NORWAY — The Select Board will hold a special town meeting Thursday, Jan. 7, to appropriate additional money for a plow truck and to cover an overdraft in the police budget.

The meeting will be held at the fire station at 7 p.m. just before the regularly scheduled Select Board meeting that night.

Following the selection of a moderator with the first article, Article 2 asks voters to appropriate $17,677.40 from the undesignated unrestricted fund balance to purchase a 2020 Mack plow truck.

The total price of the plow truck is $217,677.40. The town already has $200,000 set aside, with $150,000 coming from a grant and another $50,000 the town had already approved and stored in the highway truck reserve account.

Town Manager Dennis Lajoie said the reason for Article 3, which asks voters to appropriate $1,347 to cover an overdraft for the police budget to cover the cost of a vehicle, replacing two vehicles that recently went out of service. The bulk of the money for the vehicle came from $17,000 drug forfeiture cases.

Town officials are hoping to allow residents to watch the special town meeting and vote via Zoom.

In other business, the board postponed a request by the Norway Paris Solid Waste on a proposal to increase the price residents pay to dispose solid waste items, such as mattresses and tires. Board Chairman Russell Newcomb said he wanted more information from Norway Paris Solid Waste on the justification for the price change. He suggested that the organization send a representative to talk to the Select Board at its next meting Dec. 17.

The board also:

• Approved a pole permit from Central Maine Power for Crockett Ridge Road;

• Accepted an $8,000 donation from Bill and Marge Medd for the fire command vehicle; and

• Approved a request from Lajoie to close the Town Office at noon Dec, 24.

Lajoie praised town workers for their commitment during the COVID-19 pandemic. He noted that the Town Office has never closed since the start of the pandemic and that no employee has tested positive for the virus.

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