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Written by WebMaster
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Thursday, 21 January 2010 |
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The Mount Olive council meeting convened at 7:00 P.M. on January 19th/with a packed crowd estimated at over 220 with standing room only and an additional 40 to 50 in the halls outside of the chamber. The Mayor read his letter to the residents, as posted here on BuddLake.com, adding that he had met with the squads to propose a compromise of partial funding the squads leaving only on rig at each town. (I was made aware that this proposal was made to the squads at a meeting held only 23 hours earlier.) The Mayor said this effort was NOT budget related but in the intrest of health and safety of the residents.
The council then heard from the Flanders and Budd Lake squads to repudiate the Mayors’ proposal. Some of the issues brought out were:
--Originally the Mayor approached the EMS squads with only the budget concerns, but later changed the issue to response times. In addition these numbers did not agree with those recieved from Atlantic Ambulance.
--Discrepancies in the response times the Mayor produced – the mayor was asked to produce the full data. --The Mayor did not fully understand all of the functions of the squads when he made his proposals.
--The budget numbers submitted by the Budd Lake squad were inaccurate due to a clerical error on the squads part, revisions were sent but not acknowledged.
--Atlantic Ambulance has no experience in taking complete control – day and night – of a any other towns EMS to date.(information volunteered by Atlantic representatives) They also acknowledged they were considering reducing the number of rigs from 2 to 1 due to profitablilty.
The public was then invited to comment. All of the residents and some folks from out of town spoke in support, defense and praise for the EMS squads. May residents called for a committee to study the issue in greater detail, full disclosure of the options and a public vote on the issue. The highlight of the evening’s comments came from ex-councilwoman Barbara Swayze who had served on the Mt Olive Township town council for over 20 years. She was outraged that “Dave” (mayor) would even consider such a plan. This brought a standing ovation for her by all in the chambers. It is clear the public has solidarity in support of the volunteer EMS and not in the Mayor. There was not one single comment in favor of the Mayor. Please continue to express your views to the town council and urge them to reject the Mayor’s budget and plan as proposed and fully fund the EMS Squads until a proper study can be completed. This issue in not yet closed. Additional articles and links-Supporters urge Mt. Olive council to keep volunteer first aid squads
BY MEGHAN VAN DYK • STAFF WRITER • JANUARY 21, 2010 Mount Olive mayor considers replacing rescue squads By Dan Goldberg/For The Star-Ledger Mount Olive residents denounce mayor's EMS proposal By Dan Goldberg/For The Star-Ledger |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 28 January 2010 )
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