pay their taxes early.

Vice Chairman Arthur Bordeau was elected as the new chairman of the board, replacing Selectman Reggie Arsenault. Selectman Barbara Laramee was elected vice-chairman. The board also welcomed newly elected Selectman Dr. Monique Aniel. She was the highest vote getter in a three-way race to fill out the one year remaining in former Selectman Robert Lyons’ term.

For the first time in the board’s history, women outnumber men. Longtime Selectman Louise Waterhouse also won re-election to her seat on Tuesday.

In other matters, the board approved raising a 10 percent match, through money and in-kind work, for a $63,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency grant applied for by the fire department. If the money comes through, the department will buy 15 new air packs and spare bottles.

Following a public hearing, the board also voted to change the parking limit from one to two hours, and to purchase signs, for a section along Route 2 between Holman and Riverside avenues.

After a second public hearing, they granted an amusement permit to Clarence Tompkins for his business, Tommy Guns Pit Stop.

Three closed sessions were scheduled for after the public portion of the meeting. They were to deal with a job proposal by Town Manager Joseph Derouche, the contracts for the police and highway departments, and a potential business venture.

eadams@sunjournal.com

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