VAN BUREN, Maine – About a dozen Van Buren residents voted Wednesday night to acquire a new ambulance and to amend the town’s dog control ordinance.
The ambulance is a 2025 Ford E-450 7.3L Braun Chief XL priced at $344,942. With the unanimous approval at Wednesday’s special town meeting to buy the ambulance with funds from the town’s Ambulance Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Account, the town will vote on purchasing and financing options at a subsequent meeting.
The capital improvement account currently has $60,000. Luke Dyer, Van Buren’s town manager, said that before he took his current job in 2022, the town had not put any money into this account.
“The long term goal is that if we finance it, which is probably what we’re going to do, then we’re going to take part of that $60,000 to offset what we’re already putting into CIP,” he said.
It will be purchased from Autotronics, LLC in Frenchville with $344,942 from the town’s Ambulance Capital Improvement Account. This purchase will replace a loaner ambulance that has temporarily replaced the town’s 2009 Ford E-450 ambulance, which had significant engine failure earlier this year.
The town also has a used 2019 Ford E-450 ambulance that it purchased from the Fort Fairfield Ambulance Service for $150,000 in 2022.
Most ambulance services, Dyer said, often hold onto their ambulances until they are no longer usable, which is why the town went with the 2025 vehicle. He said most towns also usually opt for the E-550 model instead of the 450. These models are about $100,000 more expensive than the one Van Buren residents approved.
“We’re not going with a Cadillac,” he said. “We’re going with an ambulance that will serve the needs of the ambulance service.”
One resident asked when the town would get the new ambulance, and a member of the ambulance service said it should arrive by the end of the month.
Voters also approved amendments to the dog control ordinance, which remove restrictions on particular times of day. The old ordinance restricted complaints from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. This amendment will allow the animal control officer to enforce the ordinance’s rules at any time of day.
“We’ve had a few occasions where the animal control officer is going to charge somebody, but because of the time constraint, it wasn’t possible to resolve the situation,” Dyer said.
Dyer said that while the town does not have widespread issues with barking dogs, there is one area in particular where loud dogs have been disturbing residents.
The ordinance also changes the fee for first offenses from $25 to $50, with any additional fines costing $100.
