Firefighters present keys to new rescue truck

Staff Report

    GREENVILLE — Fire Chief Matt St. Laurent and Deputy Fire Chief Gavin Oelschlegel presented the keys to a new rescue truck to the chair of the Greenville Board of Selectmen at their Feb. 5 meeting, after the department successfully raised funds and obtained a grant totaling $13,000 toward the purchase.

    Town Manager John Simko said that the total cost of the transaction was around $14,200 — $10,000 for the vehicle and $4,200 to have it shipped to Greenville. “It’s a lot of truck for the money. We had it thoroughly checked out by a Mack dealership in Minnesota,” Simko said.
    Recognizing the need to replace the current rescue van, the fire department raised enough money to buy a 1986 Mack rescue truck from Newport, Minn. The title is in the name of the Greenville Fire Department and is now insured by MMA, has an inspection sticker and is in service.
    It has already been used on one call on Monday, Feb. 3, according to minutes of the Feb. 5 selectmen’s meeting. It proved its worth by using the winch on the front of the truck to free a man who had been run over by a plow truck. The board of selectmen, by consensus, accepted the donation of the truck and thanked the members of the department for their efforts.
    A motion was then made by Craig Watt, seconded by Bruce Hanson, to go to bid for the sale of the current 1988 Chevrolet rescue van with bids closing prior to the first selectmen’s meeting in March. Should the bids exceed the limit that the selectmen are authorized to accept for sale of town property, a special town meeting will be called to authorize acceptance of the bid.
    Also, the proceeds of any such sale will go to the town’s undesignated fund balance. The selectmen will add an article on the annual town meeting warrant to direct those sale proceeds to the fire department apparatus account.
    Following a general discussion, the board of selectmen agreed by consensus to follow the same budget process as last year. The budget committee and selectmen will meet to hear the presentation of the budget by the town manager and department heads starting in March. Town Clerk Roxanne Lizotte will contact the five members of the budget committee to see if they would like to serve again this year, and will report the results back to the board in case vacancies need to be filled. The board of selectmen expects to meet on Wednesday nights for both regular and budget meetings.
    Simko also updated the board on the airport master plan, noting that the advisory committee is considering what aircraft can safely land and take off at the municipal airport now, and what aircraft would be desirable to have land there in the future.
    There is movement in the aviation commercial sector toward small business jets designed to carry passengers to more remote locations like Greenville from various urban centers. In the master plan, the committee has discussed the possible need to extend the main runway to accommodate such aircraft.
    Simko also reported that he plans to bring up the current contracts for solid waste collection and hauling at the Feb. 19 selectmen’s meeting. Moosehead Rubbish has had the contract for curbside pickup for decades, and Simko said that owner Sean Bolen and his crew “do a very good job for us. But the last three-year contract was simply renewed as written for an additional two years, which ends June 30, 2014. The board should decide how it wants to proceed for the next period so we can budget accordingly.”