| Joanne Cole |
The Select Board chose the vendor for a replacement ambulance for Fire Rescue on Monday at a special meeting. More steps await before the contract can be finalized, however, and even then it will be more than a year before a new unit pulls into the fire station. But settling the choice of vehicle and vendor and making a plan to take funding questions to voters at the October 24 meeting represented significant progress.
Interim Fire Rescue Chief Craig Bouchard had recommended Autotronics of Bangor from among five bids with base prices ranging from Autotronics’ $356,158 to a high of $414,676. The Autotronics unit is a 2023 Ford F-550 chassis, gas 4×4, with a Demers MXP 170 body and patient ‘box.’ Bouchard told the board that Autotronics’ price, timeline for delivery and service support were key to his recommendation. Their build time is estimated to be 14 months; other bidders’ delivery timelines were as long as two-and-a-half years out. The board agreed to award to Autotronics.
With only $250,000 budgeted, however, the board next turned to where additional funds should come from. They had already decided to call a November 21 special town meeting to ask voters to choose between using the town’s American Rescue Plan Act funds or the Undesignated Fund Balance. Now they were discussing whether to include the cost of warranties for specialty lift and cot systems, a pre-delivery inspection trip to the factory, and incidentals, or instead fund some or all of those items through the regular budget process or capital reserves.
Chief Craig Bouchard recommended taking $130,000 to special town meeting–enough to cover the vehicle, warranties, incidentals… everything. After extended discussion, the board voted 3-2 to send $120,688 to town meeting, enough to cover the $106,158 needed for the vehicle price and specialty warranties, but not incidentals and an inspection trip; those will be left for later. Members Tammy Donovan and Dustin Ward wanted voters to choose the funding source for everything ambulance-related at the upcoming town meeting.
Funding road map set, the board discussed with Deputy Clerk Sharlene Myers and Interim Manager Brad Plante how to set up and word the town meeting warrant to make clear to voters that they will be choosing between funding sources for the ambulance. Additional paving monies will also be on the warrant.
A draft warrant for the November 21 special town meeting is likely to be before the board for review at their next scheduled meeting, on November 7.
To view the video of the October 24, 2022, special meeting, click here. For meeting agendas and related materials, click here.
