In a relatively short meeting Dec. 10, the Newcastle Selectmen decided to “put out the surplus fire truck for closed bid,” and accepted a quote for chimney repair at the Fire House on River Road, Chairman Brian Foote said Dec. 11.
Foote said for now the town would advertise the fire truck locally, and since it is a “30-year-old fire truck,” Foote estimated it might only be worth between “$1500 and $3000.”
Foote explained the damage is as a result of “wear and tear and the way it was built. According to the chimney guy, inside the flue has expanded and misplaced some brick and mortar.”
Selectman Pat Hudson said the board began the discussion of changing the process from that in the past, particularly examining the petition and questionnaire process, “and all that goes into getting onto the town warrant.”
Yearly, nonprofit and provider agencies request funds from each town in their coverage area. For example, in 2011, Warrant Article 20, the “Not For Profit” amount was $41,968, which passed during the June 2011 annual town meeting.
According to Hudson, the board as a body realized they needed an “evening workshop to devote to that only, when we don’t have 99 other things to discuss.”
Also during the meeting, Town Administrator David Bolling welcomed most of the members of the Park Committee to the meeting, with the plan of discussing the committee’s future.
“With the passing of Loretta Boeche, we certainly need to know the direction of the committee,” Bolling said, and recommended to the committee they meet and form a consensus on leadership.
“There’s no debate on [the need] for maintenance,” Bolling said of the numerous flower beds and beautification the Newcastle Park Committee has shouldered historically.
The group will meet and report back to Bolling and the selectmen.
With the award of an $1300 ASK (Assistance with Specific Know-How) Grant through the Lincoln County Planning Office, Bolling said the town’s new website design is well underway.
The goal is to have an easy-to-use and easy-to-maintain website that, “we can update and keep fresh in-house,” Bolling said.
Though Bolling couldn’t give an expected date of the new website roll-out, he did say, “we’re hoping [it’s up] by summer, given the deadline in terms of the grant money. We were thrilled to get it [the grant] and we’ll most definitely get a good website up with that.”
The board decided to cancel their next scheduled meeting, which had been planned for Dec. 24.
