Mexico looking to purchase sidewalk plow

MEXICO — Selectmen have authorized Town Manager Jack Gaudet and Highway Foreman John Blais to go to Ottawa, Ontario, to shop for a used sidewalk plow.

“We need something real quick,” Selectman Reggie Arsenault said.

Board Chairman Richie Philbrick said the town has two sidewalk plows. “They both have more than 7,000 hours on them. They’re done,” he said.

Gaudet said they are using parts off one machine to keep the second one running, which is being used for mowing along the side of the road.

Besides using the machines to clear snow on sidewalks, Philbrick said they are used for sweeping and cutting  brush.

Gaudet said they will go to the Holder brand tractor dealer to look at a used 2013 plow with less than 3,000 hours of use. The cost is $50,000, which includes a snowblower and sand box. A new machine would cost $125,000.

“They have a fleet of them up there,” Gaudet said. “There’s two that we’re looking at; we’ll see what they have.” He said they’re determined to come back with an agreement to buy one.

“I’ve been searching for months and you can’t find them online. We need to get something,” he said.

While there is $80,000 in the highway reserve account, selectmen indicated earlier that they didn’t want to take the entire $50,000 out because it would leave little for other equipment they might need.

Gaudet told selectmen Tuesday that he had verbal approval for a four-year lease, which included a $12,898 down payment for 2018.

However, board member Cliff Stewart, concerned that the total interest over the four years would be $5,700, had another idea.

He suggested the town make a $30,000 down payment, and pay the rest over two years. The idea was unanimously accepted by the board.

bfarrin@sunmedia.com

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