Voters here overwhelmingly approved paying an additional $8,640 for their ambulance coverage at a special town meeting Tuesday night.

Twenty-one voters attended the meeting at the Town Hall.

Town Clerk Jean Orberton said the amount is in addition to the $33,330 raised at the town’s annual meeting in March to pay for the coverage provided by the Sugarloaf Ambulance Service and operated by Franklin Memorial Hospital.

At that annual meeting, the hospital had said the bill for the town’s coverage would be $41,940, but the town’s Budget Committee felt it was an unfair amount. It recommended $33,330 with the stipulation that voters would have to raise more money down the line once more research about the cost had been completed.

The total amount for the subsidy is $41,940 and covers the town 24 hours a day starting July 1 and running through the fiscal year until June 30, 2004.

Farmington:

Family helps dedicate Clifford Woods

Over the years as the town blossoms around it, the lush forest of Clifford Woods Tree Farm will remain in a state of unchanged tranquility.

That was the dream of Gordon Clifford, who over the last 30 years of his life, before he passed away in 2000, built up a 55-acre piece of land to bequeath to his wife, Ellie.

Following his wishes, she then turned it over to the Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine, who will own and manage the tree farm, and the people of Farmington and Franklin County, the students, staff and faculty of SAD 9 and the University of Maine at Farmington.

The land, as Gordon wished, will be perpetually used as a “working forest, forest ecosystem laboratory, recreation area, educational demonstration area and scenic, forested oasis in the middle of urban Farmington.”

A part of the state’s tree growth program, the timber harvested from the land will pay for the taxes.

On Wednesday night, more than 40 people and thousands of mosquitoes gathered at the entrance of the woods for a dedication ceremony and walking tour of the trails. Included in the crowd were the Cliffords’ three daughters and three grandchildren.

Accessible from both Perham Street and Titcomb Hill Road, the forest features a surprisingly varied topography for residential Farmington, including a gurgling brook, jutting rock ledges and gullies brimming with oversized green ferns.

Inside the forest, it’s silent and cool as the dense overhead leaf coverage provides a buffer from the noises of the busy community that hugs the property.

Walking, cross-country skiing and hiking trails weave through the property, coated with a musty scented blanket of fallen leaves and dried brown pine needles. The entrance is overgrown with a shin-high rainbow of wildflowers and daisies.

The couple’s youngest daughter, Nancy Turner, of Connecticut remembers her father dragging her through the woods “like a boy,” riding on snowmobiles and marking trees.

He was a humble man, Turner remembers, and it seems fitting that he would have the land donated after his death.

“He was so proud to be a tree farmer. He liked the idea of tending to something and taking care of it, he was a real care-giver,” she said. “This was living out a dream of his. To see this land dedicated tonight, and to know it was going to stay this way forever – it would be a wish completed.”

Avon:

Voters say no to reduced pond setback

AVON – The 27 voters at last week’s town meeting decisively rejected an article that would change the setback for development on Mt. Blue Pond from 350 feet to 250 feet.

Several residents who live around the pond, which has fewer than 10 homes set back from its shores, had requested the setback distance be decreased so buildings could be constructed closer to the pond.

However, in order to protect the pond, which formerly was used for the town’s water supply, townspeople unanimously chose to keep the 350-foot buffer.

Avon:

Ambulance service contract approved

A special town meeting that lasted only 30 minutes resulted in a vote to enter into a one-year contract for ambulance service for $20,998.

The meeting last week at the Avon Town House was attended by 27 people. Voters raised $7,795 for the ambulance service provided by Franklin Memorial Hospital, in addition to the $13,203 that was raised in March at the annual town meeting.

According to First Selectman Joyce Potter, the new arrangement actually provides less coverage than last year’s contract, but was all the town could afford.

Last year, the town paid $13,203 for ambulance; that same service would have cost $33,153 this year because of less state and federal reimbursements and higher costs to provide service to rural communities.

The new agreement gives the town 24-hour coverage, thanks to an ambulance stationed in neighboring Phillips. However, that ambulance will be staffed by fewer paid EMTs and more volunteers.

– Samantha DePoy

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