SOLON -- Despite some resistance, town meeting voters here Saturday afternoon authorized selectmen to go out to bid for a new tandem axle truck for the highway department as part of an $861,000 municipal spending plan.

Selectman Elaine Aloes said buying a second, $100,000 tandem axle truck would save the town money in fuel because it would make less trips to get the job done.

She said the town buys a new truck every five years and it made sense to do so now -- about two years early -- while the town has insurance funds and other money it can use toward the purchase. Over a 5-year loan, annual payments will be about $13,700, she said.

Voter Gary Farnham said he thought the single-axle truck currently being used along with a tandem axle truck was "just fine." He said paying $10,000 of insurance funds to repair the older truck was a better use of the money than applying it to a new truck that would cost $90,000.

"Ninety thousand dollars is $90,000," Farnham said. Voters approved the purchase.

The truck, drainage work on French Hill Road and a request to breach a section of Fall Brook Dam were among the few issues that elicited comment from some of the 60 voters who plowed their way through the snowstorm for Saturday's annual town meeting.

They also elected a new selectman, posting 101 votes for Sarah Davis, who defeated incumbent Daniel Keegan, with 62 votes.

Several voters voiced concern about the slippery conditions on the north side of French Hill Road, which a state engineer said is caused by improper drainage.

E-mail this entry to a friend