Hope Select Board approves ambulance contract amid 122% cost increase; elects officers and appoints planner

The Hope Select Board on July 9 approved a 2024–25 contract amendment with North East Mobile Health despite noting a reported 122% increase in service costs, and completed annual housekeeping including officer elections and a planning board appointment.

The board voted 4-0 to authorize the ambulance contract amendment after discussing alternatives that included cutting local ambulance coverage or seeking intermunicipal negotiations once neighboring towns finalize their EMS arrangements. The motion to approve the North East Mobile Health amendment was made by Charlie Weidman and seconded by Wayne Luce.

Charlie Weidman moved and Wayne Luce seconded a nomination to make Sarah Ann Smith chair for the ensuing year; that motion passed 3-0-1, with the minutes recording Sarah on the roll as the lone recorded abstention. The board unanimously elected Charlie Weidman as vice chair (motion passed 4-0). The board also voted 4-0 to appoint Robert Hall Jr. to a five-year term on the Planning Board ending June 30, 2029.

During public comment, Select Board member Crystal Robinson spoke as a resident and asked that the Road Commissioner trim trees and brush at the corner of Hatchet Mountain, Buzzell Hill and Gurney Hill Roads because overgrowth limits sight lines; the board advised that Route 235 is a state road and suggested she contact MDOT.

In the Town Administrator report, Samantha Mank said the town’s new FEMA representative had not received prior documentation from the previous agent; she provided copies of the town’s files. The town reported five projects related to the May Day 2023 storm with an expected federal reimbursement rate of 90% totaling $213,773.94, and one project that has been obligated for $30,088.56.

The administrator also listed four building permits and two plumbing permits issued since the June 25 meeting (addresses and permit types were read into the record) and gave totals for delinquent real-estate tax accounts: 78 FY2024 accounts with $143,584.57 outstanding (subject to foreclosure Feb. 20, 2026) and 13 FY2023 accounts with $30,813.19 outstanding (subject to foreclosure Feb. 11, 2025).

Votes at a glance: agenda approval (4-0); minutes approval for June 25, 2024 (3-0-1, Wayne recorded separately); warrants 1, 2, 3 and 100 approved (4-0); chair nomination for Sarah Ann Smith (3-0-1, Sarah recorded separately); vice chair nomination for Charlie Weidman (4-0); Planning Board appointment of Robert Hall Jr. (4-0); ambulance contract amendment with North East Mobile Health (4-0); begin FY2025 budget process (4-0); adjournment (4-0).

The board did not enter executive session and recorded no items under Old Business or Other Business. The meeting adjourned at 6:55 p.m.