The Nelson Town Board last week unanimously approved the creation of a new municipal ambulance service in the town of Nelson in order for the municipality to be allowed to contract with the Georgetown Ambulance Service to provide emergency medical coverage of the southern portion of the town.
The action was necessary after the state recently took issue with the legality of Georgetown’s ambulance operating outside of its own town bounds, said Nelson Town Attorney Jim Stokes.
CAVAC currently covers about 90 percent of the town’s emergency medical needs, but Georgetown has covered the other 10 percent. By approving the resolution to form a new municipal ambulance service, the town of Nelson will be able to contact with the Georgetown Ambulance Service to provide coverage to the part of the town not covered by CAVAC.
“This is necessary to satisfy statutory issues with New York state,” Stokes said.
Once the new resolution is approved by the state, the town can sign the new contract, Stokes said.
“Even though this issue has been going on for some time, [emergency] service has not changed,” Stokes said.
Bradstreet agreed and said Georgetown has not “turned down” any ambulance needs in Nelson while this statutory issue has been occurring.
The board also approved its organizational appointments for 2014. There were very few changes to the town’s organization this year, only the addition of new Town Councilor Jen Marti — who was officially sworn-in to her duties before the meeting began — and her liaison assignment to parks, buildings and grounds issues, and the implementation of the 2 percent salary increases for town employees. The full organizational chart can be viewed by the public at the Nelson Town Office.
Also at the meeting, the board:
—Heard from Town Highway Superintendent Jack Sevier that the “no parking” signs are now up on North Lake Road in Erieville by the Blue Canoe Grill. Bradtsreet said the new parking law will not take effect until it is approved by the state, which may take a few weeks, so for now the Madison County Sheriff’s Office will issue warnings to people illegally parked in the area.
—Heard from Town Clerk Deb Costello that the new state DEC website used to issue hunting and fishing licenses has been inoperational for a few days and the town has not been able to issue any licenses during that time. She said the DEC is working to fix the problem.
—Accepted the resignation of Sean Hagan from the town planning board.
—Agreed to allow the Mad Cow race participants and coordinators to use town roads and facilities for the Aug. 2 annual Mad Cow race.
Jason Emerson is editor of the Cazenovia Republican. He can be reached at [email protected].
