RUMFORD — To save money come budget time, selectmen are considering phasing out fire call boxes rather than spending money to replace them when they break down.

At Thursday night’s meeting, Selectman Mark Belanger asked if the town should continue to put money into the old technology, Town Manager Carlo Puiia said Friday afternoon.

Fire Chief Robert Chase then presented information on the devices, 50 of which are on streets throughout town and 24 master boxes are located in large facilities like Mountain Valley High School, the Muskie Building, the Rumford Public Library and the Premium Hardwoods business.

Chase said that if the street call boxes are removed, then the master call boxes would require a connection line from one end of town to the other.

The red call boxes that let people call for help in emergencies are wired into the fire station so that when someone pulls the alarm, firefighters know exactly where to go, Puiia said.

Puiia said that if all of the call boxes are removed, the Fire Department would have to install new technology to compensate.

Selectmen then discussed possibly charging a fee for services rendered by the town to those with master fire call boxes installed.

Puiia said the board also explored the possibility of removing the devices through attrition when they break down.

However, rather than decide what to do, selectmen asked Chase for more information about past history of the devices and to bring that to the board’s next meeting in two weeks.

In other business, selectmen decided not to start selling winter sand for commercial use so as not to compete with private businesses. Instead, Puiia said the town will continue to allow residents to take a few buckets of sand for personal use.

Following two executive sessions with Puiia, the Park and Recreation Commission and the Park and Recreation superintendent, Puiia said the board voted 5-0 to uphold the town manager’s decision.

All Puiia would say is that it involves a personnel issue wherein someone has the right to appeal whatever action was taken within a certain time period.

Puiia said there were two closed-door sessions to handle two separate appeals that were related, hence only one vote afterward.

A third executive session that involved Puiia was his six-month performance review by the board. No action was taken afterward.

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