In arguably the most egregious act of local governance in recent memory, Selectmen purchased a bucket truck for $173,690 on October 30 without meeting to determine financing, without funding approval from the Town’s fiscal authority — the Board of Finance, and without a vote of the taxpayers, as required by State law.

The unprecedented action was met with alarm and disappointment by members of the Board of Finance at their November 19 meeting, who expressed grave concern over the Selectmen’s failure to follow fiscal procedures, and voted unanimously to hire an attorney to help the board proceed with an appropriate response.

“The Selectmen disenfranchised voters from approving the purchase and circumvented the finance board from fulfilling their statutory duty to decide on how to finance it,” Vice-Chairman Kathy Donahue said, referencing the uncertain costs of the delivery of emergency services when the ambulance corps disbands in April, a circumstance weighing heavily on the minds of many citizens, especially our elderly population.

The Board of Selectmen first voted to purchase the truck on October 7 in order for the Town’s Highway Department to remove approximately 250 trees identified this summer as hazardous, a result of drought and gypsy moth infiltration. At the same meeting, Selectmen voted to schedule an October 24 Special Town Meeting for taxpayer approval of the purchase, a measure which is legally required in order for the Town to expend funds that exceed budgeted appropriations by $20,000.

The Board of Finance, when first apprised of the plan at their October 8 meeting, requested documentation on the additional costs associated with the equipment, such as insurance and workman’s compensation, and a financial analysis of comparable options, such as leasing a truck, out-sourcing the services, purchasing a used vehicle, collaborating with other towns, or taking a loan for the expense until uncertainties, such as State aid for roads and the delivery of emergency services, are resolved. Members were also concerned with the safety of the road crew, as the new bucket truck is three times the height of the equipment in use. Based on discussions which continued at a subsequent meeting on October 21, the Selectmen voted to cancel the Special Town Meeting to approve the purchase, and residents and officials present left with the understanding that the decision on the truck was postponed, though tree removal would continue, through some means, in the interim.

However, at the Selectmen’s meeting of November 7, under the agenda item under Old Business labeled “Tree Truck”, First Selectman Allan Cahill announced that the bucket truck was purchased using $82,000 from the Capital & Non-Recurring (CNR) Account for Trucks and Equipment, $70,000 from the appropriations taxpayers approved for the paving of roads, and $21,690 from the First Selectman’s salary line, an amount he has yet to earn. Documentation acquired by the Gazette shows that a proposal, along with detailed specifications for the truck, was prepared by Freightliner of Hartford on October 4, 2019, and that the truck was purchased on October 30 with Cahill, Selectman Bob Grindle, and Treasurer Ellen Rodriguez signing the checks.

While the penalty for violating the statute governing expenditures appears to be a civil action, finance board members were focused on establishing policies and ordinances to protect the appropriations approved by the taxpayers, and to ensure that something like this never happens again. Voter approval for the purchase of land and equipment, even with CNR accounts designated for those expenses, is also a long-established practice of the last several decades, and has, till now, been employed by Cahill, who declined comment, throughout his tenure.

Stan Crawford was the only member of the finance board to defend the Selectmen’s actions and to object to seeking legal counsel. “We don’t want to go down that rabbit hole,” he cautioned, to which member Kathi Newcombe replied, “We’re already in the rabbit hole. We didn’t put ourselves there, but it’s our responsibility to hire an attorney for guidance on the appropriate way to get out.”