BRATTLEBORO — Two public meetings are set to cap this town’s year-and-a-half-long debate on the future of local ambulance coverage.
The former provider, Rescue Inc., has scheduled an open house Saturday to unveil its proposal to return to municipal service as early as next year.
“We’re going to tell the public what our proposal is,” Chief of Operations Drew Hazelton said, “and we’ll certainly answer questions about what our role could be.”
Town government leaders, for their part, are advertising a public forum Sept. 12 to receive feedback on their plan for the fire department to permanently take over emergency medical services.
“That will be a big opportunity for engagement,” Town Manager John Potter said at the most recent selectboard meeting. “We’ll invite the public to ask clarifying questions and express their opinions.”
Rescue, Windham County’s largest and longest-serving EMS provider, held a contract with Brattleboro for nearly 60 years before the selectboard voted with little notice or public debate in April 2022 for a transition plan to study if the town should pick up coverage.
At the time, then-Town Manager Octavian “Yoshi” Manale claimed the plan not only would cost less than Rescue’s $285,600 annual fee but also reap “$500,000 to $700,000 net gain in revenue.”
Neither of Manale’s statements has proven true, and he went on to abruptly resign eight weeks later. Although leaders haven’t shared any of the facts or figures that caused them to approve the change, an independent feasibility study they commissioned found that a municipal takeover would increase costs, but would also bolster the town’s understaffed system of crisis response.
The initial decision to pursue municipal EMS coverage and a subsequent lack of details spurred residents at this year’s March Town Meeting to adopt nonbinding resolutions, calling for a “transparent” decision-making process for both ambulance coverage and related American Rescue Plan Act spending.
In response, municipal leaders have launched a website with information on the issue.
The selectboard is scheduled to vote on a long-term option Sept. 19. Any plan will require budget approval at next year’s March Town Meeting before expected implementation July 1.
