FARMINGTON – Town Manager Richard Davis delivered good news to selectmen Tuesday night and information about the town’s ambulance contract.

Davis announced that residents Richard and Judith Bjorn donated funds to replace the stage curtain and refinish the stage floor at the community center. The cost for the curtain will be $8,500 while the refinishing price is still being investigated.

Selectmen were visibly enthused by the announcement.

“It’s just amazing what those two have done for this community,” said Charles Murray, grinning widely.

Davis suggested selectmen consider naming the gym for the Bjorns, then he realized too late he was being taped for local television, letting “the cat out of the bag,” he said.

Other good news came in the form of a $2,500 donation from the Franklin County Agricultural Society, the nonprofit organization that runs the Farmington Fair. Due to its nonprofit status, it is not required to pay local taxes, but Davis had asked nonprofits to make a donation “in lieu of taxes.”

A $300 donation for the newly established Walton’s Mills Dam Rehabilitation fund was also accepted from board chair Mary Wright. The mill is in need of repair, and if grants are received for the project, the town would need to raise matching funds. Selectmen voted to establish a fund to begin collecting donations that would be held in trust.

In response to selectmen’s concerns about the ambulance contract, Davis said he will ask Rick Batt and David Robie of Franklin Memorial Hospital to attend their next meeting Jan. 25. The revised contract, as submitted with a letter from hospital President Rick Batt, changed little, and the subsidy remained unchanged.

Although the letter addressed officials’ concerns, board members still had reservations. One centered on the level of service and whether paramedic service would be continued.

“We are going to obtain the flexibility to use other levels of EMS staff for patient transports where a paramedic is not necessary,” wrote Batt. “Franklin Memorial Hospital consistently delivers high-quality care in all we do. This same approach will continue as NorthStar is formed.”

NorthStar would be the name for the regional service that the hospital has proposed.

Although selectmen seemed content with this answer, they said they’d like to see it expressly written in the contract.

Stephan Bunker said he would be interested to see if the hospital could guarantee a paramedic for the local area.

Wright was also concerned with the advisory board’s saying that at least one seat should be filled by a Farmington resident. According to the contract, town officials would nominate candidates for the 15-member board, ultimately to be chosen by the hospital board.