Lisbon Falls approves renting Auburn grader at $43.50/hour for gravel-road work

Council approved a sole-source authorization to rent a grader from the city of Auburn at $43.50 per hour on an hour meter, allowing town operators to perform shoulder work and regrade gravel roads in-house.

Public Works (Pat) explained that prior contractors' machines were too small to pull shoulders back and that renting Auburn's grader would permit crews to restore road shoulders and improve drainage. "By renting this grader, we can actually do it ourselves in house and with our operators, and we can actually pull those shoulders back in," Pat said. He estimated the town would use roughly $5,000–$7,000 of the $10,000 budget designated for dirt roads, while maintaining required insurance coverage and paying hourly costs.

Councilors called the proposal a pragmatic solution and approved the motion; staff will prioritize roads and manage the hour-meter usage within the existing dirt-road appropriation.