KENT, Conn.—First Selectman Marty Lindenmayer, who will not seek re-election in November, visited the Board of Finance during its June meeting to outline what he considers to be town priorities for the future.
Among those issues was his repeated desire to form a motor pool for town employees such as the land use officer and fire marshal. His idea did not fall on fertile ground.
One department, Parks and Recreation, has a vehicle for the use of its director, who must move equipment around, but Lindemayer argued that other town employees are not always recognized when they go out on a job in private vehicles.
And the fire marshal, who had suggested that donations be collected to purchase a vehicle for his department (a proposal that was quickly withdrawn), contended that he would be able to work more efficiently from a designated vehicle.
But finance member Jason Wright said he would rather spend money for magnetic signs to be affixed to the side of an employee’s vehicle when on the job. Lindenmayer said that when such signs are put on, the vehicle are considered to be town property. “I checked with CIRMA (the town’s insurer),” he said. “We are not talking a lot, a small SUV and a truck with a cab [for our fleet].”
But finance chairman Nancy O’Dea Wyrick said she was “not keen on going out and purchasing a bunch of vehicles” and Wright queried whether the town would be better off entering into a cooperative agreement with other towns to share vehicles.
