Selectman slams 'vultures' on sole responder fee

Save Our Ambulance member Bob Normandeau asks selectmen a question about the ambulance petition during selectmen's meeting Tuesday night at Town Offices. (Lebanon Voice/Harrison Thorp photos)

'What I see is four vultures sitting on a fence looking at a dying, wounded Lebanon, Maine right now. I see this as underhanded.'

- Selectmen Chairman Ben Thompson

LEBANON - Lebanon Selectmen Chairman Ben Thompson, frustrated with widespread implementation of a $2,000 sole responder surcharge from surrounding communities on Lebanon rescue calls, called the towns and hospitals that instituted the new charge "vultures" Tuesday night during another stormy selectmen's meeting discussing the Nov. 4 ambulance referendum revote.

Sanford, North Berwick, Milton and Frisbie Hospital EMS were expected to begin the $2,000 surcharge on Monday. The surcharge would apply to any call in which either of the four ambulance services answered a Lebanon call in which Lebanon Rescue crews were unable to field a response.

With the imminent loss of Rescue 2 - which would pare Lebanon's Rescue fleet in half - the financial cost of such surcharges is one of the many reasons Save Our Ambulance continued to press selectmen on Tuesday to accept their successful revote petition drive as proof the town wants to keep Rescue 2 and wants a revote of the unwieldy and confusing Nov. 4 referendum question.

Save Our Ambulance is a group of Lebanon citizens dedicated to saving Rescue 2, the town's best ambulance, due to the grave financial and safety implications now facing the town. Last weekend it collected 245 certified signatures demanding a revote with an explainer box showing that a "yes" vote meant giving up the ambulance and a "no" vote meant keeping it.

Selectmen, from left, Paul Philbrick, Ben Thompson and Royce Heath listen to some of the frustration voiced by Save Our Ambulance members unhappy with what they characterized as a lackadaisical attitude on the part of selectmen regarding the ambulance revote petition.

Members of Save Our Ambulance came to the meeting hoping to hear when a vote would be scheduled, but Thompson said it was nowhere near a done deal, that the town had to weigh the rights of the 1,360 voters who on Nov. 4 voted to give up Rescue 2. The vote was 1,360-730, but many voters complained after Election Day they misvoted due to the ambiguous and legalese wording.

During the petition drive only a miniscule percentage of those asked to sign refused. Thompson said he had heard of no residents complaining about the Save Our Ambulance initiative.

Thompson hinted at other options and avenues the board was taking, saying Lebanon's town counsel was looking at the legality of the surrounding ambulance services' actions. Milton's surcharge implementation was passed by selectmen on Monday after it passed legal muster, however.

Sanford Fire and Rescue initiated the talk of the surcharge after its Fire Chief said Lebanon Selectman Royce Heath approached him about the cost of having Sanford cover Lebanon rescue incidents.

Thompson said he saw the surrounding towns' moves as premature and ill-conceived, especially in light of the fact none of the towns had come and discussed the proposal with the Lebanon BOS.

He, moreover, said Heath's foray into Sanford was his own doing and not a board outreach.

Toward the end of the Save Our Ambulance section of the meeting Thompson openly fumed at the communities and ambulance services implementing the sole responder charge. "What I see is four vultures sitting on a fence looking at a dying, wounded Lebanon, Maine right now," he said. "I see this as underhanded; these are discussions we have to have with them. There are a lot of gray areas that need to be pursued."

However, with a $40,000 ambulance payment due Friday, there is precious time to maneuver.

Thompson refused speculation on what the board might do this week or next, or how they would act on the successful petition drive which demanded a revote.

He also couldn't guarantee Rescue 2 wouldn't be driven out the door on Saturday if the lease company found a "firesale" buyer.

When an organizer of the Save Our Ambulance group asked if it would help if she contacted the lease company, Thompson's response painted petitioners as adversarial.

"At this point, you've come together as a group of citizens ... You separated yourself from the town into a group of petitioners," Thompson said. "Now legally, you have the right to pursue your own attorney. We retain counsel through the town attorney. That's just how it works. It's not our position to advise you on that."