Local dealership wins bid for police cruiser

LIVERMORE FALLS — Selectmen voted 3-0 Monday to buy a sport utility vehicle for the Police Department from a local dealership.

The board went with Bailey Brothers Inc. of Livermore Falls for $27,574 for the 2014 Ford Explorer Interceptor. It was $921 more than Quirk Ford of Augusta’s price of $26,653.

Board of Selectmen Chairman Bill Demaray, who works for Bailey’s, took a seat in the audience prior to discussion on the bids. Four bids were opened at a previous meeting but needed to be reviewed for options. The other two were from dealerships in Farmington and New Castle.

Selectman Kenny Jacques asked police Chief Ernest Steward Jr. how often a new cruiser has to be serviced.

Maybe once or twice a month, Steward said. The vehicle could be brought to any Ford dealership for warranty service. Most of the work on town cruisers is done at the town’s Public Works garage, he said.

Selectman Jim Collins said it makes sense to him to keep the purchase local to avoid having to send an officer or a town employee to a dealership out of town.

It will take 10 to 12 weeks for the new cruiser to arrive, Steward said.

A 2008 Crown Victoria sedan with more than 160,000 miles on it will be sold outright.

Selectmen agreed with Steward’s request that the money from the sale could be put into an established cruiser account to help offset setup expenses for the vehicle. It will need to be outfitted with lights and sirens and other police equipment.

In other business, selectmen voted to grant three abatements on real estate.

Lori Martin had prepaid property taxes on a mobile home and then removed the home from the property. The amount was for $153.92. Jacques voted against the abatement in a 3-1 vote due to not knowing if a permit to remove the home was received from the town to do so.

Tax Collector Dawn Young said Tuesday that there was a permit to remove the mobile home. It was an oversight by the town not to remove the property from the tax rolls.

The board also voted to grant an abatement of $124.80 to Larry Blouin of Fayette Road for a veteran exemption. Young said the exemption had been applied for and approved in a timely manner but it just didn’t register in the town’s computer.

Selectmen declined to write off a total of nearly $2,000 in personal property taxes.

They declined to write off $78.52 for a leasing company. Young said Tuesday that the company had previously told her it has no property left in the town. It just needs to be eliminated from the town’s tax records, she said.

In the other two cases, Fire House Video II owes personal property taxes of $1,298.15. The town won a judgment for the amount in small claims court, Demaray said, but the bill has not been paid. It costs money to take business to court, he said.

A third case is for $598.57 for Riverview Pub owned by Wesley Bowen. The bar closed earlier this year.

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: Livermore Falls Town Manager Kristal Flagg puts letters on the town’s new message board at Gateway Park on Monday night while Livermore Falls Downtown Betterment Group members Bob Berry and Michele Coates, right, watch. Coates wrote a proposal in 2011 to use leftover Community Development Block Grant funds to buy the sign, among other items, including benches, for the town.

: Livermore Falls Town Manager Kristal Flagg, center, and Livermore Falls Downtown Betterment Group members Michele Coates, left, and Bob Berry, right, prepare letters Monday night to put on the town’s new message board at Gateway Park. The sign was bought using money left from a Community Development Block Grant to improve the facades of business buildings.