Due to the town's fiscal situation, a lease agreement was the best method of procuring the new fleet of much-needed police vehicles, Town Administrator Mark Andrews said while addressing concerns about the cost of the fleet during Tuesday's Board of Selectmen meeting.

"We tried to, within the resources and the fiscal framework that we have, to work to make sure that we can ensure public safety," Andrews said.

The town will have to vote on whether to appropriate $99,224 for the first year of the lease on the vehicles at the upcoming Town Meeting. A $55,000 Department of Justice grant was used for the down payment on eight cruisers and single SUV, all of which are leased for three years.

Selectman Cara Winslow expressed concern about whether leasing the vehicles was more expensive than purchasing them outright.

"We leased the whole program," Andrews said, adding that maintenance of the fleet is included in the lease. He said he also negotiated the five-percent interest rate down to four-and-a-half percent.

The town must also consider what to do after the lease on the fleet is up, Winslow said. "We need to think about that today, going forward, because the fiscal constraints aren't going to go away three years from now."

Andrews said he will work on a plan to stagger the replacement of police vehicles so the town does not have to come up with money to replace the entire fleet all at once.

In other business:

• Chairman of the Tremont Nail Master Plan Committee Alan Slavin announced that the Tremont Nail site will be included in the annual Swan Festival, scheduled for July 10. It will feature "Touch a Truck," with various "heavy duty" vehicles for children to look at, Slavin said.
• Town Administrator Mark Andrews reported that the town received a letter from the Department of Revenue congratulating the town on approving the tax rate on time. The letter also listed four areas that the town needs to work on, including watching expenditures to avoid being in the red and better monitoring of the use of revolving funds, which can only be expended up to one-percent of the tax base.
• A groundbreaking ceremony for the Rosebrook Technology Park, an A.D. Makepeace project, will be held Thursday, April 29, at 12 p.m., Andrews said.
• The Board voted to designate a handicapped parking space on 259 Onset Ave. in front of Spinney Memorial Library.
• The Board voted to reconsider its recommendation of "no action" on Town Meeting warrant article 54, which asks the town to vote to accept the layout of Bethel Way as a public way. The article also asks the town to appropriate money to reconstruct the roadway, but it was determined that those funds are not needed, so the article will be amended on Town Meeting floor and voters will just be voting on whether to make Bethel Way public. Because of that, the Board voted to recommend "favorable action" on the article.