TOPSHAM — Selectmen by a 3-2 vote Thursday added $21,700 to the proposed budget that will be presented to voters at the May 16 town meeting.
The budget addition would fund additional night rescue service beginning July 1. The move to provide 24-hour emergency rescue service was included in selectmen’s recommended budget, but it was not scheduled to start until October. Selectmen went with the Finance Committee’s recommended line items that would start the service July 1.
At present, the town uses on-call emergency responders during off hours. The proposed change would pay to place emergency responders at the public safety building throughout the day and night.
For the fiscal year that begins July 1, the board recommends a $8,072,250 budget — an increase of 1.83 percent over the 2011-12 fiscal year.
Residents from Highland Green, a retirement community, packed Thursday’s budget and town meeting warrant hearing to voice support for 24-hour emergency service.
Selectmen heard from a woman who lives in Highland Greens who broke her arm around 6:30 a.m. on a day last June. Her neighbor, who came to her aid, also spoke and said it took 15 to 20 minutes for rescue workers to arrive. During that wait, her neighbor was in excruciating pain, holding her arm up so the bone wouldn’t go through the skin.
John Coughlin, director of operations at Highland Green and an employee of SeaCoast Management, read a letter from John Wasileski, who owns the development.
“The management of The Highlands and Highland Green retirement communities would like to convey to you our strong support for the current measure to place sufficient funding in the Topsham Fire and Rescue budget to enable 24-hour emergency rescue coverage,” the letter states. “The majority of the residents living at The Highlands and Highland Green communities are in their senior years of living. Consequently, the proposal to add two per diem emergency medical technicians to extend emergency rescue coverage from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. is vital to ensure the security and welfare of the more than 500 residents that comprise our two communities. For us as a company, resident safety is paramount and the current gap in nighttime rescue coverage places residents at risk by not having adequate response time for emergencies.”
Ken Thorson of 3 Grouse Lane told selectmen, “Almost all of the people seated here are from Highland Green, but this is not a Highland Green issue. This is a Topsham issue. This is for all the citizens.”
Thorson added, “A night time emergency is no different than a day time,” and can be even more scary when you are alone at night. “You’ve got to be there in six to eight minutes, otherwise the person is at best going to come away with some disability. At worst, dead.”
He argued that the nearby communities of Lisbon, Falmouth, Yarmouth, Freeport, Brunswick and Bath staff public safety buildings overnight.
Appreciative of selectmen’s effort to hold the line on taxes, he said he had talked to the assessor and found the increase for a median home owner would be $8.62 a year.
Finance Committee member Michael Whitney said by starting the service three months earlier, the tax rate would increase seven cents instead of five cents, so that a home assessed at $100,000 would see a $7 increase instead of $5.
Selectmen Donald Russell said he supports the proposal whether it starts in July or October and spoke about how important it was for rescue to arrive quickly when his mother used them while in her 90s.
“I have mixed emotions about this for tax purposes, but I also think the realization is that it’s a safety issue for the public and it’s something we need to address and address as soon as we can,” Russell said.
Selectmen Dave Douglass and Ronald Riendeau opposed Article 5, increasing the line for fire and rescue. They also cast dissenting votes on a recommendation that Article 5 pass at town meeting. That recommendation carried by a 3-2 vote.
Riendeau stressed that it wasn’t a question of whether the town needs the nighttime rescue service, but whether the town can afford it at this time.
Douglass said he believes the town has the ability to provide coverage as it stands now. He noted that Freeport has one paramedic on duty at night; not two.
“I am not going to support any additional monies for overnight EMS,” Douglass said, arguing that selectmen weren’t provided the data or statistics to justify it.
“These are tough times. Topsham cannot afford this, in my opinion, right now,” Douglass said. “We have people who cannot pay their taxes today.”
dmoore@timesrecord.com
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