By John Collins
The Lowell Sun
TYNGSBORO, Mass. — Selectmen voted unanimously to sign a town ambulance service contract with Trinity EMS, no matter which ambulance company Dracut chooses.
Previously, selectmen in both towns (which have jointly contracted the services of Patriot Ambulance for the past nine years) announced plans to choose an ambulance service together after accepting bids on a new joint contract.
But after each board conducted separate interviews of three bidders — Patriot Ambulance, PrideStar EMS and Trinity — Tyngsboro selectmen decided Trinity was too good a fit to wait for Dracut’s choice.
“After I heard your presentation, I said that’s who I want working in my town of Tyngsboro,” Selectman Bob Jackson told Trinity co-founders John Chemaly and Gary Sepe, who attended last night’s meeting.
All five selectmen said Trinity’s professionalism, community involvement, and use of cutting-edge technology weighed heavily in their decision.
“I was struck by the capacity of this ‘roving GPS’ that allows you to know where all your ambulances are at any one time, and if one is closest (to a service call), it means a lower response time,” said Selectman Elizabeth Coughlin.
Selectman Rich Lemoine said Trinity especially appealed to him because the company has a presence in Chelmsford and Lowell, “on either side of the river, and considering that our town is divided by the (Merrimack) river, that should benefit our residents.”
Should Dracut selectmen decide to go with PrideStar or re-sign Patriot, Chemaly assured the board that he would iron out terms of a single-town contract with Town Administrator Michael Gilleberto to suit Tyngsboro’s needs.
“We promise a dedicated ambulance, housed here in Tyngsboro, and at Tyngsboro (High School) football games. Whatever you’d like us to do here, we will do,” said Chemaly.
In other action, the board took its annual reorganization vote, unanimously naming Ashley O’Neill chairman (replacing Rich Lemoine) and Coughlin as vice chairman (replacing Jackson). Newly elected Selectman Rick Reault was named clerk.
At 24, O’Neill acknowledged that she is likely the youngest chairman in the town’s 200-year history, but bristled at criticism from a town source who questioned her qualifications because she has never owned a home and lives with her parents.
“Contrary to what that someone quoted in The Sun was suggesting, my voting record shows that I’ve never voted for any property-tax increase, and I’m the only person on the board who did not vote for a trash fee,” said O’Neill. “So, though I don’t own a home, I’m very sensitive to homeowners’ issues. And I’m always looking for outside sources of revenue to alleviate their burden.”
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