Jim Chaousis found himself in an unfamiliar seat during the Feb. 25 Boothbay selectmen’s meeting.

The outgoing town manager sat in the audience while Code Enforcement Officer Daniel Bryer took his seat alongside the selectmen in his role as interim town manager.

This marked Chaousis’ final selectmen’s meeting. After serving four years and four months in Boothbay, Chaousis begins his new job on March 2 as Rockland’s city manager.

Chaousis thanked the selectmen and entire community for making his stay a memorable one.

“The work we accomplished has been amazing and likely propelled me to bigger opportunities,” he said. “I’m thankful to the board for providing me with the latitude and the resources to be successful. I’m even more thankful to the residents, region and summer visitors for treating me with tremendous grace. I will continue to regard Boothbay highly as I accept this new opportunity.”

Selectmen’s Chairman Steven Lewis thanked Chaousis on behalf of the selectmen for his service. He listed the creation of a capital equipment replacement plan and implementation of technology in municipal government as Chaousis’ major achievements.

“We will miss you,” Lewis said. “We hate to see you go, and whoever comes here next will have some big shoes to fill.”

In Chaousis’ past two months, he has worked with Bryer to prepare him for his new duties as interim town manager. Bryer briefed the selectmen about recent changes to the town meeting warrant.

The selectmen approved the warrant after adding two funding requests from nonprofits. The board placed requests of $5,000 from the Community Fireworks Fund and $162,016 from the Boothbay Region Ambulance Service on the May town meeting referendum warrant.

The Community Fireworks Funds request is $2,000 more than last year’s. Bryer said the fund requested more this year due to a decline in community donations.

“They’re not spending anymore on fireworks this summer,” Bryer said. “Their staff has struggled to bridge the gap between private and public fundraising. They are asking all the towns to contribute more this year.”

Lewis said the increased request would be settled by the voters. He believed the fund’s shortfall should come from Boothbay Harbor merchants.

“It behooves Boothbay Harbor to support the fireworks because they are benefited by it greatly,” Lewis said. “The question is how much does it benefit us. Yes, we benefit too, but not as much as Boothbay Harbor.”

The Boothbay Region Ambulance Service is also asking for a substantial increase. The BRAS finance committee proposed a $397,586 budget to service Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor and Southport. This is a 16 percent increase. Boothbay’s portion is $15,861 more than voters approved last year.

The BRAS bases the subsidy funding formula evenly between each towns population and number of calls.

According to BRAS Board Chairman Robbie Ham, the increase is due to $30,000 more added to the capital reserve account, hiring two full-time workers, a 3 percent pay increase and additional health insurance costs. The service wants to turn a part-time bookkeeper into a full-time administrative assistant and hire an additional emergency medical technician.

The administrative assistant is expected to solicit more public donations. The new EMT is expected to reduce the service’s dependence on per-diem workers.

“We struggle because 90 percent of our workers have outside full-time jobs,” Ham said. “If they have an emergency situation in their regular job, that takes precedence. We don’t want a situation where we are at the mercy of others.”

Selectman Charles Cunningham said he understood the rationale for the increased request, but wished the service had restrained their growth.

“Where this is a 16 percent increase I’d like to see the pencil sharpened a little bit,” Cunningham said. “We need to save where ever we can. And if things can get pared back then I’d like to see it.”

The warrant’s final question will ask if voters want to continue with the referendum town meeting format. This is the first year Boothbay has adopted the new format.

The selectmen scheduled a public hearing for Wednesday, March 18 to answer questions about the warrant.

The selectmen will meet next at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11 in the municipal building.