LIVERMORE FALLS – A selectman asked the police chief Monday to work with SAD 36 officials to create more parking near the football field on Highland Avenue during games.

Area residents have complained about people parking in no parking zones on roads there.

Police Chief Ernest Steward said police have been writing tickets like crazy and getting complaints about the tickets.

School officials need to get the parking straightened out, Steward said.

Placing tickets on vehicles owned by people coming to watch the kids play is not very community friendly, he said.

Steward said he would like to have school officials consider making all of the middle school area open to parking and to leave Cedar Street open for emergency vehicles. Emergency vehicles are already on the field during games and they could access the street from the field, he said.

“I think proactive is the way to go,” fire Chief Ken Jones said.

Selectman Bill Demaray asked Steward to work with the school to improve parking, especially with the Jay/Livermore Falls football game coming up in a couple of weeks.

Demaray said he could understand people getting upset if they got a ticket but you have to make the area safe.

Selectman Jackie Knight told Steward that kids keep going into the cemetery on Pine Avenue and knocking stuff down.

The cemetery is not too far from the high and middle schools.

Steward said the kids go there to smoke.

Police have tried in the past to work it out with the cemetery group but they don’t want to put barriers up, he said.

Demaray also asked Steward to patrol Sewall Street because it is becoming a playground with kids playing and sitting in the road and failing to move making it difficult for vehicles to get by.

Selectmen congratulated Jones for the Fire Department receiving a $188,100 federal fire grant to buy a new pumper tanker truck if voters approve raising $9,900 in matching funds at a special town meeting yet to be set.

Jones said they’ve already been talking with dealers and he would like to see a special town meeting set before January because it takes time to build a truck.

Demaray said he couldn’t see having multiple special town meetings in a row if something needs to be done about the transfer station and the possibility of raising more money to buy a ladder truck if the town makes a bid on Farmington’s truck.

He would like to see a special town meeting set in January or so to cover all the items, Demaray said.

He also said he would be very surprised if the town wouldn’t approve raising $9,900 to get $188,100 for the truck.

Demaray suggested Jones bring back more information on the time frame for the grant and the needed performance bond at a future meeting before they set a special town meeting.

Jones said he will continue moving forward on meeting with truck manufacturers and there could be some offers of deals to buy two trucks at a good price.

Jones also suggested some of the department’s old equipment, such as 1972 turnout jackets, an air compressor and old pagers, be sold on eBay or Maine Municipal Association’s Web site.

Uncle Henry’s, a buy-swap-sell publication, was also mentioned as a possibility.

“It is time to clean house,” Jones said, and sale of the items could bring cash and make room in the fire station.