Letters

I am a resident and taxpayer of Flanders. I have been volunteering in this community for over 30 years and have earned the trust of people in my community. For this reason, residents of Flanders, Riverside and Northampton come to me to voice their concerns.

Recently, our community has brought to my attention numerous issues regarding the Flanders Northampton Volunteer Ambulance Corps and would like answers.

• It is our understanding that the ambulance corps would be only charging the insurance companies of patients who were involved in a motor vehicle accident. Recently, all patients for any use of the ambulance have been charged. That money was to keep our taxes from going up. Are the costs to maintain the corps higher than what is being charged for the service?

• Regarding the purchase of equipment: We are currently aware of four ambulances, jaws of life, three quads, a trailer for the quads, and a timeshare for training. Are there any other purchases we are not aware of?

• How many first responder vehicles are there? Are the vehicles approved for personal use?

• Who monitors the amount of funds raised and how they are used? We are especially interested in learning about the funds collected at the traffic circle, fundraisers and mailed-in donations.

• This has always been a volunteer ambulance corps, but now it was brought to our attention that there are approximately 20 paid employees. What are the qualifications of these paid employees? How many volunteers have left since the ambulance corps brought on the new chief? The corps made us aware that they must have a medic on 24 hours a day, seven days a week, yet today, August 10, they went on a call and there was no medic on duty.

• They are requesting $400,000 from the town. What do they need $400,000 for?

If they have more paid employees than volunteers and the ambulance corps is charging insurance companies, why are they being funded by the town with taxpayers’ money? Is it still considered volunteer if there are more paid employees than volunteers?

There will be a Flanders Riverside Northampton Community Association meeting held at the Crohan Community Center, 655 Flanders Road, Flanders, at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, September 6. We are asking that anyone who can attend please come so that we can get answers. The Flanders Ambulance Corps will be there to answer our questions.

Kathleen Kruel

Flanders