FARMINGTON BOARD OF SELECTMEN’S
MEETING MINUTES
MARCH 8, 2004
Attendance: Chairman Joan A. Funk, Gerald McCarthy, David Hall, Barry Elliott, Matthew Scruton &
Brandon Laroche, Student Selectman
Staff: Ernest M. Creveling, Town Administrator, Dale Sprague, Director of Hwys. & Vehicle Maint.
The meeting convened and was called to order by Chairman Funk at 6:00 p.m. She led everyone present in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Minutes
David said clarification is needed concerning which Fire Rescue dept. articles he agreed with. David Hall made a motion to approve the minutes from February 9, 2004, as amended. Barry Elliott seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous.
Barry Elliott made a motion to approve the minutes from February 16, 2004. David Hall seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous.
Public Comment
Jane Wingate came before the Selectmen. She said this week she received a mailing from Box 7730 in Nashua, the mailing address for development firm Equivise. Joan asked for a copy of the mailing and said the Board would take this under advisement. Joan said the Selectmen would prefer to have the opportunity to review this prior to making any comment. Jane expressed her concern about conflict of interest existing since Equivise used Selectman Barry Elliott’s name and quotes him as in favor of the proposed ordinance change, which is up for vote tomorrow.
Then a resident came forward concerning the E 911 address changes and she expressed her displeasure of her new road name. Joan said she could take this matter up with the Town Administrator during regular business hours.
Ernie told the Selectmen that the bids for the construction work for the intersection of Routes 11 & 153 would be opened on March 13, 2004 in Concord. He said he and Clark would be attending the bid opening.
Dale said he has sent out invitations to neighboring communities for a joint meeting concerning shared solid waste disposal. He said he’s still awaiting replies to his invitation.
Ambulance Service Bids
Patrick Twomey, owner of Mountain Valley EMS introduced himself to the Board of Selectmen. He said his business began two years ago in Hooksett and he now has an office in Rochester. Patrick said MVEMS services the entire State and has been quite successful over the last few years. Patrick said he believes in good employee accommodations in an effort to retain good employees and to make their career with MVEMS successful. He said his business is service driven and has well maintained vehicles and equipment, noting in addition, his business has grown on reputation alone. Patrick said he doesn’t have to advertise and would be happy to supply ample references. Joan said response time is crucial and she wondered if MVEMS would consider locating within the community and Patrick said yes,
adding that he could locate a crew at the Fire station, without question. Joan asked if quarters/accommodations would need to be provided by the Town of Farmington
David asked Patrick if MVEMS ever considered a regional service system and Patrick said yes. Discussion then ensued on this vein. Joan asked how mutual aid and/or regional service would be provided and Patrick said he would have to see how it “pans out.” He said he was asked about the use of a Town ambulance vehicle and said MVEMS is willing to consider this option, noting it would save money, in the long run, for both Farmington and for MVEMS. David asked how insurance would work and Patrick said MVEMS would probably be placed on the Town’s liability policy for vehicle liability and the medical liability would be absorbed solely by MVEMS. Barry asked what type of service does MVEMS provide for Rochester and Patrick said basically for transport. Barry asked if
Patrick is the primary operator for any of the business and Patrick said no. Gerry asked if MVEMS is capable to transport any type of medical patient and Patrick said yes, no support is needed.
Barry then asked Patrick what he sees as the possible annual cost increases and Patrick said 5-10%, but it would be negotiable. Barry sought to confirm that MVEMS would be willing to hire their staff within the
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Town of Farmington and Patrick said he would certainly consider it. Gerry then expressed his concern about escalating costs after the Town opts to contract for outside service, in turn, wondering if it would ever be possible to return to volunteer staff status again. Patrick said it would not work this way and Ernie clarified that the request for proposal (RFP) stated there would be a three-year term of service. There were no further questions for MVEMS.
Careplus was next to be interviewed. Joan asked for introductions and Eric Damon said he was president of Careplus Ambulance Service. He then introduced Norm Carr as the Vice President and Erin Gagnon as the supervisor. Eric said Careplus used to be Great Bay Ambulance Service, which he purchased four years ago. He said currently his company has no E 911 contracts. Joan said the Selectmen’s major concern is response time, asking if Careplus would consider housing themselves within the community and Eric said the proposal was based on sole response to the Town of Farmington. Joan then asked about mutual aid, wondering also how the billing for mutual aid would work and how it would affect Farmington. Eric said this is not an issue. Joan asked what would happen if
response is made to mutual aid in another town, how would it affect the Town of Farmington being covered and Eric said the second ambulance they have housed in Somersworth would be called and would then head to Farmington, but coverage wouldn’t be available until the second ambulance arrives.
