LIVERMORE FALLS – Fewer than 20 residents voted to purchase a new police cruiser at a special town meeting last Tuesday.
The meeting lasted no more than 15 minutes, according to Ken Jacques, chairman of the Board of Selectmen.
Voters approved the $21,330 purchase of a 2005 Ford Crown Victoria cruiser from Augusta Ford using $10,000 previously approved at June’s annual town meeting and taking the remainder out of a surplus account.
“There were none of the problems I expected,” Police Chief Ernest Steward Jr. said Thursday of the meeting. He attributed the smooth vote to selectmen’s support of the purchase over the lease. He picked up the new car Thursday.
“We needed it,” Jacques said Thursday. It was scheduled to be traded in next year, he added.
Cruisers are typically replaced every other year, but one of the department’s three cruisers, a 2002 Chevrolet Impala, had a bad transmission and needed to be repaired or replaced. Repair estimates were about $2,000.
Voters could have chosen to take out a municipal two-year lease on the car, which would have cost $21,812. The town would have owned the vehicle at the end of the lease.
The department now owns four cruisers, including the 2002 Impala that is out of service. The car was not used as a trade-in and will be put out for bid. The trade-in offer was $500.
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