CANTON – Selectmen accepted the bid of $16,479 from Hutchins electrical company of St. Albans for wiring the new fire station.

Fire Chief Waye Dube said builder Mark Blanchette was ready to begin construction as soon as his material arrived. Dube said the footings, sewer pipes and heat pipes are ready for the foundation to be poured.

The board adopted and signed the disaster-preparedness document, Oxford County Pre-Disaster Mitigation Plan, which makes the town eligible for federal money for projects to prevent or lessen damage from major floods, fires, storms and manmade catastrophes.

Among the projects mentioned was a low section of Canton Point Road which flooded in December 2003, trapping several families. Dube and Selectman Chris Wainwright suggested trying to work with Dixfield to get this section of the road built up so emergency vehicles could get to the isolated homes.

Maynard Construction of Sumner won the contract to buy the town’s sander for $1,510.

Road Commissioner Craig Gammon asked why the highway department did not receive a 25-cent an hour raise that other town employees got in March.

The board agreed Gammon had been doing a good job and most of them had no knowledge of the oversight. No decision was made on the issue.

Gammon also brought up the problem of working more than eight hours on any one day during storms. He said the work had to be done and he thought the operators of plow trucks should get time and a half.

Wainwright asked what other towns were doing, and Gammon said they were paid time and a half.

Wainwright said he would check with Maine Municipal Association about policy.

Dube said he had ordered 625 smoke detectors and videos on fire safety for the elementary school. The detectors will be passed out to every home that needs one and will be installed if necessary. The money for this project came from a Fire Prevention Grant of $11,453.

A budget committee meeting was set for 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 10.