Wiscasset Ambulance Service Director Toby Martin. (LCN file photo)
The town of Wiscasset terminated Wiscasset Ambulance Service Director Toby J. Martin’s contract Thursday, June 28, and does not plan to look for another director.
“He didn’t do anything wrong,” Wiscasset Town Manager Marian Anderson said in a phone interview. “There’s no great scandal.”
Anderson said the town exercised its option to end the contract for “any reason other than for cause.” Under the contract, Martin will receive a severance package if the town exercises the option.
Martin will receive a lump-sum payment equal to three months of his current salary and three months of health-care benefits. In exchange, he will “execute a general release and waiver of claims,” according to the contract.
“Toby put a lot of time and energy into the town of Wiscasset,” Anderson said, and the town appreciates his work.
As for the future, “We’re not going to be hiring a new director, no,” Anderson said. “That’s not the plan right now.”
The town might have another employee of the ambulance service take on administrative duties, but not as director.
Meanwhile, the Wiscasset Board of Selectmen has yet to take action on a proposal from Central Lincoln County Ambulance Service Inc. to provide emergency medical services to the town in place of Wiscasset Ambulance.
The selectmen “are going to decide whether they want to go any further with that discussion” on July 10, Anderson said.
Martin could not be reached for comment. Anderson said she did not have personal contact information for Martin, and the local phone book does not have a listing for Martin.
Martin started work as director in spring 2016. His contract with the town was for “an indefinite period.”
His brief tenure was marked by change and sometimes controversy.
In Martin’s first months as director, the ambulance service moved away from reliance on “volunteer” members who received a stipend to be on call and an hourly wage during calls.
Instead, Martin and the town opted for 24/7 staffing of the ambulance station with a resulting 67.05 percent increase in the agency’s first budget under Martin’s leadership.
In 2017, Martin received approval to buy turnout gear for use by both ambulance and fire personnel. He predicted that the ambulance service and the Wiscasset Fire Department would merge within two to three years.
The leadership of the fire department expressed concern about the idea, however, and the town did not take any further steps toward a merger.
Martin started a subscription plan for the ambulance service, in part to reduce the cost of transportation for residents without insurance.
The town also saw changes in its relationships with neighboring towns. In 2017, Wiscasset Ambulance extended service to Dresden.
Earlier this month, the town of Edgecomb decided to end its relationship with Wiscasset Ambulance and contract CLC Ambulance instead. Edgecomb officials cited uncertainty about the future of Wiscasset Ambulance when they made the decision.
Martin arrived in Wiscasset with 28 years of experience in EMS, Anderson said in a press release at the time of his hiring. He spent 25 of those years with the Bath and Brunswick fire departments.
