PERU – On Monday night, the Board of Selectmen gave approval for the roads department to buy a hydraulic shoulder/ditching box. The box will attach to a sand truck and allow crews to quickly deposit sand, gravel and other materials along roadsides.

The box, which will cost the town around $5,000 and can distribute up to 120 tons per hour, is intended to help road crews catch up on shoulder repairs.

“I wouldn’t dare to say how much time it would save us,” said Road Commissioner David Gammon. “It should double – if not triple – the distance we can cover, and we have a pile of shouldering to do.”

The board also voted on pay raises for per-hour town employees, including roads department and Town Office staff. The raises for five employees ranged from 20 cents to 50 cents per hour.

Selectman Ron Chartier is investigating whether or not the town would support a community cleanup in the future. He reported to the board that he had contacted several associations willing to participate if a cleanup were ever organized.

Chartier said he thinks people should be encouraged to take part in cleaning public and private property, particularly around roads. Still, he is unsure how much support town residents would give to such a plan.

Chairman Andre St. Pierre brought the board’s attention to comic strips and notes that were sent anonymously to the town this week. The strip compared springtime potholes in New England to fishing holes, and the note suggested that one of Peru’s roads offered good fishing.

“It’s unfortunate that someone would feel they should send something like this and not have the courage to sign their name,” said St. Pierre.

He suggested that the person should come in and talk to the town officials to express his or her opinion and talk about what is being done to keep up town roads. Several board members suggested that perhaps the person sending the note was happy with the road’s condition, and that the board might ask the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to stock the potholes with fish.