GORHAM – In a collaborative effort, Gorham approved a deal Tuesday for its town’s staff to take over emergency rescue services billing for neighboring Westbrook.

Under the plan, Gorham charges Westbrook $17 for each of the city’s rescue runs to provide billing services. Westbrook would pay an initial $1,500 start-up fee.

The Gorham council approved the measure 6-0 (Brenda Caldwell absent), while Westbrook city councilors granted first reading approval Nov. 22 and final approval Monday.

Gorham Town Manager David Cole said Wednesday that Gorham had begun rescue billing for Westbrook on a temporary basis prior to Tuesday’s council vote.

Westbrook rescue will continue to respond to calls for service. But, Westbrook clients receiving bills for Westbrook rescue services now will send their payments to Gorham and the payments will be deposited into a Westbrook bank account. The city will receive a monthly or quarterly bill from Gorham for providing its billing service.

Gorham Rescue and Fire Department, which has two secretaries, now will send out rescue bills for both communities, saving Westbrook money. Westbrook City Manager Jerre Bryant had said previously that the city would realize $16,000 in annual savings.

The deal generates $31,250 in extra cash for Gorham, while the town won’t have to hire additional help. “We believe we can do it with the staff we have,” Gorham Fire Chief Robert Lefebvre told Gorham councilors Tuesday.

Both Westbrook and Gorham have experience sharing services with neighboring communities. Westbrook outsourced its assessing to South Portland and Gorham Fire Department shares fire stations and equipment with other communities including Scarborough, Standish and Windham.

Gorham eliminated its dispatch center when the town signed a multiple-year contract with Cumberland County for dispatch services a few years ago. “We’re always interested in working with other communities,” Lefebvre said.

In the latest billing arrangement with Westbrook, contract language would allow either municipality to cancel out, if the deal wasn’t panning out. “We can opt out at any time,” Cole said in Tuesday’s meeting.

Matt Robinson, Gorham Town Council chairman, said the deal with Westbrook is not a “leap of faith” like when Gorham agreed to regionalize its dispatch.

“Here, it’s a month-to-month agreement,” Robinson said.

But Cole is confident that it’s workable. “I think this will work fine,” Cole said.

However, two town councilors, Matt Mattingly and Noah Miner, had concerns about encountering collection problems and additional staff time for repeat billing. “The hard part is the business side. We’ve become a collection agency,” Miner said.

Mattingly favored charging Westbrook on a percentage basis rather than a flat fee per rescue run. But because of potential problems of collecting from clients, Lefebvre advocated the flat fee charge.

Town Councilor Mike Phinney asked Cole to provide a report to the Gorham council within three or four months. And Lefebvre said he would meet monthly with Westbrook’s fire chief about the arrangement.

In other action, the Gorham Town Council sent proposed changes in the town’s codes to regulate wind energy systems to its Ordinance Committee for review.

A former councilor, Norm Justice, questioned the proposal’s height restriction of 100 feet for wind turbines while the town’s ordinances allow 190 feet for cell towers.

“I urge you to look at heights of these towers,” Justice said.