Last Wednesday, the Boothbay-Boothbay Harbor Community School District Board of Trustees was unanimous in its decision to purchase a plow-equipped truck, appeasing the facility director's wishes.

The board accepted a $19,850 bid from Strong Chevrolet in Boothbay Harbor for a V-8, half-ton, four-wheel drive light-duty pickup truck. The bid was one of four the board received, with Wiscasset Ford's $22,756 offer topping the list.

"It kind of makes it a no-brainer with Strongs," said board chairman Chris Buchanan. "They're right next door, your maintenance issues will be taken care of."

Prior to the vote, discussion centered on the need for a plow, which Benner said would be used to clear the superintendent's office and for minor edge work.

"I would like the plow but I've gone for years without it," he said. "Still, it would be a good opportunity to do everything at once."

Money saved on plow contracting costs would more than make up for the one-time $3,350 expense of equipping the truck with a plow, argued Benner.

The truck will be financed through a five-year plan, according to Superintendent Eileen King. Unexpended balance from this year will cover the first payment, before the truck's cost is built into future year's budgets.

In other business, King informed the board that the district's application for a revolving renovation fund grant had been approved.

The grant will provide 30 percent of the total cost of upgrading the high school's now antiquated heating system, which King estimated would total about $928,000.

Trustees momentarily considered drafting a warrant article for upcoming town meetings that would seek approval for the project, but with work not slated to begin before the summer of 2006, King cautioned against the move.

"We're not in any rush now," she said. "We still do need to go to the voters at some point before we get too far into the process. I think pulling this off for the budget meeting is going to be almost impossible."

Instead, King advocated for a timeline that would have proposal requests sent out by October, with the top three bidders interviewed in the following months. Trustees also approved their portion of the budget at the meeting, totaling $1,168,019.

In an effort to better reflect rising fuel costs, King informed the board that she had increased her commitment from $1.25 to $1.50 for 72,000 gallons.

"We weren't feeling comfortable with $1.25," she said. "I think $1.50 is good, but with the cost of fuel going up the way it's going up, we just feel we needed to rebudget."

To make up the shortfall without increasing their overall budget, trustees approved taking $15,000 from the unemployment line balance and reducing their interest on short-term loans.