RANGELEY – The town of Rangeley will not pay its ambulance bill until officials see an expense and revenue sheet, Town Manager Perry Ellsworth Wednesday said. The town was presented a bill for more than $42,000 with nothing to substantiate the figures.

Ellsworth believes the town’s ambulance balance ran at a deficit in the last quarter but he wants to have supporting documentation before paying the bill. Once he receives an itemized bill, he expects to see that the sudden increase in costs was due to a recent cut in Medicare and Medicaid funding. Franklin Memorial Hospital probably went through an audit and discovered it didn’t receive the revenue it initially anticipated, he said.

The town signed a one-year contract extension with the hospital for ambulance services in August, retroactive to July. According to that contract, cost overruns could be carried over to the following contract year’s charges, though that did not happen. Ellsworth said he is looking into that.

“They’re taking a serious look at how they’re doing business,” said Ellsworth, who serves on LifeStar’s advisory committee.

At the town’s selectmen’s meeting last week, officials agreed to have Ellsworth apply for intervenor status with the Land Use Regulation Commission. If accepted, this status would allow Ellsworth to comment and testify at the commission’s meetings.

At issue are test wells being drilled in Dallas Plantation by Poland Spring Bottling Co. in its quest for another source of spring water.

Ellsworth said he was at the site this week.

“They have monitoring stations all over the place,” he said.

They have drilled one borehole, according to Tom Brennan of Poland Spring. It is not known yet if the aquifer is viable to sustain a bottling plant, pumping station or anything at this early stage of testing.

“It is too early to characterize the aquifer yet,” Brennan said. Field biologists will be monitoring the volume and other factors of the aquifer for the next several months.

The town is concerned because the aquifer being tested is two miles above the town’s water source and, according to Ellsworth, is the same one the town uses. Brennan verified Ellsworth’s claim.

The town wants to ensure that Poland Spring won’t deplete its main municipal water source.

As with other towns that have faced the bottling company’s entry to the area, Rangeley is also concerned with more truck traffic, according to Ellsworth.

He said he was invited to meetings with Poland Spring and the Rangeley Water District and is impressed with the company.

Brennan said the company wanted to involve the town.

“It was clear there would be concerns,” he said.

As for the intervenor status, Brennan said, “It’s a smart thing for them to do.”