DIXFIELD — Selectmen set a special town meeting for 6 p.m. Dec. 9 at Ludden Memorial Library for action on installing lights at Harlow Field and approving a bond for a new sewer main under the soon-to-be-replaced Webb River Bridge.

They also took a first look at proposed sewer and water budgets and agreed to finance half the cost of a new firetruck for the East Dixfield Fire Department.

Residents will decide whether to allow taking $50,000 from the Ione Harlow Fund to go toward the estimated $75,000 needed to install lights for night football and soccer games and for possible other events. The remaining $25,000 would likely be raised through fundraising by the sports boosters. Also, most of the labor will be volunteer.

Residents will also be asked to approve bonding $250,000 for installation of the new sewer main line that will be required when the state Department of Transportation replaces the Webb River Bridge next year. The debt service on the bond will be paid by users of the Dixfield Sewer Department.

The Webb River Bridge connects Dixfield and Mexico on Route 2.

Neither project will be paid by taxpayers, Selectman Malcolm Gill said.

Voters turned down the bond request during the Nov. 2 election; however, Town Manager Eugene Skibitsky said the town has no alternative. Sewage from Dixfield residents is piped to the treatment plant in Mexico.

In other matters at Monday’s board meeting, selectmen took a look at the proposed 2011 budgets for the water and sewer departments, which are very close to the current figures.

The adopted 2010 water budget was $375,613. The proposed figure is $369,707. For the sewer department, 2010’s budget was $166,730. For 2011, that number is $166,580. Action on the two budgets is expected to be taken at the Dec. 13 board meeting.

Dixfield and Wilton selectmen have been discussing the purchase of a new firetruck for the East Dixfield Fire Department for nearly a year. The village of East Dixfield is located in both towns. The two boards agreed to buy a new truck at a cost of $200,000, with each paying $100,000 over a five-year period.

Also on Monday, police Chief Richard Pickett said his department has received a state highway safety grant of nearly $3,000 that will be used to pay for extra police details during the holiday period to help prevent impaired driving.

In other police matters, he said the recently enacted curfew has resulted in one warning handed out to a minor. He said he doesn’t expect any major problems until vacations or next spring.

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