Fire Department wonders why it wasn’t asked about ambulance corps takeover

Simmering doubts among Fire Department members about the wisdom of the town’s takeover of the Red Cross ambulance corps surfaced at Friday’s Town Board meeting.

Fireman Ron Jernick, who is also a Fire District commissioner, inquired from the audience late in the session if any Town Board members, when first approached by ambulance corps officials about a town takeover months ago, had asked them why they had come to the board “and not the Fire Department.”

“I think the ambulance corps had made their own decision,” answered Councilwoman Chris Lewis. She said corps officials seemed to have come to their own conclusion that the town should be approached.

The negotiations with the Red Cross national organization, which owned the squad, “were very fragile,” she said. Noting that the department had been having trouble in recent years attracting younger volunteers, she added, “They may have felt it was not a good fit” to seek a transfer to the Fire Department.

“They came to us,” Supervisor Jim Dougherty said of the local squad’s officials, after having talked with the national Red Cross about its desire to divest itself of the squad, which was founded under an American Red Cross charter in 1931 and was the only squad in the country owned by the national organization.

There were 10 months of negotiation, the supervisor said.

Commenting on the issue in a phone interview this week, the Fire Department’s 1st Assistant Chief John D’Amato said that “it is kind of curious to us that we were never included or involved” in any discussions about the Red Cross’s desire to divest itself of the ambulance squad.

“The overall feeling here” at the department, he said, “is the resources in the county FRES (Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services agency) could help the Town Board make business decisions” about the squad takeover. But “it appears the Town Board is making decisions on the basis of personal preferences.”

He said that “somebody should be doing their due diligence and the Fire Department should be included in that process.”

At Friday’s meeting, Town Board candidate Will Anderson, the department’s 2nd assistant chief, said from the audience that he was “under the impression” the ambulance corps volunteers had first learned of the takeover when it was reported in the newspaper on September 21.

It was “essential not to create panic,” Ms. Lewis said, explaining it had been a matter of “discretion” and not “hiding” the matter.

“We went with the flow, Will,” Supervisor Dougherty said, “because that would get us to the goal of preserving this wonderful ambulance corps” and the “gift” of all its assets.

“All options are open” for future consideration, he said.

Councilman Glenn Waddington said it had been his impression that the squad’s volunteers had been advised “before it broke in the paper.”

Mr. Anderson said that “solutions may have been easier to get to” if the proposal had been made public “a little earlier.”

The parties could have decided which was better for the taxpayer: a Fire Department or town takeover, he said.

Of the Fire Department option, “There’s been no discussion. Period,” he said.

Councilman Ed Brown said it had been important for the town to settle the transfer in a signed contract and that he did not want “to have a wildfire here.”

Councilman Peter Reich said there was no reason “down the road this couldn’t be changed.” He noted that the Fire Department once operated the squad “and you gave it up 40-plus years ago.” The goal, he added, was to “do what’s best for Shelter Island.”

“We all want to see it carry on,” said Mr. Waddington. “It’s got to be seamless.” He noted that the town doesn’t “really know what it will cost us.”

The squad has about 25 to 30 volunteers and no paid officers or staff.

The supervisor has been criticized for including only $59,350 to run the squad, not including town insurance coverage, in his preliminary 2012 budget. He said on Friday that the plan has been to “acquire it as is” and then, as the town got more experience and information from running it, “we’ll play with the model.”

The biggest question was funding the salary and benefits of a person who would take over for the corps’ volunteer CEO, Joyce Bausman, who has made it clear she wanted to retire in the coming year.

At a recent Town Board budget work session, long-time corps EMT Ben Jones predicted that the squad could cost the town $200,000 a year if all capital costs and a paid director and assistant were included.

When he and the local squad announced last month that there had been an agreement for the town takeover, Mr. Dougherty said officials of the squad had approached the town in October 2010, “with the motivation coming from the national office,” to discuss a town takeover.

If the squad had to find a new home, he said, it preferred to find it with the town.

He said then that “very discrete” talks had been underway ever since then.

Ms. Bausman said in a prepared statement at the time, “Our team of ambulance volunteers will continue to provide prompt pre-hospital emergency care. We are delighted that the town is stepping in and I am confident that we will have a smooth transition.”

The turnover, Mr. Dougherty said then, was “in response to the reorganization and consolidation programs of the national American Red Cross … and at the request of the Shelter Island Chapter.”

Said Councilman Brown at Friday’s discussion, “Shelter Island can’t let it slip out of our hands.”

“No one will tell you it should,” said Mr. Anderson.

Mr. Dougherty promised the new arrangement “will work.”