Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Limmerick select board wrestles with auditing RFPs, contractor complaints and multiple budget items ahead of March vote
Summary
Residents complained at the Dec. 30 meeting about a winter contractor's use of stone dust instead of sand and an apparent shortfall in the salt/sand stockpile; the board also discussed a lack of responses to auditing RFPs and moved budget and warrant items toward the March town vote, including raising an auditing placeholder to $25,000.
Residents packed the public comment portion of the Dec. 30 Limmerick select board meeting to press complaints about the town’s winter road contractor and to question the status of several administrative contracts and budgets ahead of the March town vote.
Multiple residents said the contractor used stone dust instead of the sand specified in the town contract, leaving icy conditions on some roads during a recent storm. One resident told the board: "He's not sanding. He's using stone dust. It's inadequate." Board members and staff said the contractor had difficulty sourcing sand from the supplier over the holiday period but that stock would be replenished.
The meeting also exposed trouble finding a replacement auditing firm: the town’s request for proposals drew no bids and one previously interested firm reportedly sought a large upfront retainer. Staff advised the board to budget conservatively for an audit; members discussed setting an initial placeholder of $25,000 for auditing services while continuing to solicit proposals from firms on a broader geographic list.
On budget and warrant matters, the board read and advanced multiple articles for the March warrant (articles addressing snowmobile-trail funds, tax-commitment language and capital transfers) and discussed capital items including proposed work at Bricktown Hall. The board awarded a planning/architectural services contract for Bricktown Hall improvements to a lower-cost bidder and discussed moving $10,000 into a capital reserve for dry-hydrant repairs after prior appropriation language left available funds unclear.
The board instructed staff to reissue auditor RFPs to a broader list of firms, to follow up with the municipal treasurer regarding moving previously approved balances into capital accounts, and to continue contract oversight for winter maintenance vendors.
