Otsego board allots funds to buy two ambulances

Vicky Klukkert, The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y.
·2 min read

Aug. 5—The Otsego County Board of Representatives passed several resolutions pertaining to public safety during its August meeting, including purchasing two ambulances to help with the current EMS shortage at volunteer ambulance squads.

The county will buy two fully-equipped ambulances in an amount not to exceed $434,337, the resolution said.

"We thoroughly discussed using recovery money to purchase the ambulances," Vice Chair Margaret Kennedy, C-Hartwick, Milford, New Lisbon, said. "We felt it was a good use of the money."

The money will come from the American Rescue Plan Funds the county received from the federal government as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new ambulances and staff will aid the volunteer rescue squads in the county, Rep. Daniel Wilber, R-Burlington, Edmeston, Exeter, Plainfield, said during the Public Safety and Legal Affairs committee report. The PSLA and Administration committees, as well as the director of 911 and the county emergency services department, met to discuss the lack of EMS volunteers in Otsego County, the resolution said.

Representatives also approved some resolutions for the sheriff's department:

—They approved to extend the contract with Bassