Bridgton residents will be asked to allow selectmen to spend up to $150,000 on public works equipment that is needed and available.

A special town meeting to consider the question will be held on Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. at the Bridgton Municipal Complex.

Two pieces of equipment – a street sweeper and a one-ton truck for the parks department – are in next fiscal year’s budget for $68,000. If the special town meeting article is approved, that amount could be removed from the budget, said Town Manager Mitchell Berkowitz. This would allow the budget to achieve flat funding, a request from Bridgton Selectmen.

The remainder of the $150,000 would be available for other equipment that became available at a good cost. The town is looking for a small bulldozer to maintain the snow deposit area, a small trailer to move the bulldozer and replacement heavy equipment for plowing and summer road work, Berkowitz said.

The money would be transferred from the undesignated fund balance, or the town’s savings. The purpose of buying equipment now is to save more than 40 percent of the cost and reduce purchases in 2010.