NEWRY – Sixty-five residents attending Monday’s annual town meeting voted 38-12 to approve a $550,000 bond issue to aid in the purchase of a new ladder truck estimated to cost a total of around $670,000.

Immediately after approving the bond issue in a secret ballot, voters unanimously approved taking $120,000 from the Fire Department Capital Reserve account to complete the purchase.

Several questions were asked as the article was discussed with the main concern seeming to be whether the truck was truly needed and if a used truck could be purchased to do the job at less cost.

Fire Chief Gary Wight explained that the 1969 ladder truck currently owned by the department has been condemned by federal inspectors as unsafe due to a broken section of ladder.

“Ladder on the ’69 is cracked,” said Wight, “and federal inspectors feel it is unsafe to use. The ladder could be fixed but the cost would be much too high, and it wouldn’t be worthwhile to put a lot of money into a 35-year-old truck. We also plan to try and find grant money that is often available from such departments as the Federal Emergency Management Agency that can be used to help pay the loan down in the future.”

Administrative Assistant Sylvia Gray said the bond would be a 10-year note with a final total, including interest, of $679,451, and the annual payment for the town will be $68,000.

Prior to the vote Wight explained that the new truck would be much more versatile than the 1969 and no used trucks can be found that would serve today’s fire fighting needs.

“Many advances have been made over the last several years to make ladder trucks safer for the firemen and more versatile for jobs other than just reaching the top floor of a building. They contain many safety features including a weight limit of around 10,000 pounds as compared to 200 pounds on the old truck. Only one man could be on the ladder on the ’69 at one time and that would be without any equipment. And most used trucks we might find that might be usable would not match the newer models,” he said.

As for the 2004 municipal operating budget the voters agreed to a total of $637,873, which is $41,611 higher than the $596,262 approved last year. The figure, however, does not include the assessment for SAD 44 and Oxford County, which totaled $2,842,136 in 2003 and that figure is expected to increase when final numbers are received later this spring.

Five major accounts come to 75 percent of the municipal budget. They include $130,000 for solid waste disposal, $119,500 for highways, $108,550 for administration, $65,000 for the Fire Department Capital Reserve account, and $55,000 for a property revaluation.

At the opening of the meeting the annual municipal elections were held with veteran Selectman Steve Wight elected for another 3-year term, SAD 44 board member William Brown given the nod to serve 3 more years and Allen Fleet re-elected as dog officer for the ensuing year.

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