The Select Board voted to adopt a cost‑recovery fee schedule and to authorize Town Manager Cameron Hinkley to sign a contract with Central Maine Cost Recovery to pursue billing for specific fire department responses.
The program is tied to a town ordinance approved at town meeting that allows billing for certain incidents — typically nonresidents or insurance‑covered incidents — such as hazardous materials responses, vehicle fires, vehicle accidents requiring extrication, and prolonged traffic‑control incidents. The packet included a sample contract dated July 2024 and a draft fee schedule that matched rates used by neighboring towns such as Paris and New Gloucester.
Board discussion clarified how payments will flow: the vendor will collect payments and deposit to the town account, with quarterly reconciliations and payouts once collection thresholds are met. The contract specifies compensation terms including quarterly remittances when collections exceed specified thresholds.
Select Board members asked about specific fee items; the board noted a landing‑zone fee of $450 in the schedule as “usual and customary” reflecting personnel and equipment deployment. The board amended a motion to explicitly authorize Town Manager Cameron Hinkley to sign the contract and approved the amended motion.
Why this matters: cost recovery aims to offset costs the town currently absorbs for nonresident incidents and to reduce pressure on tax dollars by billing insurers or responsible parties for discrete, resource‑intensive responses.
Next steps: Town Manager will sign the contract and staff will begin implementing the billing process with the vendor; the board will receive regular statements of collections and payouts.