LIVERMORE FALLS – Selectmen began review of the proposed budgets for the highway department, paving and transfer station last week, again questioning whether the new calcium method of clearing winter roads was more effective than salt and sand.

“I’m not seeing the savings,” Selectman Russell Flagg said, noting that both the calcium and salt/sand accounts are seeking the same amount as last year. He asked that highway foreman Denis Castonguay provide the board with a list of savings.

Castonguay said less sand has been used this winter, especially by the new sander purchased by the town. The calcium method also saves on spring cleanup and basin cleaning, added Town Manager Alan Gove.

When residents wishing to serve on a budget committee suggested there had only been a couple of storms this year and asked what the crew did, Castonguay replied that the crew had been out 26 times.

Residents and selectmen complained that the amounts of money left in accounts were not up to date; they could make more accurate comparisons.

Updated figures will be available after March 31, Gove said.

Gove added that health insurance will increase 19 percent rather than the 10 percent he had estimated. The town pays the total insurance for the employee who puts in 8 percent toward a family plan.

A new account, $500 for street signs, raised questions, as did a $1,010 figure for uniforms.

The signs are to replace vandalized signs, Castonguay said; that amount will be reduced from the roads and sidewalks account, where it previously appeared.

The uniform account, which covers only the mechanic (because he gets oily and greasy), brought harsh objection from one committee member who said he had worked as a mechanic and always supplied his own clothing.

Transfer station custodian Fred Nadeau told the board his loader is in very bad condition and especially needs new tires.

Little possible savings could be seen in that account, except to have people do more recycling. This would cut tipping fees, which now cost the town more than $120,000 a year, mostly for garbage at $72 a ton, rather than recyclables at $30.

Gove explained that nothing had been raised in the paving account for two years and suggested that it be discussed further when the capital improvement budget is discussed Monday.

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