Road agent reports equipment repairs, cardboard baler outage and leaf cleanup

Road Agent Russ Pearl told selectmen the transfer station’s cardboard baler is down after a leaking piston; the piston was removed and sent for rebuilding and the station is operating on one baler. He said the plastic baler shows wear and the town anticipates replacing at least one baler next year. Pearl said there is limited state grant money for recycling equipment and he will investigate options.

Pearl said a new dump truck required a warranty repair to a PTO hydraulic pump; the repair has been completed. He said crews spent a day moving roughly a year-and-a-half’s worth of leaves from beside the hopper to a back slope to tidy the transfer-station site and that crews did ditching work with an excavator.

Selectmen asked about equipment age; Pearl said the new used International truck entered service in October and is a 2019 model. He noted cold weather has required extra small repairs to equipment.

Ending: Pearl said he will look into grant opportunities to help replace worn recycling equipment and will report back to the board.