LIVERMORE — Voters at the annual town meeting Wednesday night approved buying a backhoe and engineering and design work for a sand/salt shed. They said no to buying a new truck and construction costs for the sand/salt shed.

The town may now seek financing of up to $135,000 to purchase a piece of equipment to replace the 1995 CASE backhoe that was taken out of service this spring. The plan is to take out a five-year loan with annual payments of $29,385.35. Interest would be $11,926.73.

The Board of Selectpersons asked voters to seek financing of up to $285,000 for engineering and construction costs for a new sand/salt shed. Livermore has been on a state priority list of towns needing to do something about salt leaching into the ground since 1986. Livermore’s rating is a 3, with 4 being the worst. The Municipal Sand/Salt Shed Facility program, which helps reimburse towns for some of the costs involved, will soon end.

Without a new shed, the town would need Department of Environmental Protection licensure for hazardous waste disposal and would lose its contamination waiver. The town would be eligible for a 1 percent loan through the DEP. It would also be reimbursed about 37 percent from the Department of Transportation upon completion of the project.

Carrie Castonguay, the town’s administrative assistant, received letters from MDOT and DEP on June 1 stating the town had two months to submit a preliminary plan that gives the current location of a shed, site information on where the new shed would be located, and a best guess of when construction would start. Final construction plans would need to be submitted within 14 months of the letter, with a 26-month deadline from that date to build the shed and have it approved.

Voters authorized the town to seek up to $20,000 in financing for the engineering and design of a sand/salt shed. Construction costs will need to be considered at a later date.

Voters said no to seeking financing of up to $110,000 to purchase a new plow truck to replace the 2008 GMC. The town is spending over $14,000 annually in repairs for the 2001 F550 and 2008 GMC. The GMC would have been replaced with either another F550 or a Dodge 5500. 

Approval was given to raise or appropriate $300,000 for capital road improvements, after an amendment to cut the amount by $20,000 failed. Prices of paving materials were discussed. Some voters expressed concern that the town isn’t maintaining the roads. Roads proposed to have work done include the River, Botka Hill and South.

Voters gave authorization for the Board of Selectpersons to discontinue winter maintenance of the private Leavitt Road Extension serving the property at Map R08, Lot 040. That property is the former Bert Bryant property. 

All other budget requests were approved by voters.

pharnden@sunmediagroup.net