BRATTLEBORO — A soon-to-be-released feasibility study of whether Brattleboro’s municipal government should permanently take over emergency medical services will include the option of reinstating the town’s nearly 60-year contract with Windham County’s largest and longest-serving provider.
“We’re going to look at the possibility of reinstating the subsidy and contractual agreement” with Rescue Inc., Rich Buchanan, a senior project manager at the AP Triton consulting company, told the town selectboard this week. “It’s a viable solution. I think they’ve provided quality care over the years.”
Many residents have spoken out in support of Rescue, which the selectboard dropped last spring with little public notice, debate or explanation, even when pressed through the state’s public records process.
But local leaders who hired the independent study group still hope the report will affirm their decision, shaped behind closed doors, to move all local EMS responsibilities to the fire department.
“You’re not going to answer how we got here,” interim Town Manager Patrick Moreland told the consultant during a meeting break caught by a hot mic on Zoom and recorded by VTDigger. “I’ll answer how we got here, and it will be accepted or not. But where do we go is going to be an important discussion.”
Moreland then was heard asking the consultant about the perceived benefits of the fire department taking over EMS duties. The interim town manager repeated local leaders’ new argument — “Is this something (we as the town) want to have more control over?” — before the meeting resumed.
The selectboard initially said cost was a major concern when it unanimously voted last April to swap a $285,600 annual contact with Rescue Inc. for a lower-priced $75,000 agreement with Golden Cross Ambulance of Claremont, New Hampshire, which is helping the Brattleboro Fire Department with EMS coverage through a one-year transition plan.
But since the switch took effect in July, the town government has spent enough additional money on unanticipated expenses to eat up the promised savings. Selectboard members who argued in April that “it’s our job to negotiate contracts that are best for the town” now are saying “it was never all about the money” as they talk about the possibility of greater municipal control.
The consultant acknowledged a division in community opinion as he stressed his review was independent and impartial.
“We have a very good understanding that it is a polarized issue,” Buchanan said during a Brattleboro visit this week.
The feasibility study, expected to be finished in the next two months, will show how Rescue, the fire department and other ambulance services compare in coverage and costs.
“We have to look at many different items and metrics,” Buchanan said. “In the end, you folks will decide what your constituents believe are the priorities.”
Many residents are skeptical, as the municipal government has squashed public calls to elaborate on the surprise switch and has yet to release any documents explaining the decision.
But Selectboard Chair Ian Goodnow promised an open process once the consultants release the study in December.
“The board is going to, in very public, probably multiple meetings and discussions, look at all of the data that’s provided to us and ensure that we’re moving in the right direction,” Goodnow said.
