WOODLAND, Maine — Woodland Board of Selectmen voted during a special March 4 meeting to accept a newly proposed fire and ambulance contract with the city of Caribou that would increase the town’s payment by roughly $50,000 annually.
Caribou proposed the new rates on Dec. 15 and initially gave Woodland and other surrounding towns just over a month to make a decision. Caribou since changed the deadline to March 31.
Woodland residents and officials have criticized the city’s proposal for increasing the per capita rate for ambulance services from $11.50 to $100, and giving surrounding communities little time to decide on such an important issue that can affect residents’ lives.
In addition to sparking debate in the surrounding communities, some Caribou residents have also spoken out against the newly proposed rates in recent city council meetings, while others in Caribou support the new agreement.
The city’s stance, as outlined in a letter to surrounding communities, is that revenues from state and federal insurance are no longer adequately sustaining the service and that the increased rates are the only feasible solution to keeping Caribou out of the red.
And while officials and residents from Woodland and surrounding communities have questioned the city’s motives for the sudden and significant price increase, the Woodland selectboard ultimately agreed to sign the contract to ensure the safety of residents.
Selectman Tom Drew said that he would rather accept the contract at a higher rate than to be in a position where Caribou no longer considers offering Woodland fire and ambulance services at all.
“I hear a lot of worries from people who need our service,” said Drew. “There’s a lot of confusion and complication out there. There’s a lot of articles and finger pointing and I think it’s time to rope it all in and make a decision, take our lumps, and be just as diligent as possible in investing in knowledge of the truth going forward.”
The town recently appointed Selectman Will Barnum to a group consisting of officials from all of the towns affected by the increase with the goal of negotiating the rate with Caribou, but the board recently learned that the city was not willing to change the rate.
Barnum confirmed during the meeting that a phone call was placed to Caribou City Manager Dennis Marker, who said that the offer was not negotiable.
“I’m hesitant to sign something today,” said Barnum. “I would rather wait until after our town meeting. If the town says they’re not paying $120,000 then we would have to come back here and it wouldn’t be the first time a town decided not to vote on an article.”
Barnum, who abstained from voting on signing the contract while selectmen Drew and Carl Grant voted in favor of signing, reiterated that Caribou’s current city council is “not a group of people that can be negotiated with.”
Like Drew, Barnum agreed that ensuring that the town has fire and ambulance services for 2020 is the No. 1 priority, and that while the increase will sting, the town will have the remainder of the year to further investigate their options.
Drew said that, as a taxpayer with an aging mother, he will vote in favor of signing the contract and paying for the service.
“Going forward, I would like us to facilitate all discussion through this office and the people we employ,” he said. “If we can schedule a meeting and members of other communities wish to clear their schedules and join us, they are more than welcome to attend.”
Drew said that while he and others have several concerns about the city’s decision, there is not enough time to obtain the information needed to properly address each issue.
“The problem is if you’re out there arguing all these small points that you’d like to accumulate information on, and someone has a heart attack and dies, it’s not fair to the people who need this service,” he said. “So this is an unfair deal all the way around.”
Woodland residents will be able to vote on the new ambulance rate during a March 17 town meeting at the 7 p.m. in the Woodland Consolidated School gym.
