By Michael Ryan
CATSKILL - A wide majority of town supervisors have called for a public vote by the Greene County Legislature on the creation of a countywide ambulance system but there is no guarantee the voting will happen.
County lawmakers held a workshop on October 22, where the supervisors’ request and emergency medical services in general were slated to be the main topics of discussion.
While the talks unfolded too late for this edition, legislative Majority Leader Matthew Luvera, in a social media message leading up to those discussions, stated plainly there would be no voting that night.
“Let’s be clear, votes can’t take place at workshop meetings,” Luvera wrote, emphasizing any resolution calling for balloting must initially pass through proper committee channels and then be formally voted on at a regular, monthly legislature session.
The soonest that resolution could reach the floor, therefore, is the next full board session, slated for November 19, presuming it has also passed muster with at least three committees which is also an uncertainty.
All of this has come about because eleven of the county’s fourteen town supervisors, on September 30, signed onto a letter sent to legislature chairman Patrick Linger and county administrator Shaun Groden.
The letter was written in response to a special legislature meeting held on September 25 that also included town leaders and emergency medical services professionals.
Those three groups have been getting together for nearly a year, trying to determine if a unified county system could bring long term stability to ambulance service.
Many concerns have been expressed by town supervisors and others that while the ambulance service is functioning well enough, its days may be numbered in terms of being operated by towns.
They voiced increasing worries about a shortage of personnel, excessively long work hours for the available personnel and ever-rising costs.
Thirteen of the fourteen town supervisors, in August, presented a specific plan to the legislature saying they were committed to moving forward on the countywide system.
(The town of Halcott, while technically within Greene County, contracts with an independent agency in a different county and is not considered part of the voting block for local supervisors).
When the September 25 special meeting rolled around, it was expected lawmakers would be agreeing to do their end, setting in motion all the financial and administrative elements for a January 1, 2027 startup.
Instead, none of the four legislators representing Catskill were present and Linger and Groden announced there would be no vote.
An informal tallying of lawmakers indicated the vote would have been a 7 to 7 deadlock, although a weighted voting system would have narrowly pushed it over the finish line.
“Even if the votes were present, If we can’t get a majority of legislators on board to pay for this, we feel it would be problematic,” Linger said.
A subsequent flurry of emails and phone calls resulted in the letter to Linger and Groden, minus signatures only from Catskill and Cairo supervisors (and the town of Halcott).
“As you know, this initiative has been the subject of extensive study, meetings, and discussion over a considerable period of time, with significant resources and effort already invested by the County, our
towns, and many community stakeholders,” the letter states.
“At the most recent countywide ambulance meeting, it was stated that this matter would not be brought to the floor,” the letter states.
“We strongly believe that, given the importance of this issue to the safety and well-being of Greene County residents, it is only appropriate that the
Legislature take an official position,” the letter states.
“This request is not about predetermining the outcome. It is about accountability, transparency and providing clarity on where our Legislature stands,” the letter states.
“A recorded vote would offer direction to the municipalities, emergency service providers and residents who have engaged in good faith throughout this process,” the letter states.
“We therefore respectfully urge you to place this matter on the agenda and bring it to a vote of the full legislature,” the letter states.
Alternatives to a countywide system are being considered, including the county subsidizing towns for costs, lessening their annual budgets.
And there is conversation about possibly adding two ambulances to the existing Greene County EMS flycar fleet, helping ease a major issue surrounding patient transport to hospitals.
The economic burden for any of those actions would still directly impact all taxpayers, whether paying through their town or county bills.
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