Oakham Select Board Votes to End Extended Highway Hours, Eyes Fire Truck Refinancing

OAKHAM — October 7, 2025 — Oakham Select Board ends summer highway hours and presses on fiscal year close. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to end the highway department's 10-hour seasonal workday schedule effective October 13 and directed staff to draft a formal policy setting Memorial Day to Labor Day as the standard window going forward, ending a decades-long practice that had informally expanded to roughly six months. Treasurer-Collector Sarah Hunter told the board that FY25 books cannot be closed by the October 16 deadline the accounting firm requested, projecting instead an October 31 finish on the treasurer's side and an early-December final close — a timeline that compresses the window for setting the tax rate and mailing bills before the February 1 due date. Hunter warned that missing a January 1 bill mailing would cost the town interest revenue and create spring cash-flow problems. The board also directed Hunter to immediately seek competitive quotes in five-, eight-, and ten-year terms for permanent refinancing of the town's fire truck debt, currently on a short-term note due around Thanksgiving at approximately 4.84 percent. Following the meeting's open session, the board entered executive session to prepare negotiation strategy for the highway superintendent and police chief, without returning to public session.