30-year-old Mack truck subject of debate in North Stonington
North Stonington — When Selectman Bob Testa took a trip to Old Town Hall June 26 to ask about the sale of a red, town-owned, 1984 Mack truck, he was surprised at the result.
Even after Treasurer Robin Roohr ventured into the vault, he said, she couldn't produce a bill of sale or purchase agreement for the vehicle, sold in May 2014 to Henry Watson, owner of Twin Cedars Garage.
At the Board of Selectmen meeting Tuesday night, First Selectman Nick Mullane showed up with three documents: a bill of sale he signed Tuesday, a copy of the $5,500 check from Watson dated May 29, 2014, and proof the $5,500 was included under sale of vehicles in the actual 2013-2014 town budget.
Roohr said Wednesday that the town didn't fill out the bill of sale previously because of Watson's intent to sell the truck to a buyer that planned to ship it overseas.
But Testa asked Tuesday how Watson was chosen to receive the truck.
Mullane said that he, after several residents complained to him about the no-longer-used truck being an eyesore, told highway foreman and public works director Stephen Holliday to "get rid of it."
"You just told Steve take care of it?" Testa asked. "What oversight, on a piece of taxpayer-owned property, went into that? How do we know we got fair value?"
He recalled his time with the Board of Education and wondered how the town could get rid of a vehicle without any paperwork when the Board of Education had to fill out a substantial amount to dispose of 30-year-old typewriters.
Testa also asked who set the $5,500 figure — Mullane said Watson did — and if any residents made offers on the vehicle.
"What I should've done to start here was to put a for-sale sign up," Mullane said to Testa. "You've got a point. On this item, I probably did not handle it properly."
Mullane went into detail Wednesday about how the town typically shuffles a vehicle from one department to another — making only the necessary repairs along the way — "until it dies."
As a result, he said it's standard procedure for the town to either take old vehicles to Petrowsky Auctioneers Inc. or to scrap them. He said this one was an exception because it was "in such bad condition."
Mullane said the 1984 Mack trucks that fetch $15,000 or more are roadworthy and have had paint jobs.
"If you look at something like ours, to get $5,500 ... as far as I was concerned I didn't believe Steve until he told me," he said.
Pointing out the age of several of the town's vehicles, Mullane said it is unusual for the town to "sell to anybody we know."
"We don't want any indication that we sold it on a false premise," he said. "Did I follow through on the paperwork? No. But I stand by that we got a fair price for it in the condition it was in."
l.boyle@theday.com
Twitter: @LindsayABoyle
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