ANDOVER — Supplemental tax bills with letters of explanation will be sent to 125 landowners who participate in the state Tree Growth program, selectmen decided Tuesday night.

The landowners were inadvertently undercharged because of a computer error that Selectman Jane Rich said she made when preparing the town’s tax forms on the computer.

“My only excuse is I had never done it before, so I didn’t know what I was doing,” she said. Payment for the supplemental tax bills is due no later than Nov. 29, she said.

In other business, Steve Swasey of Swasey Excavation in Andover won the town contract to supply 3,000 cubic yards of winter sand for $25,500. Richard Tibbetts of RA Tibbetts Trucking of Oxford was the only other bidder at $24,750.

Tibbetts asked selectmen why they bothered to have the bids if they “were only going to give it” to Swasey.

“So, $750 of the taxpayers’ money is not a big difference?” Tibbetts asked. “Why do I waste my time?” 

Selectman Jim Adler said bids had to be put out by the town and they could be accepted or denied at the selectmen’s discretion. He said if there were a larger difference such as $5,000 or more between the bids, selectmen may have chosen the lower bidder.

Selectmen Sharon Hutchins, Adler and Rich voted for Swasey’s bid.

Rich said Swasey’s installation of a skidder bridge at the Akers Bridge site last summer had an effect on her vote. The company installed the bridge within days following a request from the selectmen to provide a means of access for heavy vehicles to cross the bridge to reach the 10 residents living on Wyman Hill Road.

Also, Town Clerk Melinda Averill said The Little Red Hen Diner & Bakery has requested the renewal of its liquor license. Selectmen scheduled a public hearing on the matter for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 25 at the Town Office.

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