FARMINGTON — Selectmen voted Tuesday to lease-purchase a 2012 Holder sidewalk tractor to replace a 16-year old tractor, Town Manager Richard Davis said Wednesday.

The demonstration model will cost $117,000 plus a $395 document fee.

The board also chose the Volvo Financial Services lease-purchase option from Chadwick-BaRoss of Bangor to pay for the machine over six years at annual interest rate of 2.97 percent. The first payment of $21,024.84 is due upon closing, he said.

The money will come from the equipment reserve account, which has $101,830 in it.

Public Works Director Denis Castonguay and shop manager Greg Soule recommended the purchase. The tractor has 40 hours on it, a one-year factory warrant and a one-year extended warranty, Davis said.

The tractor also has a snowblower and sander unit with a dump body.

This past winter, it became apparent that the most urgent need for next year is to replace one of the town’s sidewalk plows, Castonguay wrote in a memo to Davis. Constant breakdowns and added concerns for clean sidewalks have made it nearly impossible to provide the service requested, he wrote.

The department has two tractors, both Holder models, Davis said. One is 10 years old and the other is 16 years old, he said. At times, both were in the repair shop in the middle of the night so the sidewalks were not being cleaned on time, Castonguay wrote.

They researched many makes and models and tried four. The 2012 Holder was the best machine for the town’s needs, Castonguay wrote. They were able to use the tractor and have it at the Public Works Garage.

All of the the department’s attachments for the tractors will fit the machine.

Two dealerships submitted two quotes each on different tractors. Besides the 2012 model, Chadwick-BaRoss had a new 2014 Holder with snowblower and sander unit for $161,000.

H.P. Fairfield LLC of Skowhegan offered a new Trackless tractor MT6 with snowblower and sander for $108,704. The second quote was for a demonstration model Trackless tractor MT6 with snowblower and sander, with 90 hours on it, for $106,645.

Holder offered two lease-purchase options, Davis said. The second option was for five years at an interest rate of 2.69 percent and the first payment of $24,741.72. In addition, there was a $395 documentation fee.

By going with the six-year lease-purchase option, it will leave money in the reserve account to buy a needed single-axle dump truck, he said. The estimated cost of the truck is $82,000.

The board opted not to buy a 2005 roll-off truck from River Recycling Association to replace the town’s 1992 unit due to the need to buy the tractor and dump truck, Davis said.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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