Pittsfield council OKs new fuel purchase policy

PITTSFIELD – Pittsfield councilors authorized a new fuel purchase policy Tuesday night, prompted by high fuel costs.

The policy was adopted because of the town’s inability to keep under the $3,000 departmental purchasing cap when filling the 2,000-gallon town gasoline tank.

“This will allow for more efficiency and effectiveness,” Town Manager Kathryn Ruth said. Ruth said that the new policy will allow for fuel purchases up to $5,000 at a time. “This may provide an opportunity to reduce the cost per gallon if we can obtain any bulk rates,” Ruth said. “To date, we have not found any. However, we will keep looking.”

Raising the cap to $5,000 will allow the gasoline tank to be filled and the diesel tank to be partially filled. Ruth said that the fuel tanks are under the supervision of the Public Works Department but that usage is tracked by each department. For example, the police or fire department has a key which is separately metered when used.

The council also approved Kleinschmidt Associates’ request to attach a conduit with fiber optics and telephone wires, weighing less than 200 pounds, to the exterior roof trusses of the Pittsfield Municipal Theater. KA owns the building to the south of the theater and leases space in the building to the north. KA is creating 10 new jobs in the leased space and needs to expand its technology across the theater roof to the second building.

“It is exciting to see those 10 new jobs come to Pittsfield,” Mayor Timothy Nichols said. “These are good jobs for the community.”

In other business, the council was updated on the progress of the E-911 street numbering project. Pittsfield is one of the last towns in the state to complete its project, which Ruth said was finished last week.

Maps are currently being created, she said, and then the package will be sent to the post office for final acceptance. It is hoped that new addresses will be in place and announced within the next two months.

The council also:

. Signed certificates of thanks to a long list of contractors, volunteers and companies that donated time and work to remove a building on Library Street to make way for the library renovation.

. Set two public hearings for May 16 on changing the name of Madawaska Road to Madawaska Avenue and on naming a new street off Merrimac Street Cardinal Street. These changes are part of the E-911 numbering system.