By MEGHAN VAN DYK • STAFF WRITER • March 21, 2010
MOUNT OLIVE — The township council has voted against holding a special election to let residents decide the future of emergency medical services in Mount Olive.
The council last week passed a resolution 6-1 stating that it will disregard a petition initiative that would have contracted weeknight and weekend EMS services to the Budd Lake and Flanders first aid squads through 2014 on the basis that the outcome would be nonbinding. Councilwoman Colleen Labow cast the dissenting vote.
It also authorized a request for proposals seeking a full-time private ambulance crew that officials said could begin as early as June 1.
Atlantic Ambulance currently provides ambulance service from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, with the two volunteer squads covering all other times.
Council President Phil Tobey said the volunteer squads will remain intact and would function as backup to the private service, each retaining two ambulances. The volunteers would be permitted to treat patients, but not transport them to the hospital unless the private service is unavailable.
"We listened to all sides," Tobey said Thursday. "In the end, we had to listen to the advice of our attorney and consider that a special election would cost us $45,000. We don't have that kind of money."
John Dorsey, township attorney, issued an opinion late last month stating that referenda which deal with a municipality's current or capital budget cannot be placed on the ballot, thus the results would be nonbinding.
Flanders resident Ken Taylor, one of the petition sponsors, said a group, the Committee to Save the Mount Olive EMS Squads, has been formed and is seeking donations to pursue legal recourse.
"The people of Mount Olive have spoken, and they want the volunteers to remain in place," Taylor said, referencing the petition which had more than 2,000 signatures on it. "If we move forward with this (the 24/7 ambulance service plan), there will be attrition on the squads. We will lose members."
It is unclear how much township funding the volunteer squads will receive under the new plan. The bids for 24/7 ambulance service are due April 7 and the council's next meeting is April 13.
