FARMINGTON – Selectmen met Tuesday night to discuss the proposed three-month ambulance service agreement with Franklin Memorial Hospital and to establish guidelines for the upcoming 2005 budget proposal.

After receiving advice from the town attorney regarding provisions in the existing contract with FMH, Town Manager Dick Davis and the board decided to negate the three-month ambulance service extension and wait to hear what they had in store come the end of the month.

“It looked like a new agreement,” said Davis, pointing to the lack of specifics regarding staffing levels and number of ambulances on duty in the extension document.

Board members also discussed hospital President Richard Batt’s plan to consolidate ambulance services into one regional service. Batt said the consolidation would not jeopardize the quality of care, and would run more efficiently and be affordable to the towns. According to Davis, the plan is expected to be finished and announced by the end of November.

“They’ve got a real challenge on their hands to try to get all communities to agree to a contract,” said Stephan Bunker.

Similar problems arose when the town received a $23,000 rebate check while towns in the northern tier of Franklin County were handed letters that appeared to be bills for tens of thousands of dollars. According to Davis, the southern tier towns’ ambulance services ran at a surplus, while the towns in the northern part of the county, further from the hospital and generally smaller in population, incurred a deficit.

Chairman Mary Wright stressed the priority of putting the town of Farmington first, while also hoping to work with the more “close-knit” towns like Industry, Temple and Wilton.

In other business, board members approved guidelines for the calendar year 2005 budget proposal and also increased wage and salary adjustments by 2.4 percent.

“Let’s have it lean and mean,” said Wright.