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Buckfield Select Board schedules April 1 public hearing on fire-department billing ordinance
Summary
The Buckfield Select Board voted to schedule a public hearing on April 1 at 6:30 p.m. on a proposed fire department billing and restitution ordinance that would allow the town to recover limited costs for specific emergency services performed for nonresidents or when Buckfield is the only responding department.
The Buckfield Select Board voted to schedule a public hearing on April 1 at 6:30 p.m. to consider a proposed fire department billing and restitution ordinance, the board said at its March 11 meeting.
Board members said the ordinance is intended to allow the town to recover limited costs for specific services when Buckfield Fire Department is the only department performing the service or when nonresidents who do not pay town taxes require assistance. Town Manager Cameron said the measure is not intended to bill victims or other responding departments where multiple departments provided the same service.
Cameron said the ordinance was revised to clarify when Buckfield would bill: “If we were the only department performing that service, then Buckfield would bill for it,” he said, adding the change was prompted by confusion among mutual-aid partners and a recent news article. The revision narrows the town’s recovery to a short list of service types, not routine assistance such as traffic-control or general mutual-aid responses.
Board members discussed logistics for the hearing and how it fits with other warrant-related public hearings. The board voted to set the fire department ordinance hearing for 6:30 p.m. April 1, to be followed by a budget-related public hearing and the select board meeting.
The draft ordinance and related materials, the board said, will be posted on the town website for public review ahead of the hearing. The board did not adopt the ordinance at the March 11 meeting; the public hearing is the next formal opportunity for public comment and possible later action.
The hearing notice and the ordinance draft will be posted on buckfield.maine.gov under the Select Board materials; the board said additional question-and-answer material will be made available prior to April 1.
