JAY — Selectpersons voted Monday to increase the hourly wage for certified reserve police officers from $16.50 to $20 for full-timers and from $16.50 to $18 for part-timers.
Reserve officers are hard to find, Police Chief Richard Caton IV said.
Wilton recently increased its hourly wage for reserve officers to $25, he said. Livermore Falls pays its reserves nearly $19 an hour.
The full-time officers are allowed to handle more situations than part-timers, he said.
“Hopefully the increased wage will encourage them to work more,” he said.
The reserve officers help keep the overtime budget down, he said.
The Select Board also voted to sell a 2013 Ford SUV cruiser for $800 to a scrap yard, which will pick it up. It has a motor issue that would need to be fixed through a dealer. The motor is burning oil, the transmission is acting up, and it has rotted rocker panels that will be an issue at inspection, according to Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere said.
The town mechanic looked at options and costs, including a new motor for between $3,000 and $3,800, LaFreniere wrote in a memo to the board. The chief also explored buying an older model sedan cruiser from the Maine State Police for $4,500.
“Ultimately, we decided that the cost to fix this cruiser would not be worth the investment and that it made more sense to replace it with one of the state police cruisers,” LaFreniere said. “We purchased a 2015 Ford Taurus Interceptor sedan for $4,500 and that vehicle is now being used in place of the 2013 Ford Expedition by the detective and as a backup for the two front-line vehicles.”
In another matter, the board authorized LaFreniere to get three quotes on the purchase of a new generator to replace one that continues to have problems. The generator provides backup power automatically if the power goes out at the Town Office/Police Station. The generator needs $2,300 worth of repairs.
The 25-year-old generator is run monthly and the last time, it seemed to use a significant amount of oil, according to LaFreniere. The town mechanic indicated it’s not surprising considering it had a water issue, previously, she wrote in the memo. One of the circuit boards was also replaced after that, as well as a battery backup and radiator. If a new engine is needed, the mechanic expected it would be $3,000-plus, and the town would still have a 25-year-old generator, LaFreniere said.
The board also authorized LaFreniere to move forward with an energy audit for the municipal building.
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