Hingham Harbormaster truck totaled in Weymouth crash

March 14-- Mar. 14--The Hingham Harbormaster is left with no truck to use as boating season approaches.

A crash in Weymouth two months ago totaled the Harbormaster's truck and Hingham Police got the go ahead for funds to buy a replacement truck Tuesday.

Shortly after 6 p.m. on Jan. 17, an operator working at a construction site on Westminster Road in Weymouth was putting equipment on his trailer and the transmission failed, according to a report. Hingham Police Chief Glenn Olsson said the construction worker's truck rolled down Westminster Road and hit the Harbormaster's truck that was parked on the same street. The crash caused the Harbormaster's truck to spin around and hit the house it was parked at. The construction workers truck hit a nearby fence, police said.

The Harbormaster's truck was confirmed as totaled last week.

The truck is used to haul boats in and out of the water during boating season. The police department requested the reserve fund transfer which was approved by the Board of Selectmen Tuesday night.

"We can't wait to buy it, the season is starting," Olsson said. "We don't have the truck to [haul boats] right now. We are trying to get this done as quickly as possible."

The Police Department requested the town front $65,000 through the reserve fund transfer to pay for the new truck, but Olsson said he estimates the cost to be closer to $50,000, plus what the department can get back from insurance, estimated to be around $20,000.

Unused money from the transfer is returned to the town.

The totaled truck, purchased in 2011, was paid for in full by a grant from the federal government. Olsson said some equipment from the old truck may be re-purposed or reused for the new truck, which would also bring cost down.

Olsson expects the truck to last 10 or 15 years with the department.

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