MEXICO — The Board of Selectmen unanimously voted to accept a $13,800 bid for a town-owned property on 47 Osgood Ave. during Tuesday evening’s meeting at the Mexico Town Office.

The property was awarded to William Hennel, who was one of two people to submit bids for the house on 47 Osgood Ave.

Chairman Richie Philbrick said that there was a minimum bid of $12,000 for the property, with Hennel bidding $13,800, and the other bidder, T.W. Lawn Care, bidding $12,000.

There was some discussion on whether the board should approve T.W. Lawn Care for the bid, despite being the low bidder.

“I think that Todd Wardwell, the owner, has done a lot of good for the town of Mexico, and has been a good resident,” said Selectman Reggie Arsenault. “I know he’s the low bidder, but as selectmen, we have the right to reject any bids that we receive.”

Arsenault subsequently made a motion to accept the $12,000 bid by T.W. Lawn Care.

Selectman Byron Ouellette said, “I appreciate all that Todd has done for the town too, Reggie, but the fact is, we’d be getting an additional $1,800 if we went with the high bid.”

Selectman Albert Aniel agreed with Ouellette, adding, “I think Todd’s a great guy, but we put these properties out to bid to find the highest bidder. The idea is to ensure that the highest bidder gets the property.”

Hennel told the board that he plans to move into the property and renovate it.

The board voted 3-2 against approving the $12,000 bid by T.W. Lawn Care, with Philbrick and Arsenault the dissenting votes.

Ouellette then made a motion to approve Hennel for the property. The motion was approved 3-2.

Town Manager John Madigan later added that the town will have to issue a quitclaim deed for a snowmobile trail located behind the property.

The selectmen also voted unanimously to approve a $100 bid by William McDougal for the property located on 6 Katie Lane.

Philbrick said that even though the town placed a $1,000 minimum bid requirement for the property, McDougal’s bid came in at $900 under.

“However, the cost of demolishing the building ourselves would probably be higher than anything else,” Philbrick said.

In other business, the selectmen unanimously voted to table discussion on whether to approve a hawkers/peddlers license for Scott Clough to operate a hot dog cart at a location to be determined.

Selectman Andy Dupuis told the board that “there are a lot of eating establishments in the area that pay taxes, while these carts only have to pay a license fee to set up and sell.”

“I don’t think that’s fair,” Dupuis said. “I want to know where he’s setting up his cart, to make sure that there’s nothing unfair going on.”

After voting to table discussion, Philbrick clarified, “We’re not saying that we don’t want to give him the license, but we should have the answers to these questions.”

The selectmen also agreed to schedule a special town meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 26, prior to the regularly scheduled meeting, to ask residents whether or not the town should be allowed to use surplus funds from the previous fiscal year and how they should be used.

mdaigle@sunjournal.com