JAY — Selectpersons voted Monday to accept the low bid for two pickups for the Public Works Department, if department Director John Johnson agrees the trucks meet specifications.
Hight Ford of Skowhegan submitted a sealed bid of $70,925, after factoring $12,000 in trade-in, for a 2019 Ford F-250 crew cab, a 2019 Ford F-350, and two, 9-foot plows.
The trucks will replace 2007 and 2012 trucks that are “beyond worthiness of repair,” according to minutes of the Select Board meeting on Aug. 26.
Bailey Brothers Ford of Livermore Falls submitted a bid of $74,197, after factoring in a $6,500 trade-in value, for the old trucks.
Johnson said both dealerships gave fleet discounts. The older trucks were driven to each of the dealerships to be assessed.
Bailey Brothers submitted a sealed bid for the Aug. 26 meeting.
Johnson had asked another Ford dealer in the area to submit a bid but the town did not receive one.
Selectpersons left Bailey’s bid sealed until Monday.
The money for the trucks will come from the Public Works Department’s capital account.
Johnson said he went back to the company that had not submitted a bid the last time, and told representatives in late August they had two more weeks to put together a quote for the trucks if they wanted to submit one. No quote from the company was submitted.
In other business, selectpersons, as assessors, granted a $9,360 valuation tax abatement, which equaled a $170.82 tax bill, to U.S. Bank National Association. The company removed leased equipment from a North Jay business in January.
The board also approved a $22,280 valuation tax abatement for a mobile home that was moved to Wilton in October 2018. The tax bill was for $406.61.
Selectpersons also approved a $228.48 sewer abatement to Gerard Pomerleau for the 2019-20 billing cycle. The residence on Main Street had ice fall off the roof that caused a leak on the outside faucet, Sewer Superintendent Mark Holt’s information.
The board also approved a sewer abatement of $409.36 for St. Rose of Lima Parish Hall for the 2019-20 billing cycle. There was an unusually high winter quarter water reading, Holt said. According to the Sewer Use Ordinance, the town may use the winter quarter reading plus the three previous quarters’ readings to determine the sewer fee for this circumstance, he said.
Selectpersons also agreed to put repairs to the North Jay Fire Station out to bid. A firetruck was pulling out of a station bay and one of the utility doors on the truck popped open and hit the side of the station, Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere told the board.
Selectperson Gary McGrane suggested the town develop a bid policy that would require putting items for a certain amount of money out to bid. He said there should be at least three bids.
Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere said a policy was worked on last year but there was no conclusion to it.
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