With an agenda that included two fish pier leases, the Boothbay Region Ambulance Service funding, reams of public notices, and the return of Jerry Closson, it's a wonder anyone made it home before midnight from the Monday, April 14 Boothbay Harbor Board of Selectmen's meeting. Once again, the selectmen faced a full house in what has become one of Channel 7's most popular reality TV presentations.

Consideration of Doug Carter's request to terminate his fish market lease was the first order of new business. Selectman Tom Carbone recommended that the town return Carter's $1,000 deposit and release him from his lease. Selectman Louis Burnham agreed with Carbone stating, "Douglas has been a very good tenant . . . Let's let Douglas off the hook and move on."

Carter said that several people had approached him about subletting, but he would prefer to return the property to the town and let the town decide what happens next at the site. He also stated that the previous selectmen and town manager had made it clear they would prefer he relinquish the property rather than leave it vacant. However, if this board was going to penalize him for breaking the lease, then he would continue to pay the lease for the remainder of the contract and remain at the site.

"You can have the property back if you want it, but I'm not paying any fines," stated Carter. "If I don't get the $1,000 back, you're going to be looking at me for three more years."

After a sometimes heated exchange, that is what ultimately happened; Carter refused selectman Bruce Engert's request to switch to a month-to-month lease situation until another lessee could be found. Carbone's motion to terminate the lease without penalty failed, 2-3, with Carbone and Burnham voting in favor of the motion. At the end of the discussion, Carter presented the board with a check for next year's lease payment.

Renewal of Dave Reingardt's Kettlefish, Inc. lease was considered next. Burnham apologized that the board had failed to review the lease renewal sooner, but said he hoped "we can take care of this tonight." Reingardt said that he wanted to continue his lease for the property "as is" at the same lease rate. Reingardt expressed frustration with the poor communication and the town's inaction on much-needed repairs. "This goes on and on and I can't get answers from anybody," said Reingardt. Reingardt said that if the town did undertake work at the site that disrupted his business he expected to be compensated for any working area he loses. Carbone moved to approve Reingardt's request; the board approved the motion, 5-0.

Carbone told the board and audience "that there are big problems with composting" and that the Boothbay Region Refuse Disposal District Board, of which he is a member, had voted to discontinue composting as of May 1. Space is limited at the dump and the board would like to site a scale where composting is currently taking place. Carbone said that other board members were approaching Boothbay selectmen about use of the adjacent town property for the scale. Jerry Closson wanted to know why the BRRDD board had never reported its decision to the selectmen and expressed concerns for increased burning, illegal dumping and fire hazards.

Allen Barter, noting that he had received St. Andrews Hospital's latest newsletter with "quite a spread on the new medical office building," asked, "What is the property tax status of this building?"

Town Manager Tom Woodin replied that he believed that it was tax exempt because of St. Andrews non-profit tax status. Barter replied, "If that's not a hustle, I've never seen one," and noted the several "for profit" physicians that have offices in the building. Barter asked the selectmen to look into this issue. The board voted to have Woodin investigate the taxation question and whether any property tax could be assessed. Frank "Linc" Sample asked that the same question be applied to St. Andrews Village.

Selectman Brian Schutrumpf asked Robert Ham, Director of the Boothbay Region Ambulance Service, to speak on funding issues between the town and BRAS. Schutrumpf specifically asked Ham to explain pricing to both individual users and towns. Ham provided some background on the level of reimbursement by Medicare, MaineCare, and private insurers and said that reimbursements ranged from 10 to 90 percent. Ham explained that what BRAS was unable to collect and needs to operate is billed to the three towns based on each town's call volume.

Engert expressed frustration with the pricing formula since Boothbay Harbor pays the lion's share and with a board with one representative from each of the three towns, it is unlikely that the funding formula will change. Schutrumpf agreed that he would prefer a different approach to pricing and suggested that each town should pay at least a base share for the ambulance service.

Ham then explained how residency was determined for various calls. If an individual from Southport is transported from St. Andrews Hospital, that is considered a Southport transport. Individuals residing at St. Andrews Village are considered residents of Boothbay Harbor.

Closson asked what would happen if the BRAS was not appropriated the funds they requested at town meeting. Carbone read from a letter from BRAS to Woodin that indicated that if only $5,000 were appropriated, BRAS would respond to 49 calls and then bill the town at a rate of $102/call. If the town fails to pay any such "charge per call monthly bill, BRAS will immediately cease providing ambulance service to Boothbay Harbor."

"If we get the bill, who will authorize its payment and where will the money come from?" asked Closson. Woodin said he had the same concern since the last time voters did not appropriate sufficient funds to BRAS, the money to pay their bill came out of the undesignated fund.

Ham said, "We do this every year at the last minute. If we want to talk about funding formulas, let's not wait until next year at this time." Ham recommended that they "get through this town meeting" and work to resolve issues immediately thereafter. Engert concurred, "I think that's a great recommendation."

In other business, the board approved all public notices, set the communications center hearing for April 23 at 7 p.m., and appointed Jerry St. Clair and Scott Barlow as second alternates to the board of appeals and planning board, respectively.

The next selectmen's meeting is scheduled for April 28 at 7 p.m.