| Joanne Cole |
A lightly attended Special Town Meeting approved a total of $693,232 in spending toward a replacement ambulance for Fire Rescue and for chip seal paving Monday evening at Memorial School.
Deputy Clerk Kim Getchell said 43 voters participated. That’s 3,126 fewer than cast ballots in the recent November 8 election.
The two items up for discussion at the November 21 meeting passed easily. Voters chose to take $120,688 from the town’s American Rescue Plan Act funds rather than from the Undesignated Fund Balance to cover a budget gap needed to purchase a new $370,688 ambulance. $250,000 was budgeted and approved last year for a new ambulance, well short of estimates and eventual bid prices.
In addition, voters at the November 21 special meeting approved the full $572,544 proposed for chip seal paving projects. That money will come from the $4.2 million Undesignated Fund Balance. Portions of Bald Hill Road, Gloucester Hill Road, Morse Road and the paved portion of Rowe Station Road will be chip sealed this season, assuming bids and asphalt prices cooperate.
Responding to a question from resident Linda Chase about the choice of roads, Public Works Director Ted Shane explained that the chosen four were identified as among the worst according to a town-wide road conditions study last summer. Excerpts from the study were included in the meeting information booklet. A second paving request is anticipated at the May annual town meeting.
The ARPA vs. Undesignated Fund ambulance articles prompted the most discussion. Resident George Colby urged a No vote on both (and later the paving article) on the grounds that they weren’t appropriate for a special town meeting. Other residents, including Richard Cadigan and Penny Hilton, had questions about the price of the new ambulance and what would happen if it weren’t purchased.
Select Board members described the new 2023 ‘Type 1’ unit as a significant upgrade, not simply a needed replacement. Chair Peter Bragdon and Vice Chair Paul Larrivee explained that the new vehicle will be a 4×4 rather than 2WD and safer for personnel and patients alike, in part because of a specialty power loading/stretcher system costing nearly $70,000. As for the condition of the town’s current ambulance, that was hinted at by its trade-in value: $10,000, according to the meeting booklet.
Also factors behind the choice of this particular ambulance unit, Larrivee noted the build time from the selected vendor—about a year—was faster than others’. Board member Stephen Hathorne added that the ‘patient box‘ on the new ambulance can be remounted on a different chassis when the time comes.
Because the additional money for the ambulance would be coming from existing balances, the spending would have no tax impact, Hathorne noted. That is also the case with the paving expenditure.
Voters’ decision to use ARPA funds for the ambulance purchase leaves $278,500 available for other projects. In all, the town received a total of $615,000 in federal ARPA funds. A PacMor trailer for the Transfer Station, a cardio monitor/defibrillator for Fire Rescue, heat pumps for two town buildings, and a phone system upgrade are among the ARPA-funded items to date.
Warrant articles dispatched, Moderator Don Libby gaveled the proceedings adjourned in about half an hour, considerably less time than it took for town staff and the NG Cable TV team to set up the Memorial School gym for the meeting.
