LIVERMORE — Selectpersons voted Tuesday night to schedule a special town meeting for April 12 to consider buying a firetruck.

A town meeting isn’t required for the lease/purchase agreement for the truck, but several board members felt they would like to get the voters’ approval, Administrative Assistant Aaron Miller said.

Fire Chief Donald Castonguay said when he first became chief, calls were for fires, but now they respond to accidents, medical incidents and other non-fire related calls.

“We’re trying to get one truck to carry everything,” he said. “I can’t build a station any bigger so we had to go with a custom cab which allows you to have more room for the truck. We’re going to put our rescue tools and everything on that one truck.”

The committee has worked hard to determine what is needed, Castonguay said.

“There are no special things on it, just a basic truck,” he noted. “The price is crazy. We bought the other one for $200,000 in 2003. It’s gone up quite a bit more than that.”

Castonguay said two bids were received, basically for the same amount of money.

“The truck we want to get is a Pierce. They fix it right on Minot Avenue in Auburn, so that’s a plus for us,” he said. “The numbers come in at a little over $600,000.

“If we pay it all when we order it, they’ll take off $18,000 and some change,” he said. “They are going to allow us $20,000 for (Engine 1). We’ve got $200,000 already.”

Voters approved $100,000 at town meeting last year, the second installment of a three-year plan toward purchase of a new truck. If another $100,000 is approved in this final year of the plan, it leaves $200,000 that could be borrowed, Castonguay said. He is working with three companies to get a bid.

Selectmen will discuss details on financing the truck at the meeting.

Payments would be $132,000 annually with a three-year agreement, Selectperson Brett Deyling said.

“I certainly wouldn’t want to see you go with $50,000 for 10 years because debt is destructive,” Budget Committee member Warren Forbes said. “I would rather see the $100,000 (payment), even if you have to add a little more.

“We’ve been putting $100,000 away, we knew we needed (the truck),” he noted.

“I was hoping to go a few more years but we’ve had some issues with (Engine 1) this year; it’s starting to scare us,” Castonguay said.

Asked what truck would need replacing next, he said the forestry truck is not doing good, but a used chassis can be put on it.

“One of the reasons that we’re asking for the special town meeting is because Pierce will have a 7% to 10% increase May 1,” Selectperson and firefighter Scott Richmond said. “That’s $60,000 plus.”

If the price goes higher, a downgrade might happen, he said. “We will not be getting a truck that will serve the community. We get called for everything,” Richmond added. “This (Pierce) truck will ensure us we can. I know it’s a lot of money.”

“You are short-handed too,” Selectperson Mark Chretien said.

“We can usually always get one driver, two is hard,” Richmond said. “That’s not just Livermore. We are fortunate, we have a good roster, everyone is active.”

Richmond said he works near the Fire Station and his company allows him to respond to calls during the day. “There’s not a lot of help during the day. Everybody is short,” he said.

It is either buy a truck or have a full-time department, Castonguay said.

“We are for it, we need (the truck),” Budget Committee member Brenda Merrill said.

“I am not against it,” Forbes said. “I think the whole Budget Committee was in favor of putting that money away. The way inflation is going I think it is the right thing to do.

“I trust Don; he’s done a good job with that Fire Department all these years,” he added.

The public hearing required for the annual meeting on April 26 will also be held at the April 12 meeting.

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