FARMINGTON – Residents voted unanimously Tuesday night to take up to $25,000 out of the undesignated fund balance to replace the municipal building boiler.

Fewer than a dozen people turned out for the special town meeting, which was scheduled two weeks ago after the existing boiler broke down in early December.

Now 30 years old, the municipal building’s boiler is already 10 years past its expected life span, Town Manager Richard Davis noted at a meeting earlier this month. Since 2000, the town has spent nearly $19,000 on repairs.

Fears that the boiler might stop working altogether this winter – a potentially enormous problem, since not only the town offices but also the police and fire departments are located there – led the board to call a hasty special town meeting in order to replace it.

Residents asked a few questions first about the money and time involved before giving their approval to the plan. Davis said asbestos experts had found no evidence of the hazardous fiber around the old boiler, but that the town was asking for enough money to remove it if any was unexpectedly discovered.

Selectmen voted unanimously to contract the project out to Dexter Boilers of Bangor for $19,869.10. Two other installation companies, both from Jay, bid on the project, but both submitted figures at or above $35,000.

Dexter Boilers bid low because the company hopes to gain a foothold in the Franklin County area. The company and the Bantam boilers it installs are widely used in the Bangor area, Davis said, and he was able to find many testimonials raving about them, he said.

Three small boilers will replace the single large one, he said. They come with a 20-year warranty, with a 5-year warranty for the burner.