GREENE – Selectmen awarded a bid for new radio equipment for the Fire Department Monday night. Additional bids for a new fire truck and safety equipment will be considered July 7.

The board accepted a bid by Maine Radio of Portland for radio equipment. According to Town Manager Stephen Eldridge, the purchases from Maine Radio will be at least $17,000 and not more than $20,000.

At the annual town meeting in March, voters approved expenditures of up to $55,000 for radios and safety equipment for the fire department. The safety equipment includes new turnout gear, hoods, helmets and boots. In May, there was a discussion by the board and Fire Chief Bruce Tufts that at least 15 firefighters could be outfitted this year, and possibly more. There are 27 people on the department’s roster.

“They’ll award the firetruck bid and the turnout gear bid next week,” Eldridge said. “They had to buy the radios first and the balance is for the turnout gear (and other safety equipment).”

The selectmen also toured the new fire station construction site and the old town office. The public was invited to take those tours. Eight people joined the board.

“They toured the fire station just to see where we were on the construction,” Eldridge said. “Then they toured the old town office, since it’s empty.”

The former town office building has been vacant since the White Dove Food Bank closed in early June. The municipal government moved from that structure into the current town office in 1980.

In early June, the Board of Selectmen voted to allow the Greene Historical Society to occupy the building rent-free. The group will pay for heat and electricity. Historical Society President Sally Hebert was asked to prepare a written proposal for the group to occupy the building. That proposal will be considered July 7.

In other business, the selectmen set the tax rate at 18.30 per thousand dollars of valuation for the current fiscal year. Greene’s fiscal years run from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31.