The choice of an ambulance service captured the majority of the discussion at Dresden’s annual town meeting Saturday, June 17.

Article 17 called for the town to enter into a three-year contract with Wiscasset Ambulance Service at a cost of $6,000 for the first year. The town has used Gardiner Ambulance Service for the past three years.

“We will not have to pay for uncollectables,” Selectman Allan Moeller Sr. said as the primary reason for making the change. To make it, the town will owe $43,000 to Gardiner, part of which was for bills left unpaid by Dresden residents.

Gardiner Fire and Rescue Chief Al Nelson said Dresden had been offered an introductory, no charge contract three years ago. He said the uncollected amounts were determined in a two-year cycle allowing collection agencies time to complete the process before submitting a bill to the town. Former Selectman Dave Probert said the town had set aside $3,000 each year to cover the uncollected bills.

Wiscasset EMS Director Toby Martin said Wiscasset had established a policy not to charge residents for unpaid bills.

In terms of quality of service, Gardiner Chief Nelson said he had 14 paramedics on his roster. Wiscasset Chief Martin said a paramedic would be on the first ambulance sent to a call. 

As for response time, Nelson said the average time in 2016 was 15 minutes with a range of four to 36 minutes. Although Wiscasset was not under contract, Martin said they had arrived at a mutual aid call at the Gardiner bridge in 10 minutes and to a recent accident scene in 14 minutes.

Martin said Dresden residents could subscribe to a supplemental program that would pay for ambulance costs not covered by insurance. The annual cost is $50 for a family and $25 for a single subscription. Moderator Bob Lenna determined the vote on the article was in the positive with a show of hands.

Article 27 asked voters to approve a $418,763 highway budget, an increase of $105,789. Moeller said the increase was not as large as it might appear because in previous years unspent highway funds had rolled over to the next year’s roads account. This year unspent money was put  into surplus with the full amount to be appropriated placed in the article, he said. Up to $35,000 will be used to match an $83,000 grant from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to replace a culvert on Bog Road, Moeller said. He said the town was spending $10,000 annually to maintain the culverts on that road.

The remaining 51 warrant articles passed with minimal discussion and without amendment.

Following the meeting, Budget Review Committee Chairman Peter Walsh said although his committee had gone along with the selectmen’s $849,756 municipal budget, voters did not get a full picture of what could end up as a 10 percent tax increase when the county and school bills are added on.

Before the meeting, retiring Town Clerk Pat Theriault explained she had made the decision to step down after some absentee ballots had been filed. “I tried to get the word out by gossip,” she said. Runner up Shirley Storkson will take over her position. 

Theriault swore in Fire Chief Steve Lilly and Assistant Fire Chief Ron Theriault at the fire station after the meeting. Also after the meeting, State Sen. Eloise Vitelli presented resident Guy Getchell with a Spirit of America Award. Getchell said he had taught for many years and served on the school committee for six years during its consolidation into Regional School Unit 2.