Andover to send revised MOU to Chester for emergency services

Shawn Cunningham
© 2015 Telegraph Publishing, LLC

The Andover Select Board, at its Monday, April 13 meeting, continued its analysis of equipment needs and its consideration of a memorandum of understanding with the Town of Chester for emergency services, specifically fire and ambulance.

Board chair Harold “Red” Johnson noted that he had added hours of operation and mileage of each piece of town equipment — including trucks, grader, loader and backhoe — to a spreadsheet he had constructed to look at the needs of the town and how best to replace them.

New emission standards have made heavy diesel equipment more expensive, according to road foreman Kevin Baker and board member Mark Gordon, adding as much as $20,000 to new equipment purchases. Noting this, Johnson suggested that the current capital allocation may be too low.

Gordon said he had calculated that the town needed about $63,000 per year for its planned replacement of equipment. The current capital allocation is $60,000, so the board noted that that was better than expected.

Board member Jean Peters told the group that she had drafted a new memorandum of understanding in response to the MOU sent to Andover by Chester town manager David Pisha. Noting that Andover needed to do its due diligence in looking at options in contracting for emergency services, Peters said the main change was to make the term of the MOU one year rather than ongoing. While the board has already agreed to payments for fire and ambulance service for the 2015-2016 fiscal year, it wants to compare the services and prices of neighboring towns.

Noting that Andover needed to do its due diligence in looking at options in contracting for emergency services, board member Jean Peters said the main change was to make the term of the MOU with Chester one year rather than ongoing.

Peters also spoke of the problem of house numbers not being sufficient for first responders to find those in need of help. This is most problematic when mutual aid units unfamiliar with the town try to find a house. “If there’s a fire, that’s pretty obvious,” said Peters. “But it can be a crap-shoot if they will find a house otherwise.” The board agreed that it would like to find an affordable way for every property in town to be marked with a reflective number sign that would solve the problem.

The board authorized Town Clerk Linda Bargfrede to advertise for bids for roadside mowing and discussed replacement guard rails and upcoming grading of dirt roads.

Peters also said that the State Police report for March was comprised mostly of answering alarms and she thanked them for being sensitive to the town’s budget. The invoice for March was $280.