Other towns also expected to charge $2G fee

"We still believe in mutual aid, but the numbers are on the rise when our truck is the only one on scene" - Sanford Fire Chief Steve Benotti. (Courtesy photo)

LEBANON - The $2,000 flat fee Sanford will charge the town of Lebanon beginning Dec. 1 for any Lebanon call Sanford takes as sole responder is also expected to be charged by North Berwick and Milton Rescues as well as Frisbie Memorial Hospital, according to the Sanford Fire Chief who proposed the new fee structure.

Sanford Fire Chief Steve Benotti said on Wednesday that the new charge is in response to a growing number of calls to Lebanon in which Sanford ambulances and EMTs are the lone responders and the responsibility his department has to serve their own residents first, in terms of both safety and cost.

He said the cost of dispatching the vehicles and personnel in an average accident is much more than the fees they make for individual transports through insurance and billing.

"People have to understand we try to be a good neighbor, but we have a responsibility to our taxpayers," Benotti said.

Benotti said the rise of Lebanon incident calls in which Sanford is the lone responder is up more than 30 percent over recent years. To get that number he said they looked at the previous three fiscal years and compared it to the rate of calls from July 1 to the present.

Sanford will charge the towns of Shapleigh and Acton the same $2,000 fee.

Benotti stressed that the new fee has nothing to do with the possible loss of Lebanon's Rescue 2 after a referendum vote on Nov. 4 asked selectmen to defund the lease agreement and give it back under a voluntary repossession.

He said Sanford began considering the option after Lebanon selectman Royce Heath asked Sanford officials if they might consider taking over Lebanon's ambulance needs, which Benotti said he had no desire to do.

Milton Fire Chief Nick Marique said he is also onboard with the new fee to be charged Lebanon if his town is the lone responder to a Lebanon incident. He made a proposal similar to Benotti's to Milton selectmen on Monday, but that meeting went into executive session and he said he could not comment further. He said he expected Milton selectmen would be making a ruling on his proposal within two weeks, but that the $2,000 flat fee Benotti is implementing is in line with his proposal.

Under the new fee schedule, Sanford would charge Lebanon as well as Acton and Shapleigh whenever "mutual aid" is not in place.

Mutual aid is when surrounding towns have an agreement to help each other in the event of an emergency at no additional cost. But if Lebanon is not responding to a Lebanon incident, it is not mutual aid, Benotti reasoned.

Here's how it works.

Whenever there is an accident in Lebanon, the town's Rescue Department is toned, which means its members get a signal. If no one responds, dispatchers wait a minute or two and tone again. Then if no one responds to the second beep, Sanford will dispatch an ambulance. At that point they are the first and sole responder and the town would be charged the $2,000.

Usually, Benotti said, someone from Lebanon will respond after the first beep and respond. At that point, the incident is under a mutual aid agreement. If Sanford is able to respond first - depending on the severity of the accident - it would still be mutual aid even if Lebanon arrived 20 minutes later, because they did respond. In that case, the $2,000 would not be charged, Benotti said.

However, if Lebanon said after the first or second beep there was no one to respond, the $2,000 would be charged.

Lebanon Selectmen Chairman Ben Thompson said on Wednesday the town was looking to try to staff Rescue with a volunteer for at least some hours on a daily basis. It wouldn't be a per diem, he said, but it would be paid as a volunteer stipend like they receive on a normal call.

Benotti said Lebanon should think of this as an opportunity to shore up their Rescue response preparedness. He said he encouraged Lebanon to take care of their own rescue needs in the best way they can, either by joining with Acton and Shapleigh rescue, or with their own Fire Department, adding per diem staff or working with a third-party ambulance provider.

"We still believe in mutual aid, but the numbers are on the rise when our truck is the only one on scene," he said.