CHESHIRE, Mass. — The town will consider installing LED lights in the Town Garage to help save money and actually light up the facility.

 

Chairman Paul Astorino asked Town Administrator Mark Webber on Tuesday if there was a way for the town to receive free light-emitting diode lighting for the Department of Public Works facility. He said the past DPW director had a program lined up but the lights were not compatible with the fixtures.

 

Newly hired Director Blair Crane said the situation is grimmer than just having efficient lighting and out of the building's 32 fixtures, only 20 operate correctly. 

 

"It is pretty darn dark in there," Crane said. "In the morning, we open the doors and get what sunlight we can."

 

Selectwoman Carol Francesconi said even if the town cannot install LED lighting it should at least put new light bulbs in.

 

"To me if we can't light our own garage aren't we a little sad?" she said. "That's a dumb problem to me and it's dumb that it's not fixed."

 

Crane added that the DPW's new truck is ready however he asked the dealer to correct some minor issues before handing over the keys.

 

"I was over there today to give it a final inspection to make sure everything is the way that I wanted it to be and I did find a couple of things last minute," Crane said. "They are going to fix them and it is just a couple fabrication problems. I just want to do it right and be done with it." 

 

Crane added that the Sand Mill Road Bridge project is moving steadily along and the pavement has been cut and the beams that need to be replaced are exposed. 

 

"They are on schedule and at the rate they are going they are ahead of schedule but they will never tell you that," he said. "They are making good progress."

 

In other business, the Selectmen voted to change the way the town sells transfer station permits and bags at the request of the Board of Health.

 

Residents can purchase just a sticker for $100 or a sticker and 52 bags for $152.

 

Board of Health member Mickey Biagini said with this new system, residents who have leftover bags can use up what they have.

 

Biagini added that the town's trash compactor is broken.

 

"We are working on it," he said. "It is a very expensive motor but we are looking to have it up in running by next week." 

 

Currently, there are open-top trash roll-offs at the transfer station for trash.

 

The Selectmen also addressed trash issues on the Wells Road area and Police Chief Tim Garner said if a bag is found to call the station so an officer can inspect the trash and figure out where it came from.

 

Garner believes the trash to be from haulers.

 

Crane said he, too, noticed the issue.

 

"The guys picked a bunch of stuff out there," he said. "They filled a pickup truck with larger items like a TV and a couch." 

 

The Selectmen also went over some of the warrant articles to appear at the annual town meeting.

 

Webber said there will be an article to purchase a new police cruiser but before he writes the article up, the town needs to decide what it wants to do with the old 2008 cruiser with 138,000 miles on it.

 

He said the police chief was interested in donating the cruiser to the Special Olympics annual Law Enforcement Torch Run.

 

"It is possibly worth less than $1,000 and the dealer may not even take it in for trade," Webber said. "The article would have to say what we are going to do with it."