By Amy Calder
Morning Sentinel
WATERVILLE, Maine — After weeks of debate, city officials have decided once again to delay making a decision about whether to hire emergency medical personnel to staff a third ambulance.
City councilors are split on the matter, and it doesn’t appear either side will be persuaded to change their minds.
The City Council took an initial vote Tuesday to approve a proposed $64.8 million municipal and school budget that doesn’t include funding for a request by fire Chief Jason Frost to hire eight emergency medical personnel to staff a third ambulance, with half the council saying residents can’t afford the $601,616 it would cost taxpayers to staff at that level for the first year. They said the city needs to obtain more data and explore the possibility of regionalizing ambulance service and working with Delta Ambulance to help fill the gap.
Councilors who support staffing the third ambulance said that, in light of Northern Light Inland Hospital’s closing and an increase in calls for ambulance service, the city must prioritize the health and safety of residents and those needing emergency medical help. Frost and the councilors supporting the ambulance request say the fire department crew is working nonstop on the increased calls. Often, the city’s two ambulances are on the road when more calls come in for service. The department crew, which also responds to fires and other calls, is facing burnout and needs help, they said. The city calls Delta first and then Winslow if it needs help with ambulance calls.
Council Chairwoman Rebecca Green, D- Ward 4, and councilors Brandon Gilley, D- Ward 1, and Spencer Krigbaum, D- Ward 5, opposed staffing a third ambulance. Councilors Flavia DeBrito , D- Ward 2 , Thomas Klepach , D- Ward 3 , and Cathy Herard , D- Ward 7 , supported it. The Ward 6 council seat is vacant.
Green launched discussion Tuesday by saying Delta Ambulance sent an email to Mayor Mike Morris early Tuesday evening asking for three months to look at data and put together a proposal that would pool resources and collaborate with Waterville to help with ambulance runs. Delta officials say they believe there is a way to approach the problem using existing regional resources, an idea Green said she and others have been hoping for. She made a motion to approve the proposed $64.8 municipal and school budget for 2025-26 without the $601,616 hiring eight people would cost for the first year to staff the third ambulance, which the city owns. Delta previously had told the city it could not help Waterville with its ambulance needs.
Morris agreed with Green, saying he thought the city should delay hiring and see what Delta comes up with.
Krigbaum also agreed, saying councilors need more data to make a decision that would substantially increase people’s taxes.
Frost said he was taken aback by Delta’s contacting the city at the last minute Tuesday without including him in the discussion. He said the city would have to pay Delta, a private service, for filling the gap, but not invest in its own department. He said the average reimbursement rate per ambulance call is $438.
Klepach said he has considered the issue at length and thinks what is important, first and foremost, is patient care and service to families, the elderly and others who don’t have families. He said recruiting and retaining firefighters and EMS workers also is critical.
Green said if the city could find a way to pool resources in the region, efficiencies would increase and costs decrease. Delta would be only a part of the solution, she said, and officials should lobby the state to help.
But Frost said regionalization won’t happen this year or next because the resources are not available. Besides Delta, Winslow is the only nearby ambulance service that can help with calls.
“I’m talking about right now we need help,” he said.
Herard advocated for hiring the ambulance staff, saying councilors have had a lot of data for a while and Frost’s crew works tirelessly for the city and should be supported.
“I absolutely don’t agree with taking the firefighters out of the budget,” she said.
But Gilley said constituents don’t want their taxes increased.
“In my ward, it’s a resounding ‘no, don’t do it,’ and that’s what I’m listening to,” he said.
Former Mayor Nick Isgro, who several years ago vetoed a council vote to launch the city ambulance service despite the urging of some that it would not be a big money loser, said taxes have skyrocketed over the past few years and people can’t afford another one.
Scott Beale, who is running for the vacant Ward 6 council seat, said experts predict a $437 million loss in Medicaid in Maine and an $87 million loss in SNAP benefits with the bill the U.S. House of Representatives passed and which will now go to the Senate . The council, he said, has a fiscal responsibility to the people of Waterville and there is a lot happening and the impact is uncertain. The city should wait a year before considering adding to the tax burden.
Former Mayor Karen Heck agreed.
But DeBrito said she is not OK with seeing deaths rise in Waterville for lack of services.
Resident Jon Doucette concurred, saying he lives with his grandmother who has fallen twice recently; the fire department has responded quickly. He doesn’t want to see her or anyone else lying on the floor in pain for longer than necessary, he said, and waiting to hire personnel might cost lives.
“I think we need to choose people over things,” he said.
Councilors voted 3-3 to approve the budget minus the $601,616, with Morris breaking the tie in favor of Green’s motion.
DeBrito moved to pass the budget adding only four ambulance personnel, which would cost the city $207,623 for the first year.
Green said that would mean a 7.38% hike in taxes, increasing the tax rate to $20.59 per $1,000 of assessed value. She said someone with a median home value of $219,000 would pay $4,510 or a $310 increase.
Councilors voted 3-3 to approve adding four staff and Morris again broke the tie in favor of not hiring. Councilors then considered DeBrito’s request to give nonunion city workers a 5% cost of living raise in the budget, which was then amended to a 3% increase.
Councilors voted 3-3 to approve the amended budget proposal but because it had to pass by a super majority vote and the mayor can not break a tie vote on the budget, it failed.
Councilors voted to reconsider the budget with Klepach saying he feels pretty strongly about supporting the ambulance request but he didn’t want to hold up the budget vote. So he voted in favor of the amended budget’s finalizing approval of the first vote on the proposal. Councilors are scheduled to take a second and final vote on June 17.
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