LIVERMORE FALLS – Selectmen requested a priority list for firetrucks from the fire chief Monday to make short- and long-term plans to replace aging equipment.

The list will also be reviewed by the town’s newly formed Budget Committee.

Selectmen also want to find out if former town mechanic Eddie Black of Jay is interested in repairing the Fire Department’s ladder truck to see if it can pass certification. Parts were bought, but not installed.

Voters raised $100,000 in June to buy a ladder truck from Farmington, but town officials there got a higher offer and decided to formally put the truck out to bid.

Livermore Falls Town Manager Martin Puckett said that ladder truck officially went out to bid last week on a couple of Web sites, including Maine Municipal Association.

The truck is a 1988 E-One 110-foot aluminum ladder truck with a Hurricane seven-man cab and a Detroit Diesel 8v92 engine. The truck has 11,538 miles on it and 1,309 engine hours. It was refurbished in 2003.

Selectmen said Monday they still want to put a bid in on Farmington’s truck and will wait until the information requested from Chief Ken Jones is in hand and the Budget Committee also has a chance to review it.

Sealed bids on Farmington’s truck are due by 2 p.m., Friday, Jan. 5, with the minimum bid set at $100,000.

The Farmington truck would be available to the successful bidder when Farmington receives its replacement truck. That’s estimated to be in March 2007.

Selectman Russell Flagg said Monday night that the whole reason selectmen decided to raise the money for Farmington’s truck was because it was a such a good deal.

He said he doesn’t believe the town is in dire need of a ladder truck because the town has a mutual aid agreement with Jay, which has a working ladder truck.

Flagg also said he doesn’t believe anyone gets a lower insurance rate on their property insurance based on a lower Insurance Service Organization rating.

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Flagg said the only question his insurance company asks is how close to a fire hydrant is his property. He lives outside the area of town where hydrants are located.

Jones disagreed with Flagg, saying the ladder truck is needed to keep the lower ISO rating that the town received this spring, and it should lower insurance premiums for property owners.

Flagg also said Jones previously said a pumper truck is most needed, to shuttle water to outlying areas.

Fire officials applied for a grant to buy a pumper tanker truck and expect to hear back by Jan. 5, if the town will receive it, Jones said.

Flagg said the town has to prioritize its needs, which include firetrucks and building renovations.

Jones said they’ll have to determine if Farmington’s truck is worth more than the $100,000 and find a way to put a bid in and not make it public prior to bid opening.