Clear sidewalks to cost Buckfield double

BUCKFIELD — Keeping the sidewalks in Buckfield clear of snow is going to cost taxpayers more this year.

The town has traditionally contracted with Northland Holder on an as-needed basis, resulting in sidewalk-clearing costs of roughly $1,700, at a rate of $85 per hour.

This year, however, Northland Holder said that it couldn't provide the service to Buckfield without a minimum guarantee of hours. Initially, it sought a minimum guarantee of approximately 60 hours, at a cost to the town of about $5,000— triple what the town is used to paying.

After a round of negotiations, the parties have settled on a guarantee of 35 hours, which amounts to a minimum cost to the town of $3,000. Additional hours will be billed at a rate of $85 per hour.

The town typically uses anywhere between 15 and 25 hours of sidewalk-clearing time, depending on the severity of the season.

"The last time we went out to get prices, three or four years ago, the prices were in the $6K to $10K range," said Town Manager Glen Holmes. "The issue contractors have is the small size of the work related to the needed timeliness of it, and the large equipment cost."

One company, Alpine Smith, offers Holder sidewalk plows, but even the used ones are expensive as compared to the cost of the contract. A 1998 model is listed at $30K, while a newer, 2007 model is $65K. 

Town leaders voted to approve the arrangement last week.

"This was a decrease of $2,000 from their initial offer," said Holmes.

Holmes said that the additional hours might be used for other snow-clearing tasks that are currently done with a shovel, such as the foot path to the old Rescue barn.

"I am sure it will not go to waste," said Holmes.

Holmes said that having the town's Public Works Department do the work would have had some drawbacks.

"The option on the table was to rent equipment to provide the service," said Holmes, which would have cost the town $2,850, which would only cover a three-month rental period. If the town wanted to extend the rental period beyond three months, the cost would have jumped to $3,800.

The period during and immediately after a snowfall is also when town's Public Works employees are busy clearing the roads.

If the town were to handle the sidewalks themselves, the employees would only be able to "do the work after they cleaned up the roads, resulting in at least a day wait on the sidewalks," said Holmes.