OXFORD — Town Manager Adam Garland announced during Thursday’s selectboard meeting that Oxford has hired Ashley Armstrong as its new fire chief.

A 2009 graduate of Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School, Armstrong’s appointment to OFD brings her full circle to her roots. She holds a degree in paramedicine and firefighting. She has been with the South Portland Fire Department since 2012, and worked at the Cumberland Fire Department prior to that.

“I’m super excited to be here,” she told the board following Garland’s announcement. “I started my career in Oxford back in 2009, and I’m excited to be back here as fire chief.”

Armstrong’s first official day on the job will be March 11.

With a new fire and rescue chief in place, selectmen agreed to table an agenda item relating to department vehicles, a topic developed by Garland and Acting Fire Chief Shawn Cordwell.

An inventory of the fire department’s fleet brought to light two vehicles that are underutilized: a 2003 third ambulance with 75,000 miles that is rarely used.

“As the town manager and I went through future capital projects, a new truck is slated to be purchased,” Cordwell told selectmen. “It’s not necessary, it does very few ambulance calls. We never use more than two ambulances, as we don’t have the staff. The third is just in a spare role.”

The two newer ambulances are under warranty that includes use of a loaner if either need to be taken out of service for repairs.

“This is the best time to sell a [used] ambulance. It takes about four years to receive a new one, so some communities that may be in a bind” may be in the market to purchase an older one to get through. Cordwell added that Oxford would save money to heat the North Station on Pottle Road if it no longer is used to store the extra vehicle.

The second vehicle, Engine 4, could also potentially be sold off. That truck, an IT ’95 with 117,000 miles, is seldom used on calls but maintenance to test its equipment costs the town as much as $4,000 a year.

Garland said the vehicles would be listed with an online municipal equipment auction that allows the town to refuse any bid below what it wishes to accept. Revenue from the sales would deposit into the department’s capital equipment reserve, possibly toward a 450-550 sized engine able to access lakefront buildings on narrow camp roads.

“We often suffer damage to our trucks on calls to camps,” Cordwell said. “This truck would meet one of our needs, but also cost half of a larger fire pumper.”

While most of the select board supported the proposal, Vice-Chair Scott Hunter said selling off two vehicles will be a big change to the town’s public safety fleet.

“This is not a quick decision,” he said. “I would like a written confirmation that it will not affect our ISO [Insurance Services Office] rating. And now that we have a new fire chief, it’s something that should be worked on, with some serious meetings about it. I am not in favor.”

Selectman Floyd Thayer said the thought was to just list the vehicles to see what they would bring for offers but Hunter reiterated he was not in favor of taking any action without more information and thought. Board Chair Dana Dillingham asked Cordwell to provide an analysis of how the two vehicles are used on an annual basis.

The board agreed to review the additional information at its March 21 meeting and reconsider the proposal before the March 28 deadline for the 2024-25 fiscal year budget

Police Chief Rickie Jack presented additional information about applying for a grant to add a K9 and train a handler on the police force. Jack said that Norway’s police department and the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office were amenable to rotating K9 schedules with Oxford as union agreements allows; Paris’ K9 unit is on a designated 6 a.m.-6 p.m. shift. He noted that there have been occasions when Oxford has had to call on Androscoggin County for K9 assistance when the three other agencies’ handlers have not been able to respond.

The extra salary expense for a trained handler would be in the range of $2,200 a year. The grant funds would run out after three years, which at that point would consist of $10,000 annually and mostly of the additional wage, veterinary care and feed.

“The next step in acquiring the grant is to post the [handler] position,” Jack said. “They [grantor] would need to interview the officer to confirm the person is a good fit.

“The grant doesn’t really kick off until we take possession of the dog, and the next available training will be next year in March.”

“I’m a big proponent,” Dillingham said. “But scheduling the dog is a big piece. If you’ve got three dogs all working day shift and none at night it defeats the purpose.”

Jack said that beyond the grant, Oxford Casino Hotel and a cannabis business, The Hideaway have offered to fundraise to help pay for a K9 unit and another group said it would donate food.

Garland said that if the selectboard is in favor of the proposal, he and Jack will next need to enter a formal collective bargaining negotiation with the police union.

In other business, selectmen approved the marijuana facility license renewal for Oxford Provisions, LLC DBA Alternative Essence.

It also approved several mass gathering permits for Oxford Plains Speedway – the Oxford 250 with attendance to 14,999 and the 603 Diesel and other events with 1,000-4,900 attendees. Garland said he and Chief Jack have met with the speedway’s management team to make sure there are no repeats of last year’s Oxford 250, where eight people were arrested in a mêlée that included two police officers being assaulted.

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