CONWAY — Residents at town meeting voted in favor of a new pumper truck for the Conway Fire Department and opened the door to a possible new way of acquiring it.
A no-frills pumper truck is expected to cost $436,000 and two town meeting articles were crafted to generate the money to add it to the Fire Department’s arsenal. Both articles were adopted at Conway Grammar School on Monday, but not before being amended to allow the Select board to explore the possibility of leasing the vehicle.
Adoption of the first of the two articles means voters agree to borrow $151,000 to finance a portion of the cost to purchase or lease a new pumper truck. Residents then voted to transfer $285,000 from the Capital Stabilization Fund to pay the other portion. Both articles required a two-thirds vote.
Dana Goodfield, chairman of the Capital Improvement Planning Committee, made the motion to amend the articles to include the possibility of leasing. He said this could be a way to save money. He said the amendment would make it possible to lease the pumper truck and buy it for $1 after five years. Bob Armstrong, who is running for a three-year seat on the Selectboard, said he felt this amendment was coming too late in the discussion. He suggested tabling the amendment but his motion was not seconded. Bill Comeaux asked what the costs would be to maintain a leased vehicle and Goodfield, and Moderator J. Nicholas Filler said it would be the same as if it was purchased.
“Everything stays the same way as if we were right to just write a check for it,” Goodfield said.
Town Administrator Tom Hutcheson previously said all borrowing must be approved in a two-tier process, and residents will have to ratify their votes via ballot question at the polls on Thursday. This vote requires a simple majority, he said. Conway Fire Chief Bob Baker previously said the town’s pumper truck is 26 years old. He said experts recommend most departments replace pumper trucks every 20 years, but small towns like Conway typically stretch to 25 years because the trucks are not used for as many calls as they are in larger municipalities.
Earlier in the meeting, the 170 voters in attendance agreed to set a budget of $5,315,991, which is up $295,841 from the current fiscal year. Most of this difference is attributed to employee costs, information technology, technical schools, Conway Grammar School operating expenses and Frontier Regional operating costs, which add up to $259,771.
Hutcheson previously explained the $63,358 spike in Frontier Regional operating expenses is the result of many teachers retiring with pay-outs for their accrued sick days. He said the $71,870 in technical school expenses comes from sending two students out of district. He explained the town is responsible for paying tuition and transportation costs for students who go to another district for a program not offered at their own technical school.
The town administrator has also said the $31,105 increase in employee costs and $73,438 hike in Grammar School operating expenses stem from health insurance for all town employees going up 6.8 percent because the town is part of the Hampshire County Group Insurance Trust, established by the state for the joint purchase of insurance. The $20,000 increase under the information technology line item is the result of a full upgrade to the town government’s computer system.
Outside the general operating budget, voters agreed to raise and appropriate $125,000 for the capital stabilization account, and to transfer from free cash $100,000 for the highway garage stabilization account and $50,000 for Conway Grammar School capital stabilization.