By Kathy McCarty
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — City Council held a workshop Monday night to continue discussing the possibility of adding ambulance service to the duties of staff at the Presque Isle Fire Department. Prior to discussion getting under way on the matter, Council Chair Emily Smith opened the floor for citizens’ comments. Jay Reynolds, chief operating officer for The Aroostook Medical Center, stepped forward, expressing concern over how things have been handled to date.
“TAMC asked us to see if there was something we could do to work with (city officials) but not do away with 9-1-1 service. This is absolutely 180 degrees from what was discussed,” said Reynolds, noting recent news of the city’s interest in establishing its own ambulance service at the fire station “came as an unwelcomed surprise.”
“The devil’s in the details. Daryl (Boucher, TAMC’s director of critical care and emergency services) and Darrell (White, chief of the PIFD) talked of a mutually-staffed outfit. Crown would pay for an on-duty paramedic (located at the firehouse) and keep the ambulance service under one roof. Fractionating 9-1-1 service into two or more locations devolves service to the city and county. To slice the city out leaves 14-plus communities in an awkward position,” said Reynolds.
“There seems to be a disconnect with what was proposed; I dare say we had six or seven meetings,” added Boucher, noting “it’s helpful for the council to see we have an interest in collaborative work.”
City Manager Jim Bennett said “the council hasn’t agreed on anything.”
“I am not representing, or the council, that the city take over 9-1-1 calls in the city. This is just part of business collaboration meetings with Caribou, at which we’ve discussed combining dispatch services” and other means to cut costs to both communities, said Bennett. “This came out of our dialogue with Caribou.”
“Our purpose tonight — we want to make it crystal clear, we’re against any proposal that would fractionate ambulance service to the area,” said Reynolds.
Smith said Monday’s meeting was only a workshop for gathering information.
Councilor Dick Engels questioned what impact separating Presque Isle 9-1-1 calls would have on Crown’s overall service to communities it serves.
“It would jeopardize service, if you take away the largest service body. It would seriously impact the remaining service (areas),” said Reynolds.
Following workshops on other council matters, discussion returned to the possibility of the PIFD handling ambulance service. Bennett provided a handout to councilors, describing fire-based EMS options and analysis in extended detail.
“The 2014 adopted budget included a provision to ‘find’ $70,000 in reductions and/or new revenues within the fire department. Inclusion of this provision in the budget was based on two things: ongoing discussions with TAMC senior management at their request to explore the potential to work together on EMS service delivery, and joint meetings with Caribou City Council where the majority of the Council indicated a desire to explore a fire-based EMS system for Presque Isle,” said Bennett.
Bennett said the memo and supporting information “will provide the analysis of the three principal options that the Council is actively considering.”
The three scenerios include:
• Reduce full-time fire suppression down to three per shift from the current four;
• Accept the financial offer from Crown Ambulance, owned and operated by TAMC, to provide half the staffing for one ambulance stationed 24/7 at the city’s public safety buildings (in a Jan. 8 letter to the city, TAMC offered to pay $70,000 toward this option); or
• Fully implement a fire-based EMS ambulance for Presque Isle.
Bennett said he entered discussions with TAMC officials last summer and at that time city staff, at the request of TAMC officials, “proceeded to build a model of providing a driver for an ambulance 24/7 that would be stationed at the Public Safety Building. The model information, including cost, was provided in late fall. Consideration of a city-operated fire-based EMS was not actively under consideration at that time.”
Around the same time, Presque Isle and Caribou councils began their joint meetings.
“One of the items that emerged through the joint meeting process was the issue of how Caribou handles their fire department. Caribou runs a very active fire-based EMS service and has for many years. As a result, the net property tax support for the fire suppression portion of their budget is significantly lower than Presque Isle’s,” said Bennett.
Bennett said using historical information and Caribou’s experience, the conservative forecast was that Presque Isle would generate $100,000 to $150,000 (after net expenses) for property tax relief. Based on that information, Council requested staff proceed in developing more details.
Bennett discussed at length staffing issues at the firehouse and funding options, should Council continue to pursue an ambulance service at the PIFD.
“I’m not making any recommendations. I don’t think there’s any rush between now and next week to make a decision. This is just an attempt to give you a fair analysis of three options,” said Bennett.
Crown Ambulance currently operates nine units; four are used for transport, while five are for emergencies. Bennett indicated if the PIFD had an ambulance, it would be used for emergencies, not transports.
Councilor Craig Green said his gut feeling was “we’re solving a financial situation to a care situation that doesn’t have a problem” and that “if we do this we could end up with less than we have now.”
“I don’t want to disband care service we have now,” said Green.
“The only reason we’re thinking about this is the $900,000 (PIFD budget) bill we can’t pay. We need to have some talks, see if TAMC is willing to work with the city to make things happen,” said Councilor Bruce Sargent.
“If we can do something beneficial for everyone, good. But I think the community is getting hauled into a fight between two factions, and that’s not a good idea,” said Engels.
Talk shifted to another option for cutting costs — one that garnered a great deal of discussion in 2013.
Smith said looking into a volunteer fire department “is a viable option.”
“Others said no way it could happen but now have better service than full-time,” said Smith. “I don’t take light of the fact these numbers — for example, being told that our fires will increase by 28 percent by an absolutely biased report put together by city officials ‘to maintain staff’ at the PIFD. Smith was referencing data provided to councilors by city officials about a year ago comparing services differences between full-time and volunteer departments from similarly-sized communities around the country to Presque Isle.
Bennett took offense at Smith’s statement.
“That’s absolutely not fair. We gave you nothing biased. It’s not fair to say to me or the rest of staff that we gave you biased information,” said Bennett.
“A number of communities could have been used but instead the report used communities scattered across the nation. Numbers that were put forward were to maintain service levels” at the PIFD, said Smith.
Bennett told councilors they had the ability to change service levels at any time and that he was very proud of the report.
“It included factual data from independent research,” said Bennett. “I’ve given you the best information in the most objective way I could. If you want to make changes, you can do so. My job is to give you the best information in the most unbiased way possible. I have no skin in the game; my job is to provide the information for you to make an informed decision. If you want to go volunteer, that’s your option.”
Engels said councilors shouldn’t be comparing Presque Isle to communities with a great deal less infrastructure.
“The primary duty of this council is to maintain public safety in Presque Isle. A volunteer department may look nice in Fort Fairfield, but they don’t have a hospital, airport. I’ll never vote for anything that puts public safety at risk,” said Engels.
The meeting returned to the business of ambulance coverage, with councilors recommending Sargent and Green meet with TAMC officials at a future date to continue discussions, with councilors voting on this at next Monday’s City Council meeting.
Council is scheduled to meet Feb. 3 at City Hall at 6 p.m. The public is welcome and encouraged to participate.
For more information, call 760-2785. The goal of Monday’s meeting will be to provide information to the Council to better understand the choices.