Joan asked if Careplus would consider hiring Town personnel and Eric said of course he would consider Farmington staff first, saying he would want to establish a good working relationship within the community. Joan asked if medical equipment would have to be replaced by the Town of Farmington and Eric said no, it would be absorbed by Careplus. Joan asked about how much more it would cost to have a paramedic and Eric said it would be much more costly. Joan then asked what the crew does during their down time. Eric said he would prefer the crew clean and polish vehicle(s) and read updated information, but a lot of times they watch television or play cards, etc. Joan asked if the crew could be encouraged to perform volunteer service and Eric said that is usually handled by the supervisor. She then
asked what type of defibrillators Careplus uses and Eric said they do not use AED’s and instead utilize HP monitors and Zoles. Discussion then ensued regarding the level of service, which could be performed by intermediate EMS. Gerry asked if intercept would be needed for Careplus with only an intermediate EMS service and Eric said yes, they would require intercept. Diane Carrier said at night Farmington has three intermediate EMS available. She said her husband also provides CPR training, wondering if Careplus would charge for such training and Eric said, like her husband, they would only charge for the cost of the card and the instruction book. David asked if Careplus would be willing to consider regional coverage and Eric said by all means.
Septage Permit Removal
Dale said originally 300,000 gallons of septage was the amount of the application he filed for with the State, but said he wasn’t aware this was the limit amount. He said he would need the Selectmen to authorize the Town Administrator to sign the request for 500,000-gallon limit. He said his calculations are figured on the number of individual tanks in Town, pumped on an average of every 2.7 years. Joan A. Funk made a motion to authorize the Town Administrator to sign the request for septage permit modification application. David Hall seconded the motion. Barry asked how much additional would be required by the State in requesting additional disposal capacity and Dale said he’s unsure, other than what appears on the State’s cover letter, requiring a public
hearing and groundwater monitoring. The vote was unanimous. Dale said if the Board of Selectmen would like a handout to be made available for Town Meeting night, he would be happy to provide one. Joan and her fellow Selectmen said yes, that would be informative.
Article # 3 on 2004 Town Warrant
Dale said next he would like the Selectmen’s comments on the draft he’s written concerning article 3 for Town Meeting. He said he’d be making a small Power Point presentation along with the engineers to assist with public understanding.
Solid Waste Regional Meeting
Dale said he has scheduled a regional meeting for next Monday, March 15 at 6:30 p.m. and other communities have been invited to participate in a roundtable discussion concerning solid waste disposal. He said he has included the Towns of Milton, Middleton, New Durham and Wakefield. Ernie told Dale that Selectman Mammone of Middleton called him today to say he couldn’t attend the meeting.
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Sewer Rate Increase
Dale said he wants to reiterate that no matter what Wednesday night’s vote brings, a rate increase is needed as soon as possible. He said he would presume the new rate would be effective April 1st and would appear in the June billing. Dale said he needs this revenue for Phase I of the wastewater plant upgrade, because it’s got to be done at some point in time. He said there must be a rate increase no matter what. He said he’s supplied a draft of a possibility for how to soften the impact of rate increase. Gerry asked how much the clarifier bond payment is and Dale said he believes it’s $30,000 split 50/50 between water and wastewater depts.. Ernie confirmed the payment is $32,000. Dale said this year it is his hope to do a better job of in depth analysis
of income versus expenditures. Joan said Dale needs to do a better job planning too and Dale agreed. He said he has been annually putting away money toward this, just not enough. Dale said the bids for the upgrade project would be in by 2:00 p.m. today.
Joan said she sees Maureen Tamasiunas in the audience this evening and she knows that Maureen has an E 911 concern. She said the Town Administrator is being appointed this evening as the Town’s E911 Coordinator. Maureen said residents should have been notified, long ago about the E911 changes, to which Joan replied that there were numerous public hearings. Matt said the entire E 911 project has caused inconvenience for everyone, but it has been done in the name of public safety. Maureen disagreed that the Selectmen notified the public and Joan said she would debate this point any further with her.
Gerald McCarthy made a motion to appoint Town Administrator, Ernest M. Creveling as Farmington’s E 911 Coordinator. Matthew Scruton seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous.
Private Road Acknowledgement
Ernie said a building permit has been issued for tax map R6, lot 98, address 204 Vivianna Drive for Wayne Sorrentino. He said there is a private road acknowledgement, which needs to be signed by the Selectmen. Joan A. Funk made a motion to authorize the building permit and signing of the private road acknowledgement for the above-mentioned property. Matthew Scruton seconded the motion and the vote was four in favor and one opposed. The motion passed.
Joan A. Funk then motioned for a five-minute recess. David Hall seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. The time was 7:17 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 7:30 p.m.
