Deputy Chief Ben Lemmer told the Buckfield Select Board that ambulance 451 is mid‑repair and that Ripley’s has estimated about $9,700 in parts for the current work and a body‑shop quote could add several thousand dollars more. He said the vehicle will be routed to additional shops to obtain three quotes for a full assessment and to support decision‑making.
Lemmer gave engine‑hour and mileage context: ambulance 451 currently shows 12,089 engine hours (8,286 idle hours). Using an industry conversion he quoted — one engine hour approximates 30 miles — he calculated the truck’s 111,000 odometer miles equate to roughly 362,000 equivalent miles when idle hours are included. By contrast, 452 has about 3,000 engine hours (about 108,000 equivalent miles), showing substantially less engine wear.
The department has budgeted $10,000 per year for ambulance maintenance; Lemmer said that line has been spent and any larger repairs would come from the reserve account unless voters approve a warrant article. He said suppliers provided build sheets and prices for replacement/remount options and that Autotronics (referred to in the packet) rents ambulances at $125 per day — about $45,000 per year if rented continuously — a short‑term option but not a cost‑effective long‑term solution.
Lemmer requested the board allow time to collect and circulate three quotes; he expected to have those before the next meeting and said the department would forward documents to the Select Board and town email list as soon as they are available. The board discussed whether to repair older trucks or present a warrant article to voters for a new vehicle at the special town meeting on Nov. 4; no warrant article was filed that night.
Why this matters: ambulance availability and reliability affect emergency response in Buckfield and neighboring towns that depend on mutual aid. The engine‑hour data and repair estimates will inform whether the town should continue repairing aging apparatus or fund a replacement through a voter‑approved article.
Next steps: staff will obtain the three quotes, share them with the board before the next meeting, and the Select Board will decide whether to propose a warrant article in November for replacement funding. No final purchase or repair authorization beyond approving continued quote collection was taken at the meeting.