Sangerville awaits tanker truck repair estimates

SANGERVILLE — Estimates are pending on the necessary repairs to get a Sangerville Fire Department 1993 tanker truck back on the road.

The vehicle, with 400,000 miles and a standard transmission, has problems such as oil leaks, issues with the brakes and rot in the rear frame. The truck is off the road due to a failed inspection. Interim Fire Chief Orman Gray is pursuing repair options instead of purchasing a brand new truck, which could cost $580,000 with $70,000 annual payments for more than a decade.

“The latest on the fire department tank truck situation is that we are currently working on obtaining new repair estimates from multiple mechanics and we expect this process may take a few weeks,” Town Manager Brian Mullis wrote in his weekly update on the Sangerville, Me Facebook page.

Gray had previously told the Select Board he felt the 1993 tanker truck has at least several years of life left in it.

In the interim, money would be put into capital reserve for a future truck purchase.

Mullis has spent time  researching road engineering studies, specifically on concrete culverts.

Three concrete culverts on the Silvers Mills Road have developed problems after just a few years.

“I understand that Sangerville spent a lot of tax money on these culverts with the theory they would last, potentially up to 80 years,” Mullis wrote. “ I have had some people say that we should remove these culverts and replace them with galvanized steel culverts like we use in most other applications, however, all the research I have done leads me to believe repairing these concrete culverts is far superior to replacing them. I will be putting a bid package together to do this repair work next week.”