WOODSTOCK – Representatives from the Board of Directors for Tri-Town Rescue Service and the towns it serves sat down together Monday evening to discuss the organization’s future.

Kenneth Albert III, the directors’ attorney, said the board will vote on new bylaws, elect representatives and form a search committee to hire a new chief as part of its reorganization process.

Norman St. Pierre of West Paris, the service’s former chief, was removed from his position on June 19. Allison Ross of Bridgton is serving as interim chief.

Albert said the reorganization aims to increase communication between the service and the towns and reflect the service’s growth from a volunteer grassroots organization to a nonprofit corporation with paid employees.

“I don’t think the bylaws kept pace with the evolution of Tri-Town,” Albert said.

Loretta Mikols, chairwoman of Greenwood’s selectmen, said the reorganization was focusing more on town representation than on the skills necessary for problem-solving in the organization.

“Effectively, the structure of those bylaws hasn’t changed,” Mikols said.

She said the new bylaws are in line with Tri-Town’s grassroots days, and will not help to prevent relationship problems between directors and leaders who oversee the day-to-day operations of the service.

According to paperwork supplied by St. Pierre, the board fired him because he failed to conduct proper background checks and hired an employee who carried a concealed firearm.

St. Pierre accused board President Dorene Wilbur of Woodstock using $4,000 raised for rescue equipment to hire a lawyer to redraft service regulations.

Albert has denied the accusation.

Albert said the service will also need to be cautious as to whether it will be a nonprofit independent agency or a quasi-municipal agency, because different laws apply. Though the service is a nonprofit, it receives approximately 20 percent of its operating budget from the towns it serves, and four of the five areas it serves are represented on the Board of Directors.

“Functionally, do the math,” Albert said.

Tri-Town, which is based in West Paris, serves that town as well as Greenwood, Sumner, and Woodstock, and Milton Township. The township is not represented on the board.

Albert said he has heard concerns that changing the service to a quasi-municipal agency would lead to an increase in taxes and would not be in the interests of the towns.

Woodstock Selectman Ronnie Deegan said he believes a compromise on the financial issue can be reached, and that the question of leadership skills is a more pressing concern.

“Really, what I think it boils down to is communication and management,” Deegan said.