RUMFORD — After much discussion Thursday night, selectmen voted 4-1 to buy the town’s wrecked sanding truck back from the insurance company and repair the damage.

Selectmen Brad Adley, Jeremy Volkernick, Jeff Sterling and Chairman Greg Buccina based their decision on Adley’s research that the engine wasn’t damaged in the Dec. 9 accident.

Selectman Jolene Lovejoy was the lone dissenter, having initially motioned to buy a new truck with money already in the Public Works capital fund account rather than take the gamble that something else might go wrong with the 2001 International truck.

Lovejoy’s motion wasn’t seconded, which prompted Buccina to motion to repair the truck.

The truck and its sanding equipment were damaged after the truck slid sideways on black ice on Dec. 9 in the United Steelworkers Local 900 Union parking lot as driver Dale Roberts was attempting to reverse direction on Route 108, police said.

The truck’s wheels left the pavement and hit a dirt road at the entrance to the new industrial park, and the truck tipped onto its side.

At the board’s Jan. 17 meeting, Selectman Brad Adley shared concerns about whether the engine, which was still running when the truck tipped over, would hold its oil pressure if the truck was repaired.

At that meeting, Public Works Superintendent Andy Russell explained that it would cost $30,000 to repair it and take a while.

At Thursday night’s meeting, he said it was a tough call whether to gamble that they could get more life out of the truck that was due to be replaced in July 2015 by repairing it, or buy a new sanding-only truck.

When asked what it would mean for the town to repair the truck instead of buying a new one, Russell said there will be delays in sanding.

At the start of the discussion, Adley shared his research into repair costs versus a new truck.

He said the motor runs fine, but there is a problem with the bearings. He said it would cost from $6,000 to $8,000 to repair the cosmetic body damage, labor for that would be another $5,000, and draining the oil and replacing the bearings would cost $1,200.

He said it would cost $14,000 to $15,000 to put the truck back in service.

To do that, though, the town must buy the truck back from the town’s insurance company, which wants to settle on the claim and total the 11-year-old truck for $18,100.

To buy it back would cost $13,050, so the town would have $5,050 remaining to spend on repairs.

Lovejoy then asked why the town must buy back their own truck, and Puiia and Adley explained that’s standard practice with insurance companies handling claims.

“This is standard practice; it’s not voodoo,” Puiia said.

Adley said that insurance companies will total a vehicle involved in an accident if damage exceeds 60 percent of the value of the truck.

Buying a new truck would cost $96,000 to $97,000, Adley said. With  sanding equipment, that price would become $100,000 to $110,000, Russell said.

Former Rumford Town Manager Len Greaney strongly suggested that the board again look into regionalizing for cost savings, then urged the board to “fix the sand truck and save $95,000 in the capital fund.”

“I think we should just fix it based on the information I’m hearing tonight from the experts,” Buccina said. “I trust Brad about the motor being OK.”

Buccina then motioned to repair the truck and look at buying a new truck in 2014, as another Public Works truck will come due then for replacement.

Adley quickly seconded it. After more discussion, the board OK’d Buccina’s motion.

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