By Renee Worthing
Register Reporter
   The rising gas prices are having an impact on the local businesses and the town departments as well as the everyday person.
   Sanford Police Maj. Gordon Littlefield said the department is in the process of formulating a new idling policy.
   He said a new policy would have to give special consideration for the cruiser that transports the K-9 unit.
   “The car can’t be too hot or too cold,” he said.
   He said the officers usually turn the cruisers off unless the car’s power is needed to run the lights to alert the public of a car accident or other hazard.
   Littlefield said if the lights were allowed to run solely off the cruiser’s battery, the battery would be drained very quickly.
    Sanford Finance Director Ronni Lynn Champlin said the police department does not lock in rates for gasoline, but does lock in for heating oil.
   She said the town budgeted $2.50 for unleaded gasoline, but the latest invoice she received priced gasoline at $2.76 per gallon.
   Champlin said she didn’t anticipate the higher gas prices to have an impact on the first quarter of the fiscal year, but said it may be reflected in the second quarter when “the snow flies and the plow trucks are on the road.”
   FrontLine Taxi owner operator William “Bucky” Collins, Jr. said the rising gas prices are “devastating” to his business.
   He said he has had to raise his rates in response to the rising fuel prices.
   He said he spends nearly $40 to fill his tank.
   “If I have a full day of fares, that tank will last about 18 to 20 hours,” he said, adding he drives between 200 and 300 miles a day.
  He said he “got lucky” on Nov. 15 when he had to pick up a fare in South Berwick.
   “I was able to fill up just over the New Hampshire line where it’s about 20 cents cheaper,” he said.
    He said he relies heavily on his contract jobs, such as the one from the hospital, and his “loyal customers,” which number about 40 to 50 per week.
   “It’s a very costly business,” Williams said.  “The insurance alone is $5,000 per car and there is no compromise.”
   He said if prices continue to rise, he might have to take one of the two taxis in his fleet off the road.
   York County Community Action Corporation (YCCAC) Transportation Assistant Director Ken Creed said the gasoline prices are affecting the budget, but not the transportation services which include the WAVE, the transit bus and the trolley system in Wells.
   He said YCCAC is operating on a budget that anticipated gasoline prices to be $2.75 per gallon.
   “We did not foresee these prices,” he said. “We’ll need to watch other expenditures.”
   He said YCCAC has about 100 people who serve as volunteer drivers.
   “Everyone is watching their money, but we haven’t seen a decline in the volunteer drivers,” he said. “Everyone seems to be holding their own.”   
   “We will continue to plug away, but we’ll be watching our pennies.”