MINOT — On Monday, selectmen awarded the bid for a new firetruck to Greenwood Emergency Vehicles of Brunswick for a negotiated bid of $150,000.

 

Fire Chief Dean Campbell said the Fire Department worked with three vendors who had responded to requests for proposals and, in the end, picked the truck that offered the most equipment for the $150,000 that town meeting voters approved.

 

“The truck we’re getting will do more than the existing truck does now, but we’re going to hold some fundraisers to try to add back some features we had to drop,” Campbell said.

 

Among the add-back features, which Campbell classified as useful but not absolutely necessary for the day-to-day operation of the truck, are a winch for the front of the truck, more work lights and possibly more new hose.

 

Campbell said members of the West Minot Fire Company are organizing a Community Day, scheduled to be held Aug. 11, and a steak feed, set for sometime in September in conjunction with the Center Minot Grange, as opportunities for folk to get together for a good time and do something good for the town.

 

The new firetruck, which replaces Minot’s old Engine 1, will be built on a Ford chassis by E-One Emergency Vehicles of Florida, a supplier for the Brunswick company. Delivery is expected by the end of the year.

 

Campbell also reported that just about all of the town’s volunteer firefighters recently have completed an emergency medical responders class, a new course that is a step below a basic EMT and allows one to respond to medical calls.

 

“Now just about everybody will be able to assist the EMTs on a call. We have eight EMTs and now 28 qualified medical responders,” he said.

 

In other business, Town Administrator Arlan Saunders told the board he had heard that damage from the recent rainstorm didn’t meet the threshold for a Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster.

 

“The worst damage we had was Death Valley, as it washed out the two 3-foot pipes at the intersection of Harris and Death Valley roads,” Saunders said.

 

Saunders estimated the repairs cost the town between $8,000 and $10,000.

 

Noting that R.C. and Sons, the firm that won the bid for summer paving had suddenly locked its doors, selectmen also authorized Saunders to negotiate with other companies that bid on the work.

 

Saunders said he would prefer not having to rebid the project. Grinding the old pavement on Jackass Annie Road is finished and the town crew is putting in a gravel lift, in preparation for a base paving — the first hill on Jackass Annie Road is dirt and should be paved as soon as possible, Saunders said.