FARMINGTON — Franklin County commissioners voted Tuesday to sell Sheriff Dennis Pike a cruiser light bar, radio and siren for $500.

The police equipment, which is at least nine years old, is on the 2001 Cherokee Jeep that Sheriff Dennis Pike uses. Pike will own the cruiser as well, once new cruisers come in. He was the only bidder for the vehicle, Chief Raymond Meldrum said. Pike bought the Jeep for $4,501.01.

Meldrum said the police accessories on the cruiser will not be reused. He left it up to commissioners to decide whether the equipment could be sold to Pike and for how much.

If new, the light bar would cost $1,100, the radio $1,695, and siren $250 for a total of $3,045, Meldrum said.

Commissioners asked Pike what he would offer. Pike said he would need to look into it further.

A motion to table action on the sale was thwarted when Pike said he would offer $500 for the equipment.

Commissioners rejected tabling the issue and voted to sell it to Pike for his offer.

Pike appointed Peter J. Mars of Monmouth as the new chief civil deputy. That position was previously held by Commissioner Clyde Barker, who no longer works for the county after he took office on Jan. 1.

Mars, a reserve deputy and a chaplain for the Sheriff’s Department, had worked under Barker as a civil deputy.

Barker is now an independent civil processor with his own business and is paid by the attorneys and plaintiffs he serves papers for.

A debate on whether civil deputies, who work under the auspices of the sheriff, are considered employed by the county was settled after county attorney Frank Underkuffler looked at the statute. The decision, Pike said, was they are independent contractors in that capacity.

Mars, a 30-plus year law enforcement officer and author of several police-related books, is considered a county employee when he works as a reserve, Pike said. He has worked for the county since 2001.

Bob Cox is another reserve deputy and a civil deputy who will work under Mars.

In other business, commissioners approved the hiring of full-time dispatchers Levis Gould and Bill Hoyt. Both are certified dispatchers. Gould works for the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department and Hoyt is a 20-plus veteran dispatcher who had previously worked for Franklin County until he left about a year ago.

Commissioners also approved Deputy Nathan Reid being moved up to the seven year level on the pay scale. He has seven years experience and has completed his six-month probationary period, Meldrum said.

His pay will go from $13.11 an hour to $16.34 an hour.

dperry@sunjournal.com