LIVERMORE — Selectpersons voted Tuesday to award the contract for winter sand to R.S. Pidacks Inc. of Livermore for a bid of $17,250.

The company will provide 3,000 yards of sand that they will mix with road salt and be required to build the town’s sand pile, town Administrative Assistant Kurt Schaub said.

The town received three bids but only two were complete, he said.

The other complete bid was submitted by Irving Soper of Livermore for $18,750, he said.

The board also voted to put eight new rear tires on a Sterling, 10-wheel, dual axle dump truck for a price of $3,398 from New England Truck Tire, Schaub said.

Selectpersons also agreed to buy four new rear tires for the GMC plow truck for $1,141. The tires that are currently on the truck will be put on the Fire Department’s squad truck with the department kicking in $500 toward the GMC’s new tires.

Schaub, who is also the treasurer, said he also informed the board that the auditors had been in and were pleased with the town’s procedures and controls. The fund balance grew by about $50,000 to $456,000 at year end, which is right in the ballpark where it should be, Schaub said.

On another matter, Schaub said he informed the board that the town’s insurance company, Maine Municipal Risk Management Services, denied a claim submitted on behalf of Washburn-Norlands Living History Center for damage to its alarm wire that runs under Norlands Road.

The unmarked wire was damaged by the town’s highway crew while attempting to remove what appeared to be an old, sunken culvert under the road, Schaub said.

The town had received clearance from the Dig Safe program prior to the beginning of the project, he said. The location of the line was not marked.

In the course of the insurance company’s investigation, “Norlands said they had obtained, in the 1980s, permission from the town to install the wire under the road,” he said. “There is no doubt that permission was granted, but it should have resulted in the town granting an easement, in a specific location, for the wire, and none was recorded. MMA believes the fault lies with the alarm company as it reportedly was unable to pinpoint the wire’s exact location.” 

dperry@sunjournal.com