Bangor councilors meet new motor pool director

BANGOR — The finance committee meeting Tuesday gave several city councilors their first opportunity to meet the new director of the city’s motor pool. Randy Mace began work Nov. 22, replacing Ted Corbett, who moved out of the Bangor area.

Mace, originally from Orono, was employed previously by Beauregard Equipment, a heavy-equipment company.

Mace’s introduction to the finance committee came during discussion of the purchase of a four-wheel-drive pickup truck and plow. Mace recommended buying the vehicle from O’Connor GMC in Augusta at a cost of $22,608. The price was not the low bid, but O’Connor promised a one-week delivery time, compared with the 12-week delivery time estimated by other dealers.

Other bids approved Tuesday included roof replacement on Building 268 at Bangor International Airport at a cost of $87,180, awarded to Mid-State Contractors of East Eddington; and a pothole patcher from Triplex Group in New Hope, Pa., at a cost of $56,825.

Purchasing Director David Pellegrino showed the committee a video on the hot-pave patcher, which can be used year-round. The device blows air and debris out of the pothole, then fills the hole with heated material and seals it.

“We’ve done some checking with cities with our climate,” explained City Manager Edward Barrett, and reports said the process works well. The company also came to Bangor and did a demonstration for city officials. The expectation is that potholes will not have to be patched as often with this process.

The committee also held an executive session Tuesday for a legal matter on the Brewer Junkyard, but took no action once members came back into public session.

Also Tuesday, the municipal operations committee held a public hearing on eight policies pertaining to police operations — policies that the Legislature mandated must be in place by January.

The policies encompass use of force; barricaded people and hostage situations; people exhibiting deviant behavior; domestic violence; hate crimes and bias incidents; police pursuits; complaints of police misconduct; and criminal conduct engaged in by law enforcement officers.

Two of the sample policies distributed by Maine chiefs of police statewide were based on Bangor’s: one on barricaded people and hostages, and one on citizen complaints.

The committee approved a gift of four parcels of land offered by Stephen and Tabitha King. The parcels total 3.2 acres and are adjacent to Hayford Park.

Parks and Recreation Director Dale Theriault said that two of the parcels would square up the back corner of the park.