Fisherman's and a Quarry

This is beyond frustrating. At town meeting, one of the more inspiring moments was when we decided to be more intelligent and creative as a town, trying to use a debt exclusion to pay for a much-needed new fire truck. To put it simply, a debt exclusion is a vote by the town to pay for the object (in this case, a truck) in one year - instead of paying interest and taking on more debt. The town would have to vote on it, but given that it would save us all money in the long run and the town was going to buy it no matter what, it was a brilliant idea.

Except, the truck costs more than the money Town Meeting allotted - per the first link.

Maylor noted that Medford just bought a truck for $328,000, others paid up to $475,000 and Marblehead spent $390,000. And given that all those fire trucks have the same engine and power train, he said, “I don’t think it’s really a question of longevity.”

Selectman Adam Forman asked why Carmody didn’t stand up at Town Meeting and say something. The chief said he’s not a Town Meeting member, but was hoping somebody would ask the chief’s opinion. Nobody did.

Dave Bowen of the Capital Improvement Committee then spoke, explaining that his group asked the chief if he could get a fire truck for $300,000.

“He said yes and didn’t come back to say we can’t use that truck,” Bowen said. “It’s customary for the Capital Improvement Committee to ask if we can get it for less.”

Apparently, the Fire Chief was at Town Meeting but didn't feel like he could 'speak up' when the question was under debate - because he's not a Town Meeting member. That's being awfully timid, considering we had a number of non-Town Meeting members address everyone on both nights, including before the debt exclusion debate even began. Furthermore, the question of whether or not $300,000 was enough came up during the debate. The Chief had a duty to speak up.

Labels: fire department, the Reporter