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

ESSEX -- December 1, 2025, Essex Board of Selectmen 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the board on a stalled search for a new Superintendent of Public Works, saying candidates have declined offers or withdrawn for two reasons: family and scheduling concerns, and the absence of a take-home vehicle; one finalist accepted a competing offer elsewhere solely because it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.