NORWAY — The Select Board has scheduled a special town meeting for Dec. 16 to allocate matching funds to replace the town’s 35-year-old generator.
Fire Chief Dennis Yates applied for the Federal Emergency Management Agency generator grant for several years before finally getting approval. The grant requires the town to fund half of the project. Yates has estimated the cost at $133,200, which does not include the cost to remove the old generator.
The current generator, located in the fire station, can only partially power the fire station and Town Office. The new system could provide power for the entire complex.
With no reserve account set up to replace the generator, the town would need to fund its half of the project through a loan or using money from the undesignated fund balance, which is more than $2.5 million. The board approved Town Manager Dennis Lajoie’s recommendation to use the undesignated funds, which requires a town vote at a special Town Meeting.
Lajoie added that the new generator would allow the town to use the large conference room in the Town Office as a warming station during emergencies.
The special town meeting will be held Dec. 16 at the Town Office at 7 p.m.
In other business, the board approved the purchase of a Massey Ferguson tractor with a snow blade to replace its 1988 John Deere sidewalk tractor. According to highway foreman Steve Powers, the John Deere has engine issues, some of the parts are obsolete and there is little heat in the cab.
“Norway has 13-14 miles of sidewalks. If this machine goes down, we do not have any other tools other than a shovel,” Lajoie said.
The cost of the tractor with the snow blade is $54,999. The town will take $24,999 from the highway equipment account, which has $77,000 in it. The remaining $30,000 will be financed through Androscoggin Bank on a lease/purchase agreement for five years.
The board also approved a beano/bingo license for the Stone Smart American Legion Post 82 to hold events each Monday from 4-6 p.m.
A $120 donation was accepted from Chad Phillips to support the electric vehicle charging station.
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