KENNEBUNK – Municipal employees who meet with human resources staff will have more privacy soon when offices are created from some existing space on the third floor of Kennebunk Town Hall.
Also, instead of asking for funds for two new police cruisers in the upcoming budget, the town will buy one now, at a reduced cost, and ask for one in the upcoming budget.
Both are possible through the use of American Rescue Plan Act funds.
“I don’t have a problem buying it,” said select board chair Shiloh Schulte, but he noted that rescue plan funds are a one-time allocation. He said he thought the money should be used for things that could not be done otherwise.
Finance Director Joel Downs noted that the purchase of public safety vehicles is specifically identified in rescue plan literature. “We really have a lot of flexibility on how we spend it,” he said.
Kennebunk received about $1.2 million over two years in rescue plan funds, some of which has been earmarked for use, Downs told the select board.
Board member Bill Ward asked if the town was able to set some money aside for future projects.
“No, they want us to spend the money,” said Downs.
The office space on the third floor would be created from part of Room 305. The conference room would remain, but space previously used for storage has been consolidated elsewhere, and, said Interim Town Manager Bryan Laverriere, two offices would be created there.
“It would give privacy they don’t currently have,” said Laverriere, for employees wanting to talk about benefits or other matters with human resources staff. He said much of the work would be done in-house.
Laverriere noted the town hall has outgrown current space and with the possibility of adding positions, more would be required.
As for the police cruiser, the total cost would be $52,000 – which includes the price of the vehicle and installation of all of the related equipment.
The vehicle itself, a 2022 model-year police interceptor, is $36,195. If the town were to wait until the start of the new fiscal year, the cost of a 2023 model would be $42,615, Laverriere said. Buying now, he said would save $6,420.
“This isn’t a bad deal,” said Ward.
The board first agreed to waive the purchasing policy to allow for the sole sourcing – rather than a bid process – of the vehicle from McGovern Municipal HQ in Framingham, Massachusetts, to spend up to $52,000 using rescue plan funds to buy the vehicle and install related police equipment and to spend up to $20,000 to create office space. The votes of the six members present – Kortney Nedeau was absent – was unanimous.
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