FARMINGTON — Selectmen on Tuesday night unanimously approved $43,772.40 to buy a 2023 Chevrolet Tahoe special service vehicle and up to $5,000 to outfit it for the Fire Rescue Department.

“Both our SUV and pickup are at the end of their life spans,” Chief TD Hardy said. He got a call Tuesday afternoon from McGovern Municipal in Framingham, Massachusetts, which has special service vehicles, he said.

“This company bought 72 of them; they are selling very fast,” he said. “This vehicle will not be available again until after the 2024 cycle.”

There are only a few red ones available; the other options are white and black. Hardy said he wasn’t sure if a red one would be available Wednesday.

The Tahoe will be Hardy’s response vehicle, which he expects to last about 10 years. He said the current vehicle puts on 10,000 to 15,000 miles per year.

The department’s equipment reserve account has a balance of $190,145.08.

In other business, selectmen voted 3-1 to use the same DS200 ballot scanner and vote tabulator for annual town and school district elections in March 2023 that it uses for state and federal elections. The machine combines the flexibility and efficiency of digital-imaging technology to support paper-based voting, according to online information.

The town has been using paper ballots for town and school district elections, which are dropped into a wooden box and counted by hand.

Selectmen Stephan Bunker, Scott Landry and Byron Staples were in favor, Joshua Bell was opposed and Matthew Smith was absent.

Interim Town Clerk Twila Lycette’s research found that the DS200 is much easier for voters, Waller said. All questions would be on one ballot rather than two, and it saves counting by hand.

The anticipated cost is $526, or around $263 when split with Regional School Unit 9, according to the agenda.

Waller estimated the cost of printing ballots is about $200.

Bunker said the town would save money by not paying clerks to count ballots.

Selectmen also approved Pine Ridge Drive as a road name for a new home off Route 156 owned by Ross and Maureen Clair. Information they provided indicated the house is in Farmington but the end of the driveway is in Wilton.

Farmington Rescue Chief Terry Bell said state E-911 officials advised naming the road and they would give them the address.

“The house has been there awhile. They can’t get the Homestead Exemption because their legal address is in Wilton,” Bell said. “It has all been worked out with the post office and everything.”

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