MEXICO — The Board of Selectmen unanimously voted Tuesday evening to accept a bid of $1,500 for a 2003 Arctic Cat ATV owned by the Mexico Police Department.

Former police Chief James Theriault was the sole bidder.

Police Chief Roy Hodsdon said the machine is the “oldest vehicle in the fleet” and it’s “costing more money each year to have the thing fixed.

“Our plan right now is to replace the Arctic Cat with a newer ATV,” he said. “We have the money for it through the different grants we receive.”

Hodsdon said the $1,500 will be put in the Mexico Police Department’s reserve account to help cover the expenses of a newer ATV.

In other business, the board heard an update from Town Manager John Madigan on the sand supply.

“Recently, I’ve heard rumors that people are pulling up their pickup trucks to the sand pile in Mexico and filling up the whole bed,” Madigan said. “We’ve decided to start locking the gate to the sand pile by 2 p.m. There will also be a sign put up that says, ‘Limited to residents only, two buckets of sand per resident.’”

“This isn’t something new,” Madigan said. “We’ve always done this, and we’ve never really had a lot of abuse until this year. The weather is terrible.”

One solution to prevent pickup trucks from taking too much sand, he said, is to find jersey barriers and place them around the sand pile so residents can still get out of their car and fill up a bucket.

Selectmen also unanimously voted to approve May 29 as the date for the annual Cruise-In Night at the Mexico Fire Station. the rain date is May 30.

Cruise-In Night was created three years ago as a means for the Mexico Fire Department to raise money to purchase a six-wheel all-terrain vehicle for remote rescues.

mdaigle@sunjournal.com