A dispute over which side of Eagle Lake should house a newly acquired fire truck was put to rest Monday when Select Board members voted to have the town manager and fire chief decide where the truck goes.
The argument involved a 30-year-old second-hand truck and a fire department substation the town is building on the opposite side of the lake from its main facility.
The substation is nearly complete and due to open within weeks, Fire Chief Bob St. Germain said Tuesday. The site will improve fire response times on Eagle Lake’s Sly Brook side, because firefighters won’t have to travel around the lake from the main station on Devoe Brook Road.
The department’s existing pumper holds 1,250 gallons of water, while the recently purchased one holds 1,000.
“You have an area that has no hydrants at all — the Sly Brook side,” St. Germain said. “Having 1,250 gallons on that side … could save a life or could save a house. We thought it would benefit the Sly Brook side to have more water.”
But not all Select Board members agreed, saying the truck was purchased specifically for the substation.
The board voted last September to use $30,000 in undesignated funds to buy the 1993 truck from the Levant Fire Department, according to town minutes. The motion didn’t specify where the truck would be housed.
Residents voted during a special meeting in October to authorize the truck’s purchase. The Oct. 1 meeting warrant did not mention the truck’s location.
The town website is missing meeting records for December and January. Town Manager Cyr Martin came on board in February, replacing John Sutherland.
The truck arrived this summer, according to the July 15 minutes.
Town records show that discussion ensued at an Aug. 19 Select Board meeting. St. Germain said the new truck should stay at the main station because it had a smaller tank size and would connect to hydrants. Chair Arthur Carroll said a vote had stipulated the new truck was for the substation and should go there.
Meeting minutes didn’t reflect a specified site for the new truck, which sparked a lot of miscommunication, Martin said.
“This caused a rift between the fire department and three of the board members who live on that [Sly Brook] side of the lake,” Martin said. “The board voted to just put the truck there against what the chief wanted.”
The back and forth led some to believe people didn’t support the fire department and sparked rumors of petitions to recall some Select Board members, he said. It all came to a head at Monday’s meeting.
Following an executive session, the board voted unanimously to let him and St. Germain recommend the most suitable location for the truck and present it at the next meeting, Martin said.
Tensions eased when people heard several firefighters on Sly Brook Road say they wouldn’t mind having the larger truck on that side of the lake, St. Germain said.
“The board seems to be on board with it. We came to a compromise,” he said. “Cyr and I are hopefully going to get together sometime this week, I’ll write down all the facts and we’ll present it to the board.”