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Its obvious this town doesnt have the money to do what everyone wants. It also seems obvious that what is being done is not being done economically. For instance, can anyone tell me why town vehicles are being fueled at an outside gas station? A gas station that has some of the highest prices around? Granted, they probably offer a discount for the high number of gallons sold, but is it the best deal we can get? Is it cheaper to fill the inground fuel tanks (at bulk prices) that the town owns at the Police station, Highway Dept., Fire Dept., and anywhere else? The Police Chief talked about moving out of the current police station, it has a garage downstairs that used to be used to repair police cars, the cars are now repaired on the outside. Does anyone know how much more expensive it is to send repairs out as opposed to fixing things in house? I know some departments have their own mechanics. Why arent all town vehicles repaired by town mechanics? People who work on their own vehicles know how much money they can save compared to sending their car to a dealership. The same idea works for other things such as office supplies and the like. It is a lot cheaper to buy copy/computer paper by the pallet than it is to buy it by the case. I could go on forever, but you get the idea. Thanks for any feedback, good and bad.
By doesnt matter
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What goes?
I thought the Police Department had a mechanic in their budget.
I still see town vehicles traveling around at all hours of the day and night. Why? Plus some are very new and very improperly unmarked. I thought the town vehicles were supposed to have signage on the vehicle itself and not just the license plates. The biggest culprit seems to be the Fire Department where everyone seems to have their own new SUV provided by the Town.
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Very Simple Answer
The town doesn't have money to do things for some really simple reasons:
1. Town can only raise tax revenue
2 1/2% each year while most town employees expect a 3% or more raise each year.
2. State aid $$ went down.
It can't get much simpler than that. That's why we've had huge layoffs all around town in the past couple of years, because the cost of other things keeps going up. (Those office supplies and gas you talk about, plus heating oil, etc.) And if we try to stop to fix a leaky roof on a town building or fix a pothole, it gets cut down even worse.
By Easy Math
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Police Mechanic Gone
The mechanic the police department had for years has been cut from the budget for about the past 6 or 8 years at least. They outsource any police vehicle mechanical needs and for sure it costs a bundle more in doing so, but costs can be hidden easier without it's own mechanic. The Fire Department has its own mechanic as does Parks/Golf and Highway depts.
I'm not sure I agree that Fire Dept appears to flaunt this process any more than police. Police have so many unmarked vehicles - lost count.
Fire Department Chief gets brand new unmarked SUV to drive home every day to Pembroke and his previous white SUV now becomes the deputy's SUV. Hmm, wonder why it took a vote last night of the Selectmen to award the contract for this new SUV when in fact the new vehicle has been already on site here in town for about the past ten days?
By Jerry P.
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