Gray resolved a long-standing debate last night by voting to keep a pumper truck that it bought with non-existent funds last year. It will pay for the vehicle by borrowing out of several other funding pools.

Voters approved the purchase of a new pumper truck, along with a ladder truck, as part of the 2019 fiscal year budget, with $622,000 earmarked for the pumper truck. While the ladder truck was purchased, the pumper truck was not, and the money set aside for it was spent elsewhere. The truck was bought for $1.1 million in March 2025, with then-Town Manager Michael Foley under the impression that the funds were still there.

In June, the finance department discovered the money had already been spent and advised the town manager. Foley did not inform the Town Council at the time, and resigned later that year. Foley has since sued the town, alleging defamation and breach of contract on the part of town council Chair Michael Johnson.

The council initially discussed three options: killing the contract and paying a $111,085 cancellation fee, continuing with the contract finding $1.1 million elsewhere for the truck, or sending the matter to voters in the June election. The fire truck was a topic of discussion at both the March 3 meeting and a special meeting ahead of the March 17 budget workshop, and both times, action on the item was delayed, giving the town more time to figure out what the best course of action would be.

Finance Director Justine Hutchings said the project account for fire and public safety sits at a deficit because of the purchase, and proposed the town use existing capital reserve funds to cover the deficit with the understanding and intention that the funds are restored in the future, ideally in the next budget year. Councilor Vincent Palange made a motion to use capital reserve funds to pay for the truck.

During public comment , resident Judy Simoneau agreed that the town needed a new pumper truck, and hoped that it would be voted on by residents, while also saying that the people involved in the transaction needed to be held accountable. Resident Fran Monroe said she heard a rumor that some of the money set aside for the fire truck was used to purchase replacement motor parts for the town’s aging existing fire trucks, and urged the council to investigate the situation.

Council Member Kenneth Farrington said he and Palange had met with Fire Chief Kurt Elkanich and inspected the existing trucks. The town’s existing rescue pumper, built in 2008, is nearing the end of its lifespan. The other truck, built in 2010, will be traded in for $50,000. The two engines, he said, had their engines refurbished for $10,000 each, with the remaining $600,000 earmarked for the new pumper truck being spent on a total of 55 unrelated projects.

Council Member Ann Gass asked for details about the source of the money, and Palange said the town would take $364,000 out of a capital approval fund that was approved the previous fiscal year, as well as $211,000 from the currently unused debt services capital fund, and $259,000 would be transferred from the land acquisition fund, for a total of $835,000. The land acquisition fund money, Palange said, was an alternative to borrowing money, and would eventually be placed back into its original fund as soon as the fire truck issue is resolved.

A motion was made to take money out of the aforementioned funds to pay for the new fire truck, with Palange, Farrington, and Johnson voting in favor. Gass voted against, while council member Charity Klinger abstained.