OTISFIELD — The Fire Department has purchased a four-wheel drive SUV for $16,800 from a department in Canada.

Fire Chief Kyle Jordan and Assistant Fire Chief Jerry Damon will fly to Buffalo, New York, to pick up the vehicle, Board of Selectmen Chairman Hal Ferguson said.

“We really needed four-wheel drive. It’s time,” he said.

Selectmen and Fire Department Lt. Len Adler inspected the vehicle before the purchase.

Voters approved spending up to $25,000 at the annual town meeting in June.

Ferguson said that although the department found several other SUVs closer, the town did not approve the funds until after the others had been sold. The SUVs are hard to come by because they are so popular with fire departments, Ferguson said. Many are used as command centers.

It comes fully equipped for first responders and has about 100,000 miles on it.

“We don’t have to do much to it,” Ferguson said.

Any money left over after repairs are made will be placed into an undesignated account.

In other news, the board reported that work has begun on the replacement of the Pleasant Lake dam. Ferguson said T-Buck Construction of Auburn is placing the bypass pipes from Pleasant Lake at Route 121 along the side of the mill pond to beyond the dam.

The pipes will allow for the continued flow of water downstream to ensure fish and other wildlife have adequate water supplies while the dam is replaced and the normal flow of water over the dam is stopped.

The $500,000 project is being paid for by the towns of Otisfield and Casco. Earlier this year voters in each town approved spending $250,000 to pay for the project.

In 2014, Casco and Otisfield selectmen received a report from the Maine Emergency Management Agency about leakage and structural deterioration at the spillway dam. The towns face significant fines from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection if the dam fails.

Town officials, along with members of the Pleasant Lake and Parker Pond Association, have been meeting since then to develop a strategy to repair the dam.

In June, selectmen in Casco and Otisfield approved a $421,639 bid by T-Buck Construction for dam repair work.

Selectmen also received an update on access to the Saturday Pond dam. The town recently discovered it did not have legal access to the dam.

Ferguson said the board met with the owners of property abutting the dam and an easement document is being reviewed by the town’s attorney that will allow only town officials and employees access to the dam for maintenance inspections and to remove debris.

Ferguson said the property owners are willing to sign an easement over to the town. It will not provide public access.

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