|In My Opinion, Michael Linteau|
On the warrant for town meeting on May 5:
* Retain the former ambulance? Voters previously approved purchase of a new ambulance, and it’s now in service. Should the Town retain the old unit as a back-up, with attendant insurance, repair and registration costs, rather than sell it?
[Editor’s note: The preceding is from NGX’s preview article. See below for the wording of the official warrant article, Article 41, regarding the former ambulance.]
Hello Residents of New Gloucester,
I wanted to share some information in preparation for the annual town meeting on Monday, May 5th. I’d specifically like to address the article in the warrant (above).
As both a resident and Paramedic for the Town of New Gloucester, I think it’s important to understand the value of retaining our old ambulance. I’m sharing here because I will be on duty staffing the ambulance on the night of the meeting and may be unavailable to speak during public comment.
I’ll start by addressing the statement that a few members of the Board and Town play on repeat: “The townspeople already voted to replace the old ambulance.” They will also claim that we are trying to “expand the fleet, expand staffing.”
Yes, technically, keeping the old ambulance expands the fleet, but here’s the important stuff.
1) The trade-in value of the old ambulance was in the ballpark of $10,000. A new ambulance is roughly $500,000 and has a 2-3 year lead time to be delivered.
2) The call volume continues to increase year after year as the town grows. We are one of the last communities with a single ambulance to handle our average call volume.
3) Every time the new ambulance requires routine maintenance or extended repairs, the town is left without transport capabilities and relies on the availability of mutual aid from a neighboring town. Example: Poland just covered a motor vehicle on Bald Hill Road and Snow Hill Road while the new ambulance was at Rowe Ford in Westbrook. Meanwhile, our potentially spare ambulance sites in the bay, unable to be used per the Board until its fate is decided on May 5th.
4) We already have the spare equipment to stock the spare ambulance.
I encourage all residents of New Gloucester to attend and make an informed decision.
— Michael Linteau
Editor’s note: The formal wording of Article 41 on the warrant is as follows: “To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Town to retain the former Ambulance (A-1), which includes insurance, repairs, licensing and utilization of this ambulance as a secondary vehicle, if needed.”
NGX disclaimer: The views expressed in this opinion piece are solely those of the author. Publication does not reflect endorsement by the NGXchange or its volunteers. NGX welcomes diverse viewpoints and invites your submissions. Learn more here.
