WEST PARIS - The attorney for Tri-Town Rescue Service Board of Directors said Friday that a major reorganization of the service, including the removal of Chief Norman St. Pierre, will pave the way for a viable ambulance service.

"There have been dark days for the Tri-Town. But the board has really made an effort to make Tri-Town a viable provider," said attorney Kenneth J. Albert III of Lewiston, who represents the Board of Directors.

Staff at the ambulance service, which is based in West Paris and serves five towns, were informed at a meeting Thursday night that St. Pierre, of West Paris, has been removed as rescue chief and the Board of Directors will be adopting new bylaws that will allow interested town residents to be appointed to the board.

St. Pierre could not be reached for comment Friday, but said earlier this week that he expected to be replaced by the board.

Longtime paramedic Allison Ross was named interim service director this week, Albert said. She resides in Bridgton.

The service director will be responsible or management and operations of the day-to-day affairs of the corporation subject to the oversight of the Board of Directors, he said.

The appointments are expected to be made by the Boards of Selectmen in the towns that use the service. Albert said the current representatives may end up being on the board again. They will represent West Paris, Sumner, Greenwood, Woodstock and Milton Plantation.

Albert said his sense of Thursday night's meeting with the staff was there was a "rallying" support for the reorganization plan.

Albert said the reorganization has been a long time in the works after concern rose over friction on the board.

Although Tri-Town is a private nonprofit corporation organized under Maine laws and has no statutory public access requirements as municipalities and government bodies do, the local towns pay a "modest" percentage of Tri-Town's total income and the towns naturally want good medical emergency service for their residents, Albert said.

Because of this, Albert said the towns and Tri-Town work closely together. The new plan was presented to not only the staff but to the town managers at Thursday's night's meeting and town officials are reviewing the plan.

Albert said he does not believe allegations made by St. Pierre earlier this week to the Sun Journal against board Chairman Dorene Wilbur that she allegedly misused Tri-Town Rescue money set aside to buy rescue equipment to instead hire a lawyer to redraft the service bylaws. She lives in the West Paris area.

"I continue to believe these allegations are false," Albert said. "No one believes she is capable after her 20 plus years or would advocate for any financial wrongdoing."