By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer 

CASCO — The high petroleum prices can drive people crazy. That’s especially true when the cost of gas in the tank subtracts from the profit margin. 

Last month, the contractor who has the snow-removal contract with the Town of Casco asked about a fuel surcharge each time the price of diesel fuel is higher than $3.50 a gallon this winter.

C Pond Plowing is the business that has the wintertime maintenance contract with the town. Owner Chris Pond approached Casco Town Manager Anthony Ward about some sort of additional charge to offset the price of diesel at the pumps. C Pond Plowing is in its fifth winter of a seven-year contract. 

During a discussion in early November, one selectman expressed his hesitance in tying the fee to the price of diesel fuel and suggested making it a flat fee instead.

The board expressed a desire to provide this contractor with a financial compensation.

On Tuesday — the evening before the first snowstorm of the season— the Casco Board of Selectmen agreed to add $24,000 to the 2022-23 winter-time maintenance contract. That cost will come from the Public Works Department budget. If needed, the supplementalfunding would become a warrant article at a special town meeting.

Pond appeared before the board. He asked for the flat figure of $24,000 instead of a surcharge that oscillates with gas prices.

“An average of 7,000 gallons of fuel is what I’ve used. There is the rising cost of employee retention. I am certainly paying folks a lot more to keep them than six years ago. That amount is not going to cover all the increases,” Pond said.

Selectman Grant Plummer spoke.

“Signing up for a long-term contract is a tricky thing. I truly appreciate your commitment to doing the work. It is an importantservice and a service that comes with high expectations,” he said.

“I see how the world is today. I drive two vehicles and I support my kids driving around. And I am asking them, ‘Do you really need to drive here or there?’ So, this is an important conversation to have,” he said.

Selectman Scott Avery piggy-backed on what Plummer said.

“Thank you for what you do,” he said.

“Seeing how the world is these days with high prices and problems finding people to work . . . The nice, cushy jobs can’t get filled, so being out in a plow truck on the roads of Casco for hours and hours” might not be the most appealing to would-be employees, he said. 

Chairman Robert MacDonald took the floor.

“We should do a fuel surcharge or some sort of surcharge to cover you. We don’t want to put you in position so that you go bankrupt,” he said.

Pond said he certainly didn’t want to go bankrupt either.

Casco Town Manager Anthony Ward told the board that amount the town pays C Pond Plowing has been flat for four years.

Plummer asked: Where will the town find the funding?

“We’ll get funds from public works or ask for more money during special town meeting,” Ward said.