SANFORD — With little debate, the city council on Tuesday voted to authorize Fire Chief Steve Benotti to notify Lebanon selectmen that they plan to begin charging the town when Sanford is the initial rescue responder.

But that authorization could also open the door for initial discussions about some sort of regional rescue service.

City Manager Steve Buck said he hopes the letter to Lebanon results in a conversation between the selectmen there and the Sanford council about establishing a regional service.

The authorization includes similar correspondence with Acton and Shapleigh, but Benotti said he’ll reach out to those two communities to see where they stand before taking action to charge a fee. Acton Rescue is working on an action plan, the town’s rescue chief, Jenny Sayre, said Tuesday.

The situation with Lebanon stems from difficulties that community has had operating its rescue department. About a year ago, selectmen there learned the rescue department was running a $200,000 deficit. The longtime rescue chief and assistant chief, Samantha and Jason Cole, retired, citing a desire to spend more time with their family. Jason Cole also resigned from his position as a selectman at the end of 2013. First an interim and then a permanent rescue chief was hired, and Lebanon Selectman Ben Thompson said on Monday, that his review of recent rescue reports show Lebanon Rescue is able to respond to many more requests for service than it had been initially.

But Benotti and his fellow chiefs from some surrounding towns and EMS services say all too often, they’re the initial responders. The response to Lebanon, they said, has gone beyond the traditional mutual aid model.

Benotti, in the letter he’s now authorized to send to Lebanon selectmen, said Sanford will continue to respond to Lebanon on a mutual aid basis ”“ when Lebanon Rescue is tied up on another call, or when they’re on a scene and need help. But, he said, when Sanford is the initial responder, the town will be billed $2,000 per run.

Benotti said his agency and the others are willing to help stabilize Lebanon’s situation. And while the letter addressed to Lebanon selectmen indicated the new policy would go into effect Dec. 1, he said Sanford would work with Lebanon on the start date.

Benotti and the chiefs of North Berwick Rescue, Milton, New Hampshire Rescue and Frisbie Memorial Hospital EMS in Rochester, New Hampshire suggest Lebanon could add paid per diem staff to ensure basic ambulance coverage, merge the fire and rescue departments to increase availability and resources, start planning on merging with some other communities in similar circumstances, or contract the service to either a private or public organization.

Benotti said Lebanon Selectman Royce Heath approached him earlier this year to ask if Sanford would be willing to provide rescue service for about one-third of the town, with the remainder being divvied up to other entities, if the current service didn’t work out. Under that scenario, Sanford would have been paid by billing insurance companies for reimbursement. Both Benotti and Buck say communities cannot rely solely on rescue billing to insurance companies to pay for the cost of providing a rescue service ”“ that some level of municipal support is required, because insurance billings alone don’t cover the cost.

Mayor Tom Cote on Monday reiterated that Sanford wants to continue to help its neighbors when they’re in need, but, he said, Sanford is taking on more than mutual aid.

“Sanford taxpayers are footing the bill,” he said. “It can’t go on forever.”

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or [email protected].