OXFORD – Selectmen approved Thursday a set of rules for selling town sand and salt.

Oxford is one of only a handful of communities in the state that sells salt and sand to contractors, said Town Manager Mike Huston.

A set of rules was needed after the town nearly ran out of salt last spring and had to stop selling it. Town meeting voters had authorized a set amount of money to be spent on salt, and selectmen had no authority to dip into the general fund to buy more, Huston said.

“We can’t spend more than we’re authorized to spend,” he said.

At the next annual town meeting, he said, the problem will be clarified via an article allowing the revenue from sand and salt sales to be credited to the general fund before the Dec. 31 end of the fiscal year.

It also seemed necessary to spell out the process by which sand and salt would be sold, and at what price, to prevent confusion on the issue, Huston said.

The new rules would have upped the price per yard for salt from $60 to $75, but Head Selectman David Ivey was against the increase, and it did not pass. The price per yard for sand was raised from $22 to $25 per yard.

“I don’t know why we keep going back to sand and salt every year,” former Selectman Caldwell Jackson said from the audience.

Selectman Roger Smedberg said the price the town pays for sand and salt is going up, and so the town has no choice but to raise the resale price.

The need for rules also became clear when a resident pointed out that the town was not charging sales taxes for its sales of salt and sand, which brought in over $11,500 last winter.

Snow plowing contractors who are hired to clear large parking lots or plow many driveways are some of the town’s customers.

Under the rules, a highway crew employee must be on hand when any salt or sand is removed within the confines of the highway yard. Residents can still fill hand-held buckets for free from two small piles kept for that purpose outside the yard.

Only town crews will be permitted to load trucks or other vehicles, using the 2.5-yard bucket loader.

“If someone wishes a smaller or larger amount, the operator will use his best judgment” in determining the cost, the rules state.

The rules also reserve the right for the town to suspend sales if supplies begin to run low.

Next year’s town meeting will also include a break-out of the various costs for winter road maintenance, such as sand, salt and overtime. This will make it easier to see where any overspending is coming from, so the funds can be overdrawn to cover that specific cost.

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