Proposed Fire Truck Lights Political Blaze

(Lamoine) - A proposal to replace a 30-year old fire truck with a brand new custom built rescue truck/pumper combination has fueled a bitter political debate in town, and the issue might not have been resolved by a nearly unanimous open town meeting vote.

As Selectmen were preparing to sign the annual town meeting warrant on February 5th, Selectman Glenn Crawford presented the Board with a petition asking for a referendum vote on the same question that appeared on the warrant regarding purchase of a fire truck. The petition contained 107 signatures from registered voters, certified the next day by Town Clerk Jennifer Kovacs. Selectmen Jo Cooper and Tom Spruce opted to sign the town meeting warrant as presented, offering the fire truck purchase to the open town meeting.

A check with a municipal law attorney at Maine Municipal Association found that it would be the option of the Selectmen to decide whether to also offer a vote to referendum at a later date. The petition was not received in time to place the matter on the referendum ballot for March 2nd, as such ballots have to be available to voters 45-days before the election. At the next meeting, the Board vigorously discussed whether to place the item on the June 8th ballot along with increasing the size of the board (see above article). In a unanimous vote, the Board opted to offer it to referendum. Though it came up for reconsideration, the Board did not change its decision to place the matter before the voters on June 8th. A public hearing will be held in May on the referendum question.

Meanwhile, the issue went before the open town meeting, and took the longest to dispose of, even though more than 90-percent of the voters present approved of the purchase. Maury Oliver, the Assistant Chief Engineer of the Fire Department, gave an impressive presentation that showed the purchase of a new truck would be far more cost effective than keeping the 1975 American LaFrance pumper and putting away money for a purchase 5-years down the road. Mr. Oliver said the town’s insurance rating was at jeopardy by keeping the old truck, which could increase a typical property owner’s house insurance by over $100 per year, compared to a tax impact of about $22 per year.

Fire Department member Bill Fennelly has circulated written materials advocating that the 30-year old truck be retained and repaired, and spoke briefly in favor at the town meeting.

The truck the department proposes to sell was purchased in 1999 from a fire department outside Chicago, and replaced a 1958 pumper as an interim measure to keep the pumping capacity intact for insurance underwriting purposes. The Fire Department has pledged to donate $50,000 raised from suppers, auctions and their annual appeal letter to go toward the purchase of the $200,000 truck. Another $25,000 would come from the town’s fire truck reserve fund, and any money from the sale of the 1975 truck would go into that fund. The remainder of the purchase would be funded through a 5-year loan approved by the voters.