Wiscasset selectmen voted 4-1 Tuesday night to begin contract negotiations for providing ambulance services to Dresden. Selectman Larry Gordon dissented.

EMS Director Toby Martin proposed providing ambulance coverage to Dresden over the next three years at a rate of $6,000 for the first year, $6,500 for the second and $7,000 for the third. Selectmen insisted the contract have a non-appropriation clause and require Dresden to reimburse the ambulance department for uncollected bills for Dresden residents.

Westport Island and Edgecomb, the other two towns receiving Wiscasset ambulance services, are each paying $3,000 a year. Dresden is presently getting its ambulance service from Gardiner.

Martin estimated expanding coverage to Dresden could potentially generate an additional $20,000 to $23,000 per year. He repeated several times that including Dresden would not increase his operational budget. He said the contract would begin in July. “I’d be upset if our two ambulances were tied up out-of-town and not available to a Wiscasset resident,” Gordon commented.

Resident Kim Andersson  asked Martin if the department’s 2003 ambulance could handle the extra coverage. “I’d hate to see the town increase the service and then be unable to provide it because the older ambulance is off the road being repaired,” she said. Martin said if the town were unable to respond to a Dresden call, it would be answered through a mutual agreement with Gardiner. Martin went on to suggest selectmen allow him to look into a lease-purchase agreement to possibly obtain a newer, used ambulance.

Selectmen removed two non-binding questions from the warrant for the June 13 annual town election. Both questions had been  included at the urging of Selectman Jeff Slack. One would have asked voters if they wanted to eliminate the planning department. The other would have asked voters if they supported closing the high school and sending  grades nine through 12 students to other school districts.

The vote to toss out the planning question was 4-1 with Slack dissenting. The vote striking the school question was 3-2, Slack and Selectman David Cherry dissenting.

Selectmen agreed to have the warrant reflect how selectmen and budget committee members voted on the individual articles. They voted unanimously not to make a recommendation on the proposed school budget.

By a 4-1 vote, Selectman Ben Rines Jr. dissenting, selectmen voted to offer Town Manager Marian Anderson a two-year contract extension beginning in August.

In other business, selectmen thanked Parks and Recreation Director Todd Souza for his 14 years of service.. Souza recently announced he was leaving to take a position in Scarborough.

Gregory Uthoff, Brad Sevaldson, Marie Reinhardt, John Reinhardt, Holly Giles, Colleen Gilliam and Jody Elwell were appointed to the police department’s Public Safety Advisory Council. Zack Reed and Maeve Blodgett, both Wiscasset Middle High School students, will serve on the committee as well.

Following a public hearing,  selectmen renewed liquor license applications to Cecilio Juntura, dba as Taste of the Orient on Route 1 and Tony Bickford, dba Little Village Bistro on Route 27.

The board approved waterfront  vendor permits for Frank Sprague, Sprague’s Lobster, Ronald Leeman, Forgotten Recipes, and Todd Jubinville, The Potter’s Shed. Selectmen voted 4-1, Cherry dissenting, to waive the permit fee for the Wiscasset Area Chamber of Commerce. They held off acting on an application filed by Alvah Mabney, Maine Kayak, Inc. in order to get more information.

Selectmen lowered the permit fee from $400 to $250 for Tammy Brook, who operates OT’s Ice Cream Parlor on the pier at the town landing.