By Jodi Hausen,Staff Writer

WILTON – The town’s library is in danger of running out of heating oil in a month, but it is not due to a lack of funds.

Selectmen learned on Tuesday that two bridges in town are in serious disrepair, including the Goodspeed Street Bridge that leads to the library.

The bridge that crosses a brook from Main Street was posted to prohibit vehicles earlier this summer, and it was a good thing, according to Town Manager Peter Nielsen. The Maine Department of Transportation has been inspecting the bridge every two years and after recent inspections told Nielsen last Wednesday that two of the four steel support beams have rusted out and were crushed.

The immediate issue is how to get oil to the library. The library’s oil supplier, Farmington Oil, has only 125 feet of hose but could carry up to 150 feet. However, rough measurements indicate that it will take up to 160 feet to reach the library’s tank, which is at the back of the building.

According to Nielsen, a consultant suggested means for making temporary repairs to the bridge, but it was unclear when these repairs could be accomplished.

Library director Vaughan Gagne said the bridge will never be posted for more than 3 tons unless it is completely replaced. An oil truck weighs 9 tons empty, she said.

Options for reducing the distance between the library’s oil tank and an oil truck on Main Street include extending the current tank’s piping to the front of the building or installing a new tank in the front of the building, Gagne said.

The latter would be more costly. Either of these solutions would come out of the library’s budget though the bridge repair is a town expense.

Nielsen also told selectmen that the DOT will post the Canal Street Bridge at the head of the lake for a maximum of three tons. It, too, needs repairs. The Canal Street Bridge is state-maintained, the Goodspeed Street Bridge is town-owned and maintained.

Selectmen also sent the fire department’s alcohol policy back to the town manager for a second time to collect more information. They are debating whether the fire department should adopt a zero tolerance policy for alcohol.

Opponents to zero tolerance think few firefighters would be able to respond under that policy. Others feel it is a matter of the town’s liability. Firefighters are paid only when they are on a call, but are not paid to wait for one.

Gagne asked selectmen why the town can’t adopt zero tolerance for firefighters as they do for all other town employees.

The difference, asserted Selectman Terry Brann, is that, unlike other town employees, firefighters do not know when they will be working.

The matter could be settled at the selectmen’s next meeting when Nielsen brings information from the town’s insurance carrier on the town’s liability should something go wrong at a call and a firefighter, not necessarily deemed impaired under the current policy, smells of alcohol.