DIXFIELD – Selectmen will begin negotiations with the public works bargaining unit later this week. They also took no action on a request by the town’s police chief to authorize the purchase of two new light bars for the cruisers at their Monday night meeting.
Town Manager John Madigan said negotiations will begin later this week with the union that represents the roughly half-dozen members of the public works crew. The most recent three-year contract expired on June 30.
Board Chairman Tony Carter and Selectman Brenda Turbide will represent the board.
Selectmen took no action on a request by Police Chief Richard Pickett to join with the Auburn Police Department to buy two light bars for the two new cruisers recently ordered by the Dixfield Police Department.
Pickett had said that buying them now would result in a savings later. He said the light bars are more visible than the current light bars. Those is use now will need replacement in a year or two. He said joining with the Auburn Police Department would save the town about $2,500 each.
Selectmen, however, were not convinced that the more expensive light bars were needed in a town with only one intersection.
Also on Monday, the board:
• Declined to grant a donation to Communities Getting Involved, a Turner-based group that plans to clean up the banks of the Androscoggin River from New Hampshire to Merrymeeting Bay in the Atlantic Ocean. The group had asked for about $250, or $50 a mile. The river runs through about 4.5 miles of Dixfield.
• Appointed the town’s code enforcement officer, Jay Bernard, as the town’s building inspector.
• Accepted the resignation of Ozzie Hart as the town’s animal control officer.
• Appointed a former candidate for selectman, Norman Mitchell, to the town’s Finance Committee.
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