Town Meeting approved $99,224 for the first year of a three-year lease on the Police Department's new fleet of vehicles, although many citizens were angry that the town entered into a lease agreement without Town Meeting's approval to pay for the vehicles.

Eight police cruisers and one SUV were delivered in March. The down payment on the lease was paid with $55,000 of a $109,443 federal grant. The town will owe $99,224 per year for the remainder of the lease.

Citizens who spoke at Town Meeting agreed that the vehicles were needed.  However, they were unhappy that Town Administrator Mark Andrews entered into a lease agreement before Town Meeting authorized the money to pay for the vehicles.

"Do I think that we needed new vehicles? Yes, I do. Do I think that we went about it the wrong way? Yes, I do," said citizen James Maxim of Maple Springs Road, who is also a mechanic for the town. "It should have been voted on just like everything has been voted on in the past, forever."

If Town Meeting did not approve the money, the vehicles would likely be sent back, though Town Administrator Mark Andrews said he would try to look for federal money to help with the cost.

Andrews cited the deplorable condition of the old fleet and the availability of the grant money as reasons for entering into the lease so quickly. He said that an article approved by Town Meeting last spring gave him and the Board of Selectmen the ability to enter into the lease agreement. Town attorney Richard Bowen agreed that Andrews had the right to enter into the lease agreement -- and that money beyond the grant-funded down payment could not be spent without Town Meeting approval.

Interim Police Chief Richard Stanley said that if Andrews had waited for Town Meeting to approve the funds, the new fleet would likely not have been secured until the fall and, because of the condition of the old vehicles, "we'd be out of business."