PERU — Voters at a special town meeting Tuesday will decide whether to approve spending $1.04 million to replace the town garage and equipment lost in the Jan. 27 fire.
The 6 p.m. meeting will take place at Dirigo Elementary School at 117 Auburn Road.
The Select Board approved the six-article warrant Monday, with the major article asking people to authorize financing construction of a town garage not to exceed $600,000 on a loan of up to five years, and to expend previously received property insurance of $212,215 for the interest and first payment.
Board member Pat Houghton said Road Commissioner Brad Hutchings is proposing a 5,520-square-foot garage on two floors on the same site on Peru Center Road, replacing the 33-year-old garage that was 2,400 square feet and deemed too small for the department.
The Finance Committee wanted to have this article placed on the annual town meeting ballot in June because more people would be likely to vote then.
Members of the committee say they believe there should be another option for the size of the building. Select Board Vice Chairwoman Katey Lawrence said they don’t have an actual cost figure for the building, but they need to have approved funds before they can get a contractor to build it.
She added that to date, the town has received $591,488 from insurance, with another $71,000 coming in the future, along with smaller amounts.
The highway warrant includes two articles to replace highway trucks. One is to spend truck insurance payment of $179,273 to buy a new medium-duty truck with a wing for $155,000. The second is to authorize financing $263,000 for up to five years for a 2023 six-wheel stainless steel body plow truck with plow and sander, and to take $52,000 from surplus to cover most of the first payment.
The final Highway Department article asks to spend $24,273 from the truck insurance payment to replace tools lost in the fire.
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