LIVERMORE FALLS — Selectmen voted Tuesday to allow highway foreman Bill Nichols to trade in a transmission in a 1998 plow truck and use $2,000 from his budget to buy a heavier duty transmission for the vehicle.

Nichols told selectmen he is on his fourth transmission since Jan. 28, 2009, for the truck, and was told the one recently installed would be the last one under warranty.

A rebuilt transmission would cost $2,500, he said.

In his opinion, Nichols said it is better to spend the $2,000 now for the heavier duty transmission than spend $2,500 next year for a transmission.

Selectmen agreed.

In other business, the board voted to approve acceptance of a $350,000 facilities grant for Franklin Memorial Hospital’s construction of a medical building in Livermore Falls. The town applied for the grant to help offset the cost and learned in May, that it was awarded for the project.

Town Manager Kristal Flagg said the hospital is going to seek another grant possibly to buy another property in town. A hearing will be held at 5:30 p.m. Monday, June 27, at the town office. Flagg said she would have more information about the grant at the June 20 meeting.

During public session, residents who live in a mobile home park in town raised concerns over sanitary issues, including sewage running above ground that has gone unfixed. Residents said they have been working with town Code Enforcement Officer James Butler Jr. to see what can be done.

Flagg said Butler has been working on the problems in an effort to get the landlord to fix them so residents of the privately-owned park would not have to be relocated.

Tenants said they like the park and would like to stay but the situation is getting out of hand.

In another matter, Flagg brought to the selectmen’s attention that it has been nearly a year since the board deemed the property owned by Roger LaPlante at 1 Birch St. a dangerous building. It was demolished and removed. The town’s total cost was $14,214.83, Flagg said.

the funds have not been recovered, she said. She thought it was taken care of by a former town manager but it wasn’t, she said.

She spoke to the town’s assessing agent and one option would be to assess a special tax on the property, Flagg said.

It would be treated the same as a property lien and if not paid within a certain amount of time, the property would be taken for unpaid taxes, she said.

If the property is taken, then it would stay on the owner’s credit information for 11 years, she said.

She didn’t know if selectmen wanted to pursue that option or do something else to recoup taxpayers’ money, she said.

The property is a nonconforming lot and would need to have a structure built on it within a year from the time it was demolished to be grandfathered. The contract to demolish the property was awarded in July 2010. The work was done soon after.

An owner can apply for a variance to build on a nonconforming lot.

Selectmen voted 3-1, with Alphonso Barker opposed, to table action on the issue so that options could be reviewed.

dperry@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link