LEGISLATURE STUFF - Were on the Way

CAIRO - An historic first step was taken in the creation of a unified county ambulance system, this past Monday night, during the latest in a long series of Greene County Legislature special meetings.

A new administrative position will be established, with that person setting the groundwork for getting the whole network up and running.

The exact title is not yet known and the job could ultimately include more than one person, hopefully being in place by early 2026.

It is also not yet known how the agency will be formed, whether it should be part of an existing entity, such as the sheriff’s office or emergency operations, or perhaps a totally new body.

What is known is that it will be the largest single county department and that it will be costly, even as the expense is considered necessary and, given the current realties of ambulance service, inevitable.

Lawmakers were joined at the session by town government leaders and emergency services professionals for continued conversations that commenced in the autumn of 2024.

Those initial talks were prompted by an appeal from all mountaintop town supervisors to lawmakers aimed at addressing the short term and longer term health and well being of ambulance service. 

While the system was, and still is functioning successfully, hilltown leaders said the situation was unsustainable, for multiple reasons.

Ever-rising expenditures was one, but a shortage of personnel was also emerging as a serious problem, with workers routinely logging 80-hour work weeks, a double-edged sword.

Ambulance response, in the not too distant past, was volunteer. That era has all but ended, causing municipalities to pay and provide benefits for employees, fulltime and parttime.

Salaries and benefits, however, have been well below what is needed for individuals and families to earn a good living, leading to the lengthy and stressful work weeks which in some cases stretched to 100 hours.

Lawmakers, following the appeal from mountaintop leaders, brought in an outside consultant to study the matter, and from that study the plan to possibly evolve to a countywide system emerged.

Significantly increasing wages and improving benefits are the cornerstones of that system, aimed at attracting and keeping workers while eliminating, or vastly reducing, the workload strain on those employees.

It is also expected that a single, united system will offer more efficiencies in terms of vital response times to emergency calls and the purchasing of material, rigs, equipment, etc.

And beyond all those improved-upon variables, it is widely agreed change is coming whether the industry and the county are prepared for it or not.

Prattsville town supervisor Greg Cross spoke during Monday night’s session, prior to the decision being made to move forward with the administrative startup of the plan.

The town of Prattsville contracts with the neighboring town of Ashland for ambulance service, an arrangement that is far less costly than having its own operation but nevertheless untenable, Cross said.

Referencing regular monthly talks that are held between all mountaintop supervisors, Cross, calling in by phone, said, “we each have our own unique reasons for wanting this consolidation.

“Speaking for the town of Prattsville, we face an urgent need for some type of financial assistance,” to offset the yearly contract costs, Cross said.

Emphasizing that Ashland provides quality service, Cross simultaneously quoted contract numbers that consistently escalate, equally emphasizing that Prattsville finds itself between a fiscal rock and hard place.

“This is really unsustainable for us,” Cross said. “At some point, we may have to tap out which is in nobody’s best interest. Something has to be done or we are going to break.”

If Prattsville pulls out of its Ashland deal, which is good through the end of this year, Ashland would no longer be obliged to respond, potentially placing additional strain on an already fragile system.

Legislature chairman Patrick Linger, serving as co-chairman of the meeting, said there is likely very little the county can do for Prattsville, financially speaking, without doing the same for any and all municipalities.

Whether it was Cross’s intent or not, however, the message was echoed, that the county and its towns must be proactive to change or reactive to fate.The choice is moving forward, despite any uncertainties.

“We’re on our way,” Linger said, noting that county Human Resources director Nicole Maggio and county administrator Shaun Groden will combine forces over the ensuing weeks.

Maggio and Groden will narrow down the nitty-gritty elements of the new position, honing in on the job description, salary, etc. presenting those details to the legislature for possible approval.

That is expected to unfold by Labor Day, when the county normally has its preliminary budget figures on paper, leading to passage in November.

“We have to be careful but we have to make sure this happens,” Linger said. “I think most people are on board with this now.

“We have already declared ambulance response an essential service. The towns wanted us to show them a business plan, so this is what the county will now do,” Linger said.

Hunter town supervisor Sean Mahoney, speaking on behalf of mountaintop supervisors said, “our one-hundred percent conclusion is there should be somebody running this ball down the field.

“We shouldn’t be doing that. This person, maybe with a team, should decide when and how this system gets put in place,” Mahoney said.