By William J. Kemble
Daily Freeman
TOWN OF KINGSTON, N.Y. — Town Board members are waiting to see what happens with a proposed Ulster townwide ambulance district as part of plans to establish a paid service that covers both municipalities.
Efforts to draft an inter-municipal agreement should be completed soon, Councilman Dave Hoffman said during a meeting on Monday.
“Hopefully by March we will have a contract,” he said. “The cost…would be $100,000, which is way better than we thought. That’s for us and the town of Ulster with a (basic life support) ambulance … 24 hours a day.”
Town of Kingston officials had been given figures of between $900,000 and $1 million for coverage by Empress Emergency Medical Service, while the town of Ulster has been given a figure of $1.7 million for coverage.
The issue was raised in advance of a Thursday discussion by the town of Ulster officials, which aim to have the town attorney draft a resolution that would form the district effective in 2026.
Separately, Ulster officials would also assign two board members to negotiate with the town of Kingston to secure an inter-municipal agreement.
Supervisor James Quigley on Wednesday said that the $100,000 figure is based on the significant differences between demands for ambulance service in the town of Kingston, with a population of 933 residents, compared to the 12,660 residents in the town of Ulster.
“There have been discussions as to the dollar value (but) not the terms and conditions of the service or anything else,” he said.
“The ($100,000) can be negotiated,” Quigley said. “Whatever is negotiated still has to be approved by the Town Board .”
Quigley expects there can be cost savings in having one ambulance service provide coverage to both towns.
“The reason this inter-municipal agreement will function appropriately is if the ambulances are based in Lake Katrine,” he said. “It doesn’t take the ambulances forever to get from Lake Katrine to the town of Kingston.”
Empress Emergency Medical Service currently has a station in Lake Katrine, but Ulster town officials will need to issue a request for proposals or a bidding process if the ambulance district proposal moves forward.
“Whoever the service provider is, they are going to have to put forth a proposal that shows the equipment that the town is agreeing to pay for is appropriately stationed in the geographic location that provides the most volume of demand,” Quigley said.
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