BUCKFIELD – Voters questioned spending for a new firetruck, ambulance, more staff hours and summer roads Wednesday night, but in the end approved money for them.
Fire Chief Steve Bly said the department’s tanker truck is beyond repair. It was used when bought years ago, he said.
“The Fire Department is asking to purchase the new tanker using all of the firetruck replacement reserve and borrowing up to $200,000,” he told the crowd. Payments would begin in July 2007, when the current firetruck will be paid off.
Voters said OK.
Asked why the town needs two ambulances and why not sell the old one, Rescue Chief Lisa Buck said if one ambulance is out of town with a patient and another call comes in, patients have to wait for other towns to respond and that can be very critical.
She also said there are no full-time volunteers and two people are needed on an ambulance run.
Penny Horsfall said her grandchild needs medical attention quickly.
“As a grandmother, when I dial 911 they are there within minutes, and if they were not we would lose my granddaughter.”
Town Manager Glen Holmes said patients are paying for their trips through their insurance, and basically the rescue service is self-supporting.
Again, voters agreed.
Holmes explained that hours for two town office employees would be extended, if voters approved, so calls could be covered from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The article passed.
The Recreation Department came under fire for a budget increase, which Holmes explained was their share of a new person to maintain the grounds in town and the recreational field. The increase was approved.
Residents wanted to know why social service agencies’ requests were being turned over to a committee. Holmes said the town would vote the amount of money to be allocated to social services, and the committee appointed by the selectmen would decide who gets how much.
The article passed.
Holmes said the summer roads account increase of $100,000 was to pave Gesner and Paris Hill roads; none was done at all last year. Selectman Oscar Gammon said the roads would be reclaimed and paved so they last longer.
Another resident asked why the town didn’t do its own ditching.
Gammon said it was impossible to do with a backhoe, and there are 44 miles of roads and only two road employees.
When questions arose about who monitored the road crew, selectmen were quick to defend the crew and said Holmes, who is road commissioner, assigned them work.
Moderator Terry Hayes cautioned residents twice that they were not to evaluate staff.
Selectman Skip Stanley said the board was in no way criticizing the town manager, but selectmen needed to address how the road crew is dispersed.
When extra money for the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office was discussed, Bly said the agency responds to scenes quicker than the Maine State Police. The two agencies alternate coverage of the town.
Virgil Tilton amended the request of the Zadoc Long Free Library account to $8,000 more because of a higher-than-expected cost for the handicap ramp and bathroom facility. The extra money was approved.
Of the 63 articles on the warrant, only the shoreland zoning amendment failed.
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