By Alexandra Perloe
Sentinel & Enterprise
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All Rights Reserved
FITCHBURG, Mass. — The fire chief and mayor say they’re close to reaching an agreement that would launch a city-run ambulance in Fitchburg and produce revenue to save five firefighters’ jobs.
These firefighters were slated to be laid off in the budget that Mayor Dan H. Mylott presented in June, but city councilors approved spending $16,000 to keep them employed an extra four weeks.
Those four weeks end July 28, but Mylott and Fire Chief Kevin Roy think they’ll have an ambulance plan by then. They said they’re in the final stages of negotiations with an ambulance company, but declined to name the company or the details of any pending agreement.
Mylott and Roy are asking city councilors to approve spending $360,000 to hire the five firefighters for the rest of the fiscal year. This money includes $224,000 for salaries and money for “incentive” pay, holiday and overtime pay, sick time buyback and other expenses.
The money order will come before councilors at their meeting this Tuesday, but Roy said he wouldn’t expect them to vote if no agreement exists with the ambulance company.
The order is on councilors’ meeting agenda “so that if everything falls into place next week as we think it will, we’ll be prepared,” Roy said Friday.
The mayor had no doubt the ambulance would generate $360,000.
“We know that we’re going to make that money,” Mylott said Friday.
But Council President Jody Joseph said he’d be wary to hire the firefighters without seeing the money first.
“As far as I know, there is not $360,000. I don’t know where that money would come from,” Joseph said. “We don’t spend money we don’t have. That’s the new theme.”
He said failing to follow this philosophy is what got the city into its present financial straits. The city lost about 80 staff positions this year.
The city-run ambulance would be Basic Life Support, or BLS, Roy and Mylott said. Fitchburg will still contract out for two Advanced Life Support ambulances.
The city currently contracts for three ALS ambulances, but Roy said this isn’t necessary.
“It’s almost a waste of resources when when we have ALS people doing BLS transports,” Roy said.
The five firefighters slated to be laid off might not be the same five people who run the city ambulance, Mylott said. Not all firefighters have maintained their EMT certification, he said.