DIXFIELD – Police Chief Richard Pickett told selectmen Monday night that his officers won’t ask for a raise this year.

“We know it’s a very financially stretched time,” he said during his monthly report to the board.

Town Manager Eugene Skibitsky said other municipal departments have expressed similar thoughts.

He said as the 2009-10 municipal budget is being developed, his goal is to present a request that will not boost taxes.

Mexico selectmen will meet with their counterparts here Tuesday to continue discussions on the possibility of a merger or other joint effort involving the two towns’ police departments. That meeting begins at 5 p.m. at Ludden Memorial Library.

Also, selectmen authorized Skibitsky to research the possibility of contracting with the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office for police coverage. Selectman Brad Dyer was the lone dissenter. He said he didn’t agree with that.

Skibitsky is expected to present results of his discussions with the Sheriff’s Office at a March selectmen’s meetings.

In other matters on Monday, selectmen:

• Approved a floodplain management ordinance that includes fees for updated construction projects. The ordinance will go before townspeople at the May 28 annual town meeting.

• Authorized Skibitsky to apply for two loans or grants that would pay for a replacement sewer main under a planned new bridge crossing Webb River. The state plans to begin construction of the bridge this year. The town’s sewer main is attached to the under side of the existing bridge.

• Asked people interested in serving as the town’s representative to the Agricultural Commission, based in Rumford, to contact the town office.

• Directed Skibitsky to learn what actions the town must take regarding a proposed campground that would be constructed along the Androscoggin River near the Maine Department of Transportation garage on Route 2.

The board also met in closed session to conduct an evaluation of Skibitsky.

The next regular selectmen’s meeting will be held March 16, rather than on its usual second Monday of each month.