PLAINFIELD — Voters in Plainfield on Tuesday will be asked to consider a $200,000 request from the Highway Department for a new dump truck, as well as $50,000 to upgrade multiple areas in the town’s police department.
According to Select Board Chairman Howard Bronstein, both the Select Board and the Finance Committee are in full support of these articles noting that the money to purchase the items would come out of the town’s stabilization fund.
“The stabilization fund is the town’s rainy day account, and these qualify to me to be covered by that account,” Bronstein said. “We will still have enough left in that account, close to half a million dollars, which is a good number for a town our size.”
Bronstein said that the $50,000 for the police department would cover trainings and administrative work.
He noted that there have been several changes over the years in police department regulations in Massachusetts, but said that Plainfield has fallen behind in meeting these standards.
Bronstein said that officers now require not only more hours of training but also training in specific areas such as responding to domestic assault reports.
He said that the town could no longer afford to take a “laid back” approach to the police department.
“What we really need to do is bring our police department up to the current standards and requirements,” he said. “This is the challenge in small towns like Plainfield, all of a sudden we are having to take a closer look at things we probably should have looked much earlier.”
At the Annual Town Meeting in May, voters rejected the purchase of a new dump truck equipped with a grader.
“After the meeting, the Highway Department realized they needed a truck more than the grater, so this is a request for the same truck without a grader,” Bronstein said.
Bronstein said that the town currently has two dump trucks though one is frequently breaking down and is in need of replacement.
Some residents expressed that they wanted the town to purchase a used vehicle rather than a new one, however Bronstein explained that the town is unable to do so as they must go along with the state procurement process.
The special Town meeting will take place at the Town Hall at 7 p.m.