DPW Truck Purchase Investigation Cost Amherst $18,000

The final cost of a lengthy investigation into a failed lease-purchase agreement was revealed at Monday’s Board of Selectmen meeting.

Town Administrator Jim O’Mara told the board that the invoice from Rath, Young and Pignatelli, P.C., who conducted the investigation, came to $12,000. In addition, the town owes $6,025 in legal fees to Sheehan, Phinney, Bass and Green PA related to the investigation.

These costs, combined with the $54,354 paid to town counsel so far this fiscal year, amounts to $81,105 spent in the town’s legal budget. This is $7,105 over their allotted budget for this year.

O’Mara said that money to cover these costs will have to be found elsewhere in the budget.

The investigation came after an attempted lease purchase agreement for a new dump truck for the public works department. Selectmen had authorized the purchase of the six-wheel dump truck as the five-year lease purchase agreement was being processed. The agreement failed because the town is operating under a default budget.

The town was forced to pay for the truck in full this year, which came to a total of $135,551.67.

Funds to cover this purchase had to be taken from other areas of the current public works budget. O’Mara said that money had been taken from the salt, sand, crack seal, drainage, equipment lease purchase and outside hire lines.

Amherst DPW Director Bruce Berry said that although this winter was a bit busier than the previous one, he still had enough funds in the salt and sand budget to move. He was able to take the $30,511.09 that was intended for the lease purchase and put it towards the truck expense.

Berry said that the truck purchase is a DPW issue, and the funds to cover it should rightly come from his department.