LIVERMORE – About 45 voters dealt with most of the 55 articles Thursday with little comment as they passed a $885,893 spending proposal for 2005-06. Voters approved all the articles.
The most discussion came on the last article, to borrow nearly $70,000 to buy a backhoe/loader.
The disagreement wasn’t over whether the town needed a backhoe/loader; it was that some of the residents wanted to buy a more expensive piece of heavy equipment.
Selectperson Tom Berry reviewed the process the town went through to choose the equipment. Though they got to test most of the machinery, they didn’t test a few of the backhoes, including the JCB tractor loader/backhoe being proposed Thursday, Berry said.
The existing loader is 12 years old and needs between $6,000 and $10,000 in repairs, Berry said.
The list price for the 2004 JCB was $91,205 and with the discount offered of $28,798 and hourly credit of $3,179, and adding freight and optional equipment the deal came to $69,614. The machinery has 187 hours on it, Berry said.
Berry said there were pros and cons to all of the machines. All of the ones in the proposal package were top of the line, he added.
Berry also said that because the wording in the article was set at $69,614, the amount couldn’t be changed.
Resident David Small said the John Deere loader/backhoe was an “excellent” machine. The extender boom can reach 2 more feet, the resale value is better, the tires are bigger and the air conditioning in the cab is a safety feature, Small said.
The cost of that 2005 machinery was quoted at $83,100.
He recommended the town buy the John Deere, as did some others in the audience.
But Berry said he couldn’t justify spending $12,000 more on a similar machine.
Voters discussed defeating the article, as proposed, and holding a special town meeting to consider the higher-cost equipment.
In the end, they voted 15-12 by a show of hands to borrow $69,614.
Residents also voted to put proceeds from the sale of town real estate into a capital reserve equipment fund for the Highway Department.
Voters also agreed to raise $1,222 for the town’s share of liability costs for Area Youth Sports Inc., which serves 200 children in Livermore.
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