Winslow council hears explanation of physicians assisting emergency response calls

by Jonathan Strieff

The Winslow town council met Monday, February 12, to hear presentations from two local groups and vote on various resolutions carried over from previous meetings.

The meeting opened with a presentation by Dr. Tim Pieh, of the Kennebec County EMS Physician Response Team. Dr. Pieh described his group as testing the hypothesis that having fully trained physicians assisting with emergency response calls in rural areas can improve health outcomes. Dr. Pieh explained that this model for care is well established in many American cities, but is relatively untested in less populated areas regions.

His group has operated for two months and in that time his team of three physicians has responded to nearly 50 911 calls, 20 of them involving active physician care.  The group received funding from the American Rescue Plan to operate through September, at which point, if the data shows improve health outcomes, Dr. Pieh will pursue additional funding directly from Kennebec County.  The majority of calls responded to have been in Augusta, Waterville, and Gardiner.  The group operates Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and has recently added two new hires in hopes of offering greater coverage.

Next, Kate Newkirk, the chairman of the Winslow Agricultural Commission, spoke to introduce objectives of the commission and some of the programs it supports. The volunteer led commission works to promote agricultural and forestry in Winslow and surrounding towns.  One program, the Voluntary Municipal Farm Support Program, offers taxes reimbursement on agricultural land and infrastructure that preserves soil health and biodiversity. Like other conservation easements, the program offers farmers in Winslow financial compensation for pursuing good agricultural practices. The commission also operates the Winslow Town Forest, a 500-acre woodland preserve open to the public on the Albion Road and the Winslow Community Garden, on Dallaire Street. The community garden offers 30 garden beds to lease for $10 per season. The commission also plans to host the first Winslow Harvest Fest on October 5, 2024, to coincide with this years Fort Halifax Days.

The council voted unanimously to add Peter Beringer, an employee of the U.S. Forest Service to the Agricultural Commission and voted to add Amanda McCaslin, Ella Bowman, Karl Morse, Ray Caron, Tanya Verzoni, Christine Nichols, Mike Heavener, and Mickey Poulotte to the Fort Halifax Park Stage Committee.

Following considerable back and forth, the committee voted to keep a resolution to sell one of Winslow Public Safety’s three ambulances tabled for a later date.

The council voted unanimously to renew a three-year municipal contract with Central Maine Growth Council, a regional economic development group.

The council also voted unanimously to authorize the town manager to sign an agreement with Mold Bros of Maine to remediate mold from the Winslow Fire Department for an amount not to exceed $16,000, as well as an additional agreement with Unique Building Solutions for reconstruction work following the mold remediation for an amount not to exceed $70,000.