Possible Dollar General in Carlisle

CARLISLE - The Dollar General in Richmondville. The town of Carlisle could be getting one.

CARLISLE — A very familiar sight in many nearby towns might be coming to Carlisle.

Town Code Enforcement Officer Lloyd Stannard said at the Wednesday, June 5 board meeting that he's talked to representatives of the Dollar General chain and "they are still talking about coming into town."

"We'll have to wait and see" town Supervisor John Leavitt responded. After the meeting, he explained that Dollar General has had an interest in locating a new store in Carlisle for about six months to a year. Representatives from the chain have made offers on a couple of properties in the town and been turned down, Leavitt added.

Dollar General has grown from a single store opened in 1955 into "one of the country's fastest-growing small-box discount retailers," according to its website, dollargeneral.com.

In other news from the June 5 meeting, Council Member Katie Schweigard brought up the idea of starting a town-wide garage sale, which would involve residents who wanted to participate in holding garage sales on the same date.

Fellow board member Dave Laraway was skeptical.

"No interest here," he said. "Everyone wants to do their own thing. Our houses are too far apart."

But as the discussion continued, it was generally agreed the concept was at least worth exploring further.

"Can't hurt," Leavitt said.

"We would just need to kind of encourage everyone to do it on the same day," Schweigard noted. "I'll get looking into it."

Highway Superintendent Mike Broadwell reported on several items, starting off with the news that a new mower had arrived on time _ a pleasant surprise _ and that the first pass of roadside mowing had been completed.

It might very well be time to replace the town's 2015 pick-up truck, Broadwell continued. He said the vehicle recently broke down and had to be towed to a repair shop, where an anticipated bill of $600 or $700 turned into about $2,200 as mechanics discovered bigger problems than originally expected.

"She is crusty," Broadwell said of the truck. "Really crusty, and the situation won't get any better in the future."

The town's loader has been put out to bid but with no success so far, he added.

"There was a fellow interested but he then said it was not financially sound for him to make the purchase," Broadwell explained.

Toward the end of the meeting, there was talk about the hope of Carlisle getting its own post office again. The town has not had one since a property owner decided to stop leasing space to the post office quite awhile ago. The nearest post office is now in Sharon, Leavitt said. He added that he and other officials and interested parties will continue to explore possibilities.