Alna voters on Saturday resoundingly chose to switch from Wiscasset Ambulance Service to Central Lincoln County (CLC) Ambulance in Damariscotta. The decision at the annual town meeting ends Alna’s reliance on Wiscasset as the first call for medical calls; however, the heads of both ambulance services said during the meeting and in a joint interview afterward, Wiscasset will still send an ambulance when needed for mutual aid.

Warren Waltz, CLC Ambulance’s service chief, said in the fire station parking lot, “Obviously we’re happy to be able to provide service to the town.” The nonprofit looks forward to partnering with Alna’s fire department in responding to emergencies, Waltz added.

Some residents praised their experiences with ambulance service from Wiscasset, but did not voice support for keeping the service. Among them, Ron Wright said he would be choosing CLC.

Toby Martin, incoming director of Wiscasset’s service, talked to residents about staffing improvements and he reviewed response times, including an average, 11-minute arrival on-scene in Alna so far in 2016; the longest time so far this year has been 16 minutes, he said. In response to a question, Martin told voters he didn’t know if Wiscasset would hold Alna responsible for Alna residents’ bad debts; then Second Selectman Melissa Spinney said Town Manager Marian Anderson told her Wiscasset would. 

CLC would not, Waltz said. Bad debts are just a part of business, and the service absorbs them, he said.

The bad-debt issue that Wiscasset raised months ago was coupled with concern about turmoil in the Wiscasset department, Third Selectman Doug Baston said in explaining why the board approached CLC.

The ongoing rebuilding of Wiscasset’s department has not removed that concern, according to Baston. “We thought this was not something to fool around with.”

Resident Ralph Hilton argued for the move to CLC. “They have the staff. They have the equipment,” he said. “These people are on the ball.”

No one responded when moderator Carl Pease asked if anyone objected to the motion to go with CLC’s $4,000 offer; then Pease declared that the motion carried.

Wiscasset had asked for $3,000, flat with last year’s contribution.

First Selectman David Abbott said he did not yet know when the transition will happen for dispatchers to start paging out CLC Ambulance for Alna calls.

Also Saturday, residents decided that, starting next year, selectmen, not voters, will pick the town treasurer. 

While the eventual show of hands was wide for the switch selectmen had proposed, speakers during the debate were mixed. Citizens can vet the candidates and decide who they want, some argued; problems under some past treasurers have cost the town money, and the town has no ordinance or charter rule for recalling an elected treasurer, town officials said.

First Selectman David Abbott and other speakers said the town is fortunate that departing town clerk Amy Warner ran for, and got, the post this year. The board will keep appointing her until she goes in a nursing home, Abbott said. But the future is unknown, he said.

“The way it’s set up now, anybody can run for treasurer, even if they can’t count,” Abbott said in support of making it a hired job.

Voters also supported the board’s request to start a contingency account for $5,000, and in the day’s closest vote, at 24-19, they agreed to spend $10,000 on engineering or architectural work, or both, toward the town office’s possible move into the fire station.

Some residents asked for transparency as the idea is explored; public meetings will be held, selectmen said.

Among a series of votes involving the fire department, residents hiked firefighters’ pay, but not as much as first proposed. And in a 35-23 paper ballot vote, the fire chief’s pay hiked from $3,000 to $5,000; the assistant chief’s pay doubled, from $2,000 to $4,000; and three fire captains’ yearly pay of $500 each tripled to $1,500 each.

Some residents questioned if more pay would bring in more firefighters, since, they said, recruitment is a challenge for other fire departments, as well. “This is not just an Alna problem ... It’s a national problem,” Fred Bowers said. 

“I don’t think you can pay your way out of this,” former selectman David Reingardt said. “If $18 an hour suddenly isn’t enough next year, do we go up another $6 an hour?”

Fire Chief Mike Trask and other supporters of increased pay said that changing regulations have put greater demands on firefighters and fire officers.

Hilton described department members as dedicated. “We’re just lucky to have what we have now,” he said. 

Voters favored Bowers’ amendment to propose the firefighters’ pay go from $12 an hour to $15 an hour, not to the $18 an hour Trask had asked.

The hike to $15 an hour passed, by paper ballot, 47-11.

Voters went on to agree 36-21 to pay firefighters for 40 hours of training a year, up 10 hours from the current 30; and they declined to start offering life insurance. Some speakers noted that firefighters already have insurance for incidents in the line of duty, which the proposed additional insurance would not have required.

The insurance would be another recruitment tool, Trask told fellow residents. He drew laughs when he said he would prefer not to die in the line of duty, adding, “I would rather be the guy who just passed away.”

The insurance proposal’s defeat, and a $13,000 paring of the proposed $45,000 for sand and salt due the light winter, resulted in a total of $672,479 in municipal spending for the next year, down from $684,317 for the fiscal year that ended Jan. 31, Abbott said.

Light election turnout

Voters on Friday re-elected Abbott as first selectman and Jeff Verney as road commissioner, according to results Warner reported in an email.

Voters elected Warner treasurer, her first, one-year term to the post. Saturday, Warner wiped back tears as town meeting attendees stood and applauded her on her last day as clerk.

Friday’s email reported that Abbott got 43 votes and that Warner got a write-in vote for the selectman’s seat. Warner received 45 votes for treasurer; her fiancé Toby Stockford got a write-in vote.

Verney kept the road commissioner’s post for another year, with 39 votes. Trask, a past road commissioner, got three write-ins, and former selectman David Seigars, one write-in vote.