By Meghan Van Dyk • Staff writer • March 25, 2010
Mount Olive residents will get to decide after all whether they want the township to ink a four-year deal for weeknight and weekend ambulance service with the township’s two volunteer first aid squads.
Lisa Lashway, the township clerk, today filed paperwork with Morris County officials that puts an ordinance -- brought forward by petition -- onto the ballot of a special election this fall. The move comes after an attorney representing the petitioners notified the township the group was prepared to sue to force the referendum after the council rejected the special vote.
“The initiative petition conformed to the statute and the council chose not to take action on the ordinance, so I did as the statute directed me in my official capacity as the election official,” Lashway said in an e-mailed statement.
A date for the referendum has not yet been scheduled.
The news came as a shock to Ken Taylor, a petitioner who helped found Save the Mount Olive Rescue Squads, a group created to raise money for legal fees associated with the drive to keep the volunteer squads on the job.
The petition drive netted approximately 2,200 signatures. Lashway approved 1,700 of those signatures. The group needed only 1,100 to get the issue onto a public ballot.
“There was some initial reluctance, so we were not expecting this,” Taylor said. “We are extremely happy to see that the people of Mount Olive not only will have the opportunity to have their voices heard, but also to see the proper workings of government.”
Mayor David Scapicchio first announced his plan to sign a deal for full-time ambulance coverage with a private squad in December. Since then, the volunteer squads have been working toward a compromise that would allow them to continue serving the township.
The township currently has a contract with Atlantic Ambulance to provide weekday coverage from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. The volunteer squads provide coverage on nights and weekends.
Scapicchio has said he wants to keep the squads on as back-up to the private service, but he has also eliminated their funding as of June 1.
The township already has issued a request for proposals to hire a full-time squad, the bids for which are due April 7.
The results of the referendum could eventually be moot. Township attorney John Dorsey insists the results of any referendum will not be binding on the township government. The issue is likely to be decided in the courts.
