By Jodi Hausen,Staff Writer

FARMINGTON – David Robie, ambulance director for Franklin Memorial Hospital, told commissioners Tuesday that the hospital has agreed to keep the AMPS ambulance base in Phillips open seven days a week.

The decision came after a meeting Monday night with selectmen and town officials from Phillips and Avon. The announcement was made during a discussion with Franklin County commissioners about the county’s contract for service to unorganized territories.

In response to fierce public comment about the initial proposal to close the base, the hospital had agreed to keep the base operating five weekdays.

The newest proposal will have one EMT staffing the Phillips base every day, and a second EMT within 10 miles of the response area on call concurrently, Robie said. This will ensure that a truck can go to a scene directly, while still saving the hospital the cost of paying two staffers.

On-call pay is less than pay for staffing the base, he explained.

Franklin County commissioners, however, delayed signing a contract with the hospital for ambulance service.

Commissioner Gary McGrane said he wanted to get the opinion of Doreen Sheive, fiscal administrator for the unorganized territories.

McGrane said he wanted to ask Sheive if the county even wanted to enter into a contract for ambulance services. By law, the county is required to provide fire service but not ambulance service to the unorganized townships.

He also asked Robie about the annual rate, as opposed to a per run rate, which was not offered as an alternative in the contract.

Robie said it would be considerably more for a per run rate with the subsidy amount covering a total of 24 runs. There were 75 runs in 2003 from Madrid and Salem alone, Robie said.

“I’d like to get her input before we accept or reject this contract,” McGrane said about Sheive.

Commissioners Meldon Gilmore and Fred Hardy agreed. They voted unanimously to table the decision until their March 15 meeting.

Commissioners also unanimously voted to set the tax rate for the county at $1.17 per $1,000 of valuation, an increase of one cent per $1,000 from last year.

They also voted to accept a donation of $1,600 from a Farmington resident to pay for an insert for a deputy’s cruiser to protect the county’s soon-to-be newest police dog. The same resident, who asked not to be identified by the media, recently donated $1,200 for training for the German shepherd named Rugar, and his handler, Deputy David Rackliffe.