WOOLWICH

Bill Potter will be Woolwich’s citizen representative on the Regional School Unit 1 restructuring committee, chosen for the task at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Board of Selectmen.

In light of West Bath’s departure from RSU 1, the state has asked each town to choose a selectman and a citizen representative to serve on this committee, according to Jenny Ritch-Smith, one of the Woolwich representatives of the RSU 1 board of directors. In a previous meeting, Selectwoman Allison Hepler had agreed to represent the select board of Woolwich, but a citizen representative had not yet been chosen.

Fred Kahrl was among the three candidates who responded to this position, the others being Charles Durfee, a former RSU 1 chair; and Potter, the chair of the Woolwich Fish Commission. Kahrl, who was present at the Tuesday meeting, took a moment to recommend Potter for the position.

“I would defer to Potter in an instant,” he said.

“I think any one of the three would do an excellent job,” said Selectman David King, who serves as chairman of the Board of Selectmen.

The select board ultimately decided to draw the candidate’s name from a hat.

After the decision was made, King added that he felt that each town should have adequate representation regarding the restructuring of RSU 1.

“I don’t care if we are big, little, or indifferent here, I think we should be equal in this case,” he said.

Kahrl was confident about Potter’s contribution.

“Bill will see to that,” he said.

In other action, the decision to purchase a new or used ambulance to replace the Rescue 6 ambulance was postponed by the board. That leaves only one working ambulance in the town of Woolwich.

EMS Director William Longely voiced his concern with that, noting that the working ambulance was already 11 years old and encouraged future planning for a second ambulance.

King disagreed, considering the lack of workers and volunteers, as well as the aid of North East Mobile Health Services, a regional ambulance service that serves Woolwich.

“I just don’t see where we need another vehicle at this point in time,” King said. “There’s no sense in buying the wagon when there are no horses to put in front of it.”

According to the board, the cost of having a salaried ambulance crew would be much higher, as the services of North East do not cost the town any money. Selectman James Shaw also agreed with King, noting that there haven’t been any complaints with North East’s services.

“It’s really difficult today to envision us staffing an ambulance service in this town 24/7, 365 days, with volunteers,” said King. “With the way society is today, I don’t see that happening.”

dkim@timesrecord.com

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