FARMINGTON — Selectmen have approved a request from the Police Department to spend up to $8,000 to transfer information from the department’s old database to a new record-management system.

Although the department converted to Information Management Services this year, information including names and cases dating back to 1992 was not transferred to the new system.

To simply maintain that information, program-maintenance company CSH Inc. wants to charge the department $5,861 a year for maintenance, Chief Jack Peck told the board Tuesday.

The contract with CSH ran out in June, leaving the department with no support if the system crashes. The information would be lost, Peck said.

He said Tactical Technologies of Newport, R.I., would extract the information and use a compatible program to make it available to the department through the new computer system for an estimated $8,000.

Once the information is extracted, no maintenance fee would be charged, so the cost would pay for itself within a couple of years, Peck said. The $8,000 is available in the department’s budget.

Selectmen unanimously agreed to allow Peck to look at all options and to spend up to $8,000 to move the information.

In other business, selectmen:

* Unanimously authorized the Police Department to apply for a Maine Bureau of Highway Safety grant to buy traffic safety equipment.

Peck wants to apply for a $2,600 grant with the town responsible for a $587 match to buy 45 traffic cones and eight barricades.

“The equipment is needed and it’s a pretty good deal,” Peck said.

If he gets the funding, about 20 of the cones would go to the Fire Department, he said.

* Approved the purchase of a “poly” rescue body for the Fire Department’s new 2013 Ford F-550 squad truck. The truck was ordered in September. At that time, Fire Chief Terry Bell told the board he would be back with quotes for the body.

He had a quote of $29,401.90 from a company in Illinois that did not include shipping and one from HSE Gould of South Portland for $30,420 that did include shipping. The board moved to accept the HSE Gould bid.

* Denied requests from Community Concepts and Kennebec Behavioral Health to place articles seeking funding on the 2013 town meeting warrant.

Community Concepts wanted to ask voters for $10,000 to match federal, state or private grants and to provide services to townspeople. In 2011, 652 residents participated in Community Concepts programs such as child care, Early Head Start, family support, food program centers, Head Start and volunteer transportation, according to the agency.

Kennebec Behavioral Health was looking for $100 in support for the year 2014. The organization provides mental health and substance abuse services to 32 people in Farmington.

“It’s not our responsibility to fund outside agencies,” Selectman Andrew Hufnagel said.

abryant@sunjournal.com

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