Damariscotta’s town manager delivered a stern, public rebuke to the head of the town’s highway department April 2 regarding a request to buy tractor parts.
Town Manager Matt Lutkus criticized Road Commissioner Steve Reynolds for presenting the request to the Damariscotta Board of Selectmen without his permission.
“Someone needs to remind Steve of what the town manager form of government is here in Damariscotta,” Lutkus said. “This never made it to me and it’s totally inappropriate.”
Reynolds apologized and said he was just responding to Lutkus’ feedback about another request.
Lutkus’ rebuke came after he advised the selectmen against another request from Reynolds to purchase a secondhand street sweeper.
The purchase would enable the highway department to sweep every street in town, instead of only Main Street and the downtown parking lot, according to Reynolds and department Foreman Hugh Priebe.
The 2001 Johnston J3000 has logged about 9,000 miles and 2,720 hours of use with one owner and operator. The machine appears to be in excellent condition inside and out.
“It’s in really good shape for the amount of money they’re asking for it,” Priebe said.
The town would purchase the machine from HP Fairfield LLC for $24,999. A similar machine would cost about $140,000 to buy new or $3,600 per week to rent.
The department regularly fields requests for street-sweeping, Priebe said.
The machine picks up dirt and debris while it sweeps. The function could become crucial as more states move to classify road sand as a hazardous material, Reynolds said.
The buildup of sand on road shoulders also creates a barrier for water runoff, Reynolds said. When water stays on the roads, it seeps through cracks in the surface and damages the road base.
A less expensive attachment for the town’s John Deere tractor would sweep streets, but would not collect the dirt.
Damariscotta and Newcastle could enter a six-month rent-to-purchase contract for the machine with payments of $2,083.25 per month, per town. The towns share public works employees and equipment and would split the cost of the new machine.
Damariscotta currently contracts street-sweeping for the downtown at a cost of $2,825 per year, while Newcastle pays $4,500. The purchase would result in immediate and long-term savings, Reynolds said.
The town could buy the machine, “sweep all of our streets” to demonstrate its capabilities, and, if the selectmen still have concerns, the town “could sell it at the end of the season for probably the same, if not more, money,” Reynolds said.
The request boils down to “whether people have the appetite to pursue this and increase the level of service” or prefer to maintain the status quo, Reynolds said.
The selectmen were split on the proposal.
Chairman Josh Pinkham and 2nd Vice Chairwoman Vicki Pinkham spoke against the request.
“It’s a lot of money, and I think it’s too much money,” Josh Pinkham said. Early figures for the school budget have him “concerned about spending any extra money,” he said.
“That’s a lot of money for a piece of equipment that’s 13 years old,” Vicki Pinkham said.
Selectman David Atwater disagreed. “To me, it seems like it does make sense,” he said.
Lutkus recommended that the selectmen turn down the request.
“Street sweepers are the bane of fleet managers,” Lutkus said. “They’re probably the worst piece of equipment when it comes to fleet maintenance.”
Lutkus has concerns about a major equipment purchase at a time when the town is “trying to keep cost increases at a minimum,” he said. “I think we need to be very mindful of budget creep in that regard.”
The town has to sweep the downtown to comply with the terms of a state permit that allows the town to dump snow in the Damariscotta River, Lutkus said. The town does not have to provide the service elsewhere.
Finally, a contract with the town of Newcastle for joint public works operations will come up for review next year.
The board has recently discussed “whether or not it works for us, and I think that needs to be decided before we add another piece of equipment,” Lutkus said.
Reynolds countered Lutkus’ comments about street sweepers. Priebe has experience with the machines and “can talk to the maintenance of sweepers better than anyone in this room,” Reynolds said.
The selectmen voted to table the matter to further review the request.
Reynolds followed up the proposal with his request for relatively affordable attachments for the town’s John Deere tractor.
A 5-foot broom attachment would cost $3,777.30; a 7-foot rake would cost $2,012. The department would use the broom to sweep sidewalks; the rake for the Biscay Pond property and various gravel roads.
Lutkus objected to the manner of the request.
“I have to take issue with this,” Lutkus said. “This needs to go through the town manager first, because I have not seen this previously.”
“I see I’m being cc’d on it, and, you know, someone needs to remind Steve of what the town manager form of government is here in Damariscotta,” Lutkus said. “This never made it to me and it’s totally inappropriate.”
Reynolds immediately apologized. He said he was just responding to Lutkus’ feedback on the street-sweeper proposal.
“I can readdress it to Matt and have it come back through to you folks,” Reynolds told the selectmen.
The selectmen tabled the request after the exchange.