Ambulance Service
Gerry said the proposal by the outside contractor was that there would be no charge for responses during the 35 hours of daytime coverage. He said Farmington will lose income and there will be wear and tear to the vehicles and equipment, plus once they’re contracted, there will be no going back. Rich Fowler said with private service the Town will have no control over the employees when they are not on call and could be providing additional work such as: maintenance, etc. He said the private bidding sounds good, but they really need to look at this closely. Rich said if Farmington has to provide sleep quarters, it will cost to provide this and if the contractor supplies the ambulance, then what happens to the Town ambulance storage. He said State law requires ambulances to be kept at a
specific minimum temperature. Barry said if they are proposing per diem because there is no daytime coverage, then how could there be daytime per diem coverage available. Rich said many would go off for errands or to do family business, when only as a daytime volunteer, but if paid, then they wouldn’t leave Town during the per diem shift. Barry said the whole focus is to provide the best coverage possible for the Town of Farmington. Discussion then ensued regarding the need for paramedic coverage and how costly and time consuming studying to become a paramedic is.
Diane Carrier then spoke about the difference between the work of a contracted ambulance service employee versus per diem Town staff. Joan wondered how this is being received within the department and Rich said the department feels like the Selectmen want what’s best for the community. He said he wouldn’t try to talk the Board out of deciding to contract service if it would be cheaper for Farmington, but to hire per diem within the town, he feels would be the most cost effective since the Town could retain the ambulance revenues to help offset costs. Rich then discussed with the Board of Selectmen the fact that the current rate structure through the billing company is way below Medicare/Medicaid and Farmington is really actually losing money.
Joan wondered what the time difference is between intercept and direct transport and Rich said usually it is only a matter of seconds. Gerry asked for a cost estimate based upon daytime calls between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. and what the annual revenue would be. Rich said the two contracted services don’t perform as much emergency response as the Farmington Fire Rescue dept., noting that both interviewed
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this evening do not perform E 911 transports with anywhere near the frequency, nor do they have anywhere near the experience of the Farmington crew. Rich then asked the Selectmen if at Town Meeting an affirmative vote passes for contracted ambulance service, does this mean that Farmington has to hire out the service. The Selectmen said no, it merely gives Farmington the option. Diane Carrier said she doesn’t believe the contracted services interviewed tonight would write-off any unpaid service, noting that many folks in Town are low-income families and many .uninsured. She said contracted service is very expensive, and Farmington could write-off these debts. Joan asked how many EMS volunteers the dept. has and Rich said about 23. Diane said when hiring outside service residents
would then have the option to refuse aid, requesting the volunteer dept. instead. She said this could become an issue. Discussion ensued about the number of annual calls.
Rich said he’s not happy with the current ambulance billing service. He said they don’t have a good record for the return of money, as compared to other billing agencies. He said there should be a minimum of 70-75% return versus the present revenue of 40-50% return on receipts. Gerry asked if Rich would be able to obtain billing rates and breakdowns from the contracted services. Joan said it would also be interesting to learn the actual number of “on the road” emergencies experience these contracted services have. She then asked what the number of per diem hours that would be available and Rich said initially he doesn’t expect any problems, but he said, he does figure the enthusiasm will die down after a few months. He said he’s in the process now
of drafting a policy within the department. Ernie asked if the job descriptions were drafted and Rich said yes. He said he would prefer to focus on the EMS, not including firefighting experience, at this time, until the dept. has ironed out all the particulars.
Rich said Wednesday night during the Town Meeting he would like to have the two “new vehicles” available for public viewing, but the Selectmen said parking is a problem that night without the presence of the two vehicles. They then recommended the dept. have an open house. Diane pleaded to the public to place their new property numbers on their homes as soon as possible. Comment was made that information should be placed on Channel 26 regarding the placement of emergency numbers. Ernie then publicly thanked Camerons for providing the reflective numbers for the transition to E 911 at their cost.
Former Fire Rescue dept. member Doug Houston said he was with the Fire Dept. for 18 years, but is not longer a volunteer. He said he doesn’t see the contracted service bid as “free” or even as possible or true. Doug said his sentiments are not shared by the Fire Rescue dept. He then suggested considering part time Fire/EMS. Joan asked her fellow Board members if for Wednesday’s Town Meeting, the Selectmen would like to support the article. Her fellow Selectmen said no. Matt said he feels it’s too premature. Gerry agreed. Joan A. Funk made a motion to adjourn. David Hall seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous. The meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynn C. Seaboyer
Admin. Asst.
APPROVED
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Joan A. Funk, Chairman Barry Elliott
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Gerald McCarthy David Hall
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Matthew Scruton
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