The Newcastle Fire Co. plan to replace two aging trucks with a new rescue pumper remains, for the time being, a point of contention between the fire company and town officials.
Last week, the Newcastle Board of Selectmen unanimously voted to instruct Fire Chief Clayton Huntley to stop seeking bids for the truck (see “Newcastle orders Fire Co. to stop bidding process” in the March 17 edition of The Lincoln County News).
Newcastle Town Administrator Ron Grenier relayed the decision to Huntley in a March 14 letter.
William Avantaggio, a Damariscotta attorney, replied to Grenier’s letter the next day. According to Avantaggio, the Newcastle Fire Co. hopes to purchase the truck without town funds.
“The Company is pursuing several different funding sources,” Avantaggio wrote. “Whether or not other funding sources will be sufficient for the purchase cannot be determined until the Company knows the cost of the truck being sought.”
Casey Stevens and Mike Santos, the chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the Newcastle Fire Co. Board of Trustees, weighed in with a March 16 letter to Grenier.
According to Stevens and Santos, Huntley lacks the authority to “stop any official business or actions” conducted by the Board of Trustees without the Board’s permission and direction.
Grenier responded to issues raised in both letters in a March 18 reply addressed to Huntley, Stevens and Santos.
According to Grenier, the most recent accounting by the Fire Co. “showed total assets of $4095.”
“It is clear, despite later statements to the contrary, that the Newcastle Fire Company fully intends to have the Inhabitants [sic] of Newcastle pay for this new truck,” Grenier wrote.
Grenier cited Huntley’s intention, stated in a Jan. 4 letter, to work with town officials throughout the bid process and to award a bid “meeting conditions and time Lines [sic]” April 13 as evidence of the Fire Co.’s expectation of town financing.
According to Grenier, the Fire Co.’s failure to follow Newcastle’s “bid ordinance” could potentially expose the town to a lawsuit.
Grenier set out two options – the Fire Co. could voluntarily include a disclaimer in future advertisements or the selectmen could place an advertisement proclaiming the Fire Co.’s advertisement void.
The letter set a March 21 deadline for the Fire Co. to respond. If they didn’t, the selectmen would proceed with the second option, Grenier wrote.
Grenier placed a public notice with The Lincoln County News March 22 (see page 2A).
According to the notice, “All bids made pursuant to the Bid Request Published [sic] in the Lincoln County News on March 3, 2011 shall be considered void and of no effect as to the Town and Inhabitants of Newcastle.”
Grenier said the Fire Co. must contact any fire truck manufacturers it sought bids from in order to inform the manufacturers that the bids would be “informational” only.
If the Fire Co. does so, “that will probably put the matter to rest,” Grenier said.
Huntley declined comment on the notice, but said the Fire Co. has received over $312,000 in grant funds and over $95,000 in private donations in the last nine years
In 2005, the Fire Co. bought a new, $169,000 tanker without town funds, Huntley said.