By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
LIMESTONE — The selectpeople unanimously agreed to accept the reappointment of Chief Stacey Mahan as head of the Police Department during their Aug. 1 meeting — a vote that stemmed from the board’s original July 18 unanimous vote not to reappoint Mahan as department head while approving the reappointment of all other department heads in the town.
Prior to Chief Mahan’s reappointment, the board had met with the town’s legal counsel as well as Chief Mahan and his legal counsel in executive session.
The unanimously-approved motion was made by selectperson Danny Gahagan Sr. and seconded by Jesse Philbrick to approve Chief Mahan’s appointment for a one-year period.
“Very good,” Chief Mahan said following the reappointment, and proceeded to shake the hand of each board member.
Following Chief Mahan’s reappointment, the board swiftly moved to address the town’s other controversial topic — the proposed contract with the Caribou Fire and Ambulance Department.
The proposed contract, which would place an ambulance staffed with a paramedic and an EMT in Limestone all day, every day for an increased fee, was the subject of a public hearing last Wednesday.
The hearing produced mixed opinions, but the overall dissonance pertained to one side wanting better ambulance services while the other not wanting to increase of taxes.
The board weighed what they heard during the public hearing and the board agreed to move forward with the next step in contracting with Caribou.
As described by Selectperson Gahagan, the board had taken a straw poll during the public hearing that of the 46 individuals in attendance.
“Twenty-two people were in favor; 14 weren’t — I think we’re obligated to move forward,” he said.
As cost is a big factor for the public’s decision regarding the potential contract, it was discussed by the selectpeople and their audience during the Aug. 1 meeting.
Town Manager Donna Bernier explained that the tax increase associated with contracting Caribou Ambulance Services would be over the $15,000 price tag associated with the switch during the public hearing.
While Caribou does have the lower per capita rate, Bernier explained that the town’s current contract with Crown Ambulance is less expensive because Crown does not charge for Limestone residents living within the Loring Commerce Center and Crown also deducts $2,000 off of Limestone’s last quarter ambulance payment for allowing Crown paramedics to use the paramedic quarters at the Limestone Fire Department.
After the $2,000 deduction, Bernier said that Limestone is currently paying Crown around $21,300; the proposed contract with Caribou would cost over $24,500 plus the additional $15,000 that would be required to provide benefits for the current emergency personnel currently working at the Loring Fire Station.
As proposed, the three current EMT/firefighters working at the Loring station would work side-by-side with a Caribou Fire and Ambulance paramedic to comprise the ambulance’s necessary two-person team.
For the increased cost, Limestone would have an ambulance with a paramedic in-town at all times; according to the town’s current contract with Crown, an ambulance is only required to be in town 50 percent of the time and doesn’t have to be staffed by a paramedic.
While the additional cost of switching to Caribou does turn out to be larger than previously expressed, audience members seemed to think that the additional funds were acceptable for increased services.
“I know first-hand from having the ambulance and the police department and the fire department come to my house when my little boy wasn’t breathing, and that dollar amount is worth nothing,” said resident Joe Lapierre.
His sentiment was agreed with by another woman in the crowd.
“It could be only [a $200 increase] a year, and it’s worth $200 for someone’s life,” she said. “I’m a senior and I have to pay my property taxes, so I’ll work a little longer. I’ve had my granddaughter almost die, and thank God the paramedics were there. She had a bad asthma attack and we didn’t think she was going to make it; when it comes to children, what are their lives worth?” she questioned.
The board agreed to move forward with contracting ambulance services from Caribou, and the next step is for the subject to be discussed by the budget committee to determine how the town would pay for the increased services.
Tentatively, it’s been discussed at the public hearing and previous town meetings that the first year of funding would come from a reserve account.
Once the Budget Committee determines where the funds will come from, the next step would be a town meeting to vote on the subject.
The next meeting of the Limestone Selectpeople is slated for Wednesday, Aug. 15 at 6:30 p.m. at the Limestone Municipal Building.
