PERU – The Board of Selectmen asked Road Commissioner David Gammon on Monday night how the town can justify three people on the road payroll.
“You can’t get good help if you don’t give them the hours,” he replied.
Selectman Norman DeRoche said, “I can understand David’s point about getting qualified people, but the warrant this week shows 120 hours billed to equipment maintenance. How can they spend that much time unless something major broke, and I don’t see that reflected in the warrant? The snow isn’t too deep to cut brush and I see no billing for cutting brush.”
The bill covered a two-week period.
Selectman Bill Hine said there is not enough documentation to tell what the crew is doing. Selectman Kathy Hussey agreed the board needs more details.
Gammon brought plans for the proposed sand/salt shed for the board to review. William Whited from Whited Inc. has suggested a dome roof and said Gammon would have to do the blasting of ledge that would be necessary.
Hine said the board needs to get a price and decide what amount of money it wants to spend.
Gammon said driving five miles from the town garage to the sand pile on Pleasant Street is time-consuming and hard on the trucks. He said sometimes they don’t need the sand and have to take it back.
DeRoche asked how much sand was used last year and how much was spent. This would help decide if expenses actually proved a sand/salt shed was a necessity.
Gammon complained that the sand was frozen in the trucks this week.
Speculation was that heavy rains had melted some of the salt in the piles.
In response to last week’s suggestion by Hine that the town not collect personal property taxes, Hussey said it’s legally required.
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