Voters in Readfield and Windsor approved proposals to buy new firetrucks in Tuesday voting.
In Readfield, voters approved 386-114 a proposal to issue $424,000 in bonds to finance a new firetruck. The maximum interest rate is estimated at 1.9 percent.
Fire Chief Lee Q. Mank said the money would fund the purchase of a class A commercial chassis pumper to replace a 1986 class A pumper that has leaky water tanks and a rusty body, reflecting 30 years of service.
The truck would carry a 1,500-gallon tank.
Mank said the Fire Department’s capital improvement plan called for replacing the vehicle next year, but he learned that it takes a year to get a firetruck delivered once it’s been ordered.
That sped up the plans to seek approval for bonding to get a new one.
The proposal had the support of both the Select Board and the Budget Committee.
Voters in Windsor, too, agreed 183-140 to purchase new pumper firetruck, albeit smaller than the one that was rejected at the polls in June.
Tuesday’s proposal was to spend $335,000 for a new two-person-cab pumper truck to replace a 28-year-old firetruck. The payment would be made up of $250,000 in bonds, $50,000 from a reserve account for fire equipment, and $35,000 from the town’s general fund balance, made up of money unspent in previous years A proposal to finance a larger vehicle with a six-person cab was rejected earlier this year.
This time the proposal has the unanimous support of both the selectmen and Budget Committee.
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