The central item for discussion at last week’s Shamong Township Committee meeting was ambulance replacement for the Indian Mills Volunteer Fire Company.
Charles Burgin, president of the Indian Mills Volunteer Fire Company, has made the community and township committee aware of the need for a replacement ambulance.
At the beginning of the year, he supplied township administrator Sue Onorato with some estimates on what it would cost for an ambulance replacement.
The unit has a fleet of three ambulances, a 2005 Horton, a 2000 Horton and a 1995 Horton that desperately needs to be replaced.
It was suggested by many to purchase a new box section of the ambulance and remount it on the current chassis, but after further research conducted by Burgin, it will cost nearly as much as buying a new ambulance to get a box that is up to standards.
There are mandates from the federal government for the 2016 models having to do with the stretcher mount inside the ambulance, which would cost $25,000.
Both parties were stunned at how much prices have gone up.
“In 2005, we were right around $130,000 for that ambulance,” Onorato said.
“Now we are at $200,000-plus,” Burgin said. “We’re going to do our best to keep the price down.”
According to Burgin, there are other ambulance manufacturers that build a cheaper unit, but there are only one or two that have been crash-test and roll-over-test approved.
“The Horton model is one of the best,” Burgin said.
All of IMVFS’ current ambulances are Hortons, and the majority of neighboring towns use Horton emergency vehicles as well.
EMS Chief Timothy Rowe said that if the township waits any longer to replace this ambulance, it is going to have to replace all three at the same time.
“It would be more cost efficient to do this one now and to spread the spending out over a couple years instead of trying to replace all three of them at once down the road,” Rowe said.
Committeeman Michael Di Croce voiced his concern about the funding for this coming completely from the residents’ tax dollars, or if there was any possible way to lower the cost with other sources such as grants.
According to Rowe, the grant process opens in November.
“We can apply, but it is not guaranteed money. There are a lot of departments trying to put in for it because all of the townships are pulling funding, so they’re trying to find other ways,” Rowe said.
In the past, many districts would fund projects such as this, but now most towns are pushing for the grants without the support of the district, and more applicants result in less chance of receiving the grant.
Shamong is one of the few towns left in Burlington County that does not bill for ambulance calls. They are contemplating beginning to do that to create some revenue, but Medicare has put a freeze on billing, so anyone who is on Medicare cannot be billed.
This would negate most of the potential revenue.
“Personally, I would like to see you not bill,” Mayor Ken Long said.
The committee plans to concentrate on how it is going to pay for the truck in the upcoming weeks.
“It’s 20 years old, and we were originally supposed to be on a 10-year rotation when we first bought it. We’re spending a lot of money on maintenance. It’s time to replace it,” Burgin said.
In other news:
• John Gardner’s family was honored at the meeting after he recently passed away on Aug. 23. Gardner was from Indian Mills and much of his family still resides in the area.
• IMAA has made recommendations for the Burlington County Municipal Park Grant submission from the township to make some enhancements to their fields. The full grant is for $250,000.
• The township received a notification back from the state that it completed its gypsy moth egg mass survey on Sept. 3. No major infestations were detected, therefore the department is not recommending any aerial treatment for next spring.
• The committee is still waiting to hear back from the engineer’s office on the bids for the resurface of the tennis courts at Dingletown and Stony Creek.
