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Blethen Maine News Service Sunday, March 11, 2007

The Fire Department got most of what it wanted during Saturday's annual town meeting.

The meeting was held at Starks Elementary School, which School Administrative District 59 may vote on Monday to abandon.

Fire Chief Sammy Davis and Assistant Chief Roger Abbott Jr. successfully argued for setting Davis's salary at $2,400.

Selectwoman Jane Brackett said the town had funded an assistant chief last year to help Davis. Brackett added that too little time is going to training.

Davis responded that the department spent 132 hours in mandatory training of its 13 firefighters last year. Abbott said the department handled nearly twice as many calls last year, "without incident," as it had the year before.

Later, voters faced a $25,500 requested Fire Department budget, and a $17,000 recommended budget. They decided on a compromise, calling for the $6,528 in last year's department surplus to be added to the $17,000 recommendation.

Abbott offered an amendment that would add the $6,528 to the $25,000 requested, but it failed.

In a vote that was not close, residents said also no to townwide trash pickup. The town would have paid $44,000 to for the service.