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SPENCER —Selectmen signed a purchase agreement and issued an order for a new pumper truck for the fire department.
Deputy Fire Chief Robert Churchey said the vehicle would replace Engine 1, which was bought used from Southwick.
Town Administrator Jeff Bridges said Town Meeting previously authorized its lease financing and approved $100,000 for the first payment.
Bridges noted Massachusetts law prohibits the town from entering into a lease agreement prior to when the truck is delivered, which is expected to take two to three years.
Churchey said both Engine 1 and Engine 4 (from St. Joseph’s Abbey location) will be taken out of service. The fire department has all the equipment it needs for the vehicles and will transfer it onto the newer models, he said.
“This truck is pretty much identical to the trucks we have now,” Churchey said at a selectmen’s meeting.
Manufactured in Nebraska, vehicles of this kind usually have a life span of 20 to 30 years, he said.
With leases, Bridges said the town may want to consider having its first payment be the largest one (for example, $300,000) so that annual payments are lower after that.
There are no plans currently to ask for a debt exclusion for the $1.1 million purchase.
Sites for regional dispatch center include Spencer
In other business, Selectmen agreed to terminate a contract with Central Square (C.A.D. Software), who has been working on building a system for the police department. Bridges said the software will not align when the town moves over to a regional dispatch system. Another issue is the “abusive annual maintenance fee,” Bridges said.
He explained that the vendor had not worked a lot on the system and had not billed a lot for it yet. Bridges said when the town gets a bill, he will pursue trying to recoup money.
The town administrator added the existing software can function until it’s time to roll over to a regional system for dispatch.
At a subsequent meeting, Selectmen chair Jared Grigg said that a property under consideration in Charlton for a possible dispatch center fell through.
Grigg and other parties involved with the regionalization effort walked possible options on Linden Street and the “old brewery” at St. Joseph’s Abbey. They discussed the possibility of using the site briefly with the monks and intend to meet again on April 7, Grigg said.
Other properties they are considering are in Sutton, Auburn and Charlton.
But Grigg said the former brewery is “a big contender,” and there is the potential of having the regional dispatch center located in Spencer.
