Howland approves firetruck purchase

HOWLAND – Less than a quarter of the eligible townspeople voted Tuesday in support of the town buying a new firetruck and to approve paying their portion of the proposed $6.81 million SAD 31 budget, but they shot down appropriating $2,243 for a regional economic development agency.

The town poll closed at about 7 p.m., and the votes were tallied by 9:30 p.m., with about 180 of the approximately 800 eligible voters casting votes on each of the 18 articles on the ballot, said Kim Saucier, a Town Office clerk.

For Howland Volunteer Fire Chief Phil Dawson, the 114-59 vote in favor of the firetruck was a victory.

Dawson organized a petition drive to get a $170,000 appropriation for a new truck, replacing a 38-year-old rebuilt model. The town’s 1967 Ford Thibeault was upgraded about 10 years ago with a new back chassis, tank and repainting, but it is too old to be reliable, Dawson said.

“We’re glad it’s passed. It’s definitely satisfying,” Dawson said Tuesday. “People have done the right thing. Now we’ll just try to spec out a truck that will best serve the taxpayers and the department.”

The truck was voted down during a March referendum.

Selectman Joseph Dunn wasn’t pleased with the reversal.

“I’d rather see the money put back into the [Fire Department] building and go for a grant to pay for the truck,” Dunn said. “There wasn’t very many people to speak, but the ones who spoke had their say. You have to go by the wish of the people, even if it is a small number who spoke.”

The town’s newest fire vehicle is a 1983 Ford FMC pumper. Judging either vehicle by its age and mileage would be misleading because the town handles about 80 calls a year, but even so, the 38-year-old model had questionable reliability, Dawson said.

He and other town officials have already begun looking for a new truck. They might be able to get a new vehicle minus several extras or a used one that’s fully loaded, he said.

Sixty voters went for and 112 voted against appropriating $2,243 to the Lincoln Lakes Regional Development Corp., a nonprofit quasi-public organization dedicated to drawing business to and creating economic opportunity within the Lincoln Lakes area.

LLRDC serves about 20 communities in the region.

The SAD 31 vote was split among 16 articles of itemized budget items, Saucier said. Voters supported the budget by a 2 to 1 margin generally, although some article votes fell slightly below that.

In passing their budget, members of the SAD 31 board of directors said they pared it to its bare bones, finding $221,700 in cuts to a $7.04 million budget, a $641,000 increase over previous years.

A gifted and talented teaching position and a guidance counselor’s post were cut to half-time slots. The athletic director’s salary was cut to $12,000 from $17,500.

SAD 31 serves Lowell, Burlington, Edinburg, Enfield, Howland, Maxfield and Passadumkeag.