Essex Select Board Approves $590,996 Fire Department Tanker Truck Order

ESSEX — December 1, 2025 — Essex Select Board approves $590,996 tanker truck purchase and adopts revised emergency plan. The board voted unanimously Monday to authorize a purchase order with Bulldog Fire Apparatus through the HGAC Buy purchasing cooperative, with delivery expected in the second quarter of 2026 — well ahead of earlier estimates of one to two years — against a total appropriation of $650,000. Town Administrator Brendan Sweeney also briefed the board on a stalled search for a new Superintendent of Public Works, saying candidates have declined offers or withdrawn for two reasons: family and scheduling concerns, and the absence of a take-home vehicle; one finalist accepted a competing offer elsewhere solely because it included a vehicle. The board ratified the chair's earlier authorization for engineering firm Weston and Sampson to begin sampling a contaminated trench spoil stockpile using $40,000 appropriated at Fall Town Meeting, with a full cost estimate for removal to follow at the annual town meeting. The board also voted to approve a formal condolence statement on the death of state Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante, reading it into the record for distribution to her family and staff.