PERHAM, Maine — Perham’s selectboard gave updates on the town’s ambulance coverage and its status within the SAD 45 school district in a meeting on Tuesday night.
Perham Town Administrator John Hedman said Caribou had invited Perham and other towns serviced by Caribou Fire and Ambulance to a meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at the Caribou Wellness and Recreation Center. Hedman said he knew little about the meeting except that it involved ambulance fees.
The invitation comes a month after Caribou City Manager Dennis Marker announced that Caribou would no longer make ambulance runs to Perham unless it signed a service agreement with the city. Presque Isle Fire has since taken over ambulance coverage in the town, though Caribou is closer to Perham than Presque Isle.
Caribou’s elimination of coverage was the next step in a long-running dispute between Perham and Caribou that began last year when the Caribou City Council voted to raise ambulance fees to outside communities from $11.50 per capita to $100 per capita, a nearly 1,000 percent increase. Towns were also given the option of paying a flat $500 fee per call, though an immediate response was not guaranteed under that plan.
PERHAM, Maine — September 8, 2020 — Perham Selectboard Chairman John Rasmussen speaks during a meeting at Perham’s town office. (David Marino Jr. | The Star-Herald)
Perham joined other nearby towns in condemning the substantial increase, especially because they were informed of the new rates two weeks before ambulance contracts expired. Caribou later extended the deadline after outcry about the short time frame.
Caribou recently sent a bill for $1,700 to Perham primarily because of three calls in August: one on Aug. 13 and two calls on Aug. 14, the last day of Caribou’s coverage. Perham had not received any bills for June or July, Hedman said.
The selectboard said it would put the remaining $1,250 from a $2,500 bill it paid half of last month on warrants in a future meeting, as it wanted to find out more information when it meets with the Caribou City Council next week.
The selectboard also said it wanted to uncover more about the August calls before paying the more recent bill, though members said they did not wish for the town of Perham to have any outstanding invoices in the future.
Hedman said Presque Isle Fire and Ambulance had made at least one trip to Perham since Caribou suspended its service after Aug. 14. Selectman David Heald said he would call Presque Isle City Manager Martin Puckett about paying for that call along with future trips.
“It was not our intent to have Presque Isle begin sending ambulances to Perham,” Hedman said. “But that’s how 911 works since Caribou terminated the contract.”
The selectboard also provided an update on the process of Perham’s withdrawal from the SAD 45 district.
Selectboard Chairperson John Rasmussen said it was waiting for SAD 45 Superintendent Larry Worcester to sign off on the school withdrawal agreement so it can be sent to the Maine Commissioner of Education Pender Makin.
Hedman said that if Perham withdrew from SAD 45, families would choose whether to send their children to schools in nearby Washburn, Woodland or Caribou.
Two out of three members of Perham’s selectboard attended Tuesday’s meeting.
