HOULTON, Maine — Town councilors on Monday evening proposed purchasing two dump trucks for the Public Works Department.
During the brief meeting, councilors introduced a measure to spend $120,000 from the town’s surplus account to buy the equipment.
Chris Stewart, director of the public works department, was not present at the meeting, but sent a letter outlining his request.
Stewart said that he would shop around and do his best to stay at or below the $120,000 figure, but said that if the dump trucks were not purchased, “our job will be much harder.”
During a meeting earlier this month, Stewart appeared before the group to request funding for the trucks, which he said were desperately needed.
“I need a couple of dump trucks sooner rather than later,” Stewart told the councilors. “There is too much wrong with the trucks I have now.”
There are two 1995 Ford dump trucks that Stewart said have frames that are rusted so badly they will no longer pass inspection.
“I asked our mechanic to send me a list of everything wrong with the trucks,” he said. “After the third or fourth page, I told him to stop.”
Stewart said that nothing will hook to the frames of the vehicles because they are cracked and split all the way up to the cab.
He said that the 23-year-old trucks could not realistically be fixed. The town purchased the trucks used in 2007 and 2008 from Maine surplus.
Councilors held a first reading on the measure during Monday’s meeting and will conduct a public hearing on it Oct. 9. That meeting is being held on a Tuesday due to the Columbus Day holiday.
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- Public Works Director Chris Stewart shows some of the rust holes that can be found on the department’s two 1995 Ford dump/plow trucks. The trucks have been taken off the road as they will no longer pass inspection. (Joseph Cyr)
