JAY — Selectpersons on Monday will discuss whether the town should charge Livermore Falls for firefighting services. The board will meet at 6 p.m. at the Town Office.
Livermore Falls has been without a fire chief since September. There is low turnout for emergency calls, Livermore Falls board Chairman Jim Long told fellow selectmen at a meeting Nov. 15.
Livermore Falls selectmen directed Town Manager Amanda Allen to advertise for a new fire rescue chief.
A meeting with representation from Jay, Livermore and Livermore Falls was held last week.
Jay and Livermore have been providing ongoing mutual aid as part of “our normal operations,” Jay Town Manager Shiloh LaFrenierre wrote in her “About the Agenda” to the Select Board.
“However, the number of calls, types of calls, and cost to our department is beyond what typical mutual aid would be if we were providing it to another town with a staffed (Fire Department),” she wrote. “We had a staff meeting with some of our personnel, Livermore Falls and Livermore last week and discussed the possibility of (Livermore Falls) reimbursing the two departments for the calls we are responding to.”
They also discussed the need for an ongoing plan to address who the primary responders are (which town), how dispatch will handle toning one department or the other, with two different dispatch centers, burnout of the Jay/Livermore firefighters on nuisance calls, the safety of Livermore Falls equipment that is brought to scenes, and more.
Jay Fire Rescue Department is dispatched to calls by the Franklin County Regional Communications Center in Farmington, and Livermore and Livermore Falls departments are dispatched by Androscoggin County’s center in Auburn.
“We hope to have further meetings in the near future to try to put a plan in place,” LaFreniere wrote in the memo to the board. “In the meantime, we wanted to bring this to the board’s attention so that you are aware of the situation and to address any questions or concerns that you might have.”
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