GREENE – Selectmen Monday night awarded a bid to an Auburn company to build the town’s new firetruck.

Town Manager Stephen Eldridge said that Emergency Vehicles of Maine finished first in the bidding process against three other bidders from New Hampshire, Nebraska and an Aroostook County manufacturer that is part of a Canadian company. EVM will build the truck according to the Greene Fire Department’s specifications and must deliver it within 175 days of Monday’s meeting.

All bids initially exceeded the maximum of $257,000 that was authorized by voters at a town meeting two years ago. “So after careful analysis of the bids, and you were looking at exactly the same specifications with all four bids, EVM came in the lowest,” Eldridge said. The Auburn company’s bid not to exceed $257,000 contains no definite price. “We’re going to sit down with the low bidder, EVM, and negotiate a final price to build the fire truck,” Eldridge said.

At the annual town meeting in March, voters approved expenditures of up to $55,000 for new radios and safety equipment for the fire department.

Monday night, the selectmen warded the turnout gear bid to Bergeron, a fire department equipment supplier from New Hampshire. The department will begin by purchasing 15 sets of turnout gear at $1,384 per set. “They have to purchase the radio equipment first and see how much money they have left. They’ll probably have enough to buy 25, but they have to replace radios they didn’t anticipate,” Eldridge said. There are 27 people on the department’s roster.

In other business, the selectmen were informed that Maine Poly Acquisition Corporation has met its state-imposed legal obligation for the $150,000 loan from the state Department of Economic and Community Development. In late 2002, the selectmen voted for town backing of the company to secure the loan. A condition has now been met to hire 51 percent low- to moderate-income employees, releasing the town from its legal obligation.

In another matter, Greene Historical Society President Sally Hebert asked for more time for the society to prepare a written proposal for the group to occupy the former town office building. She will be permitted to present the proposal at a later date.

The former town office 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. The selectmen expressed interest in June for the Historical Society to occupy the building. The board will not act on the matter until the proposal is presented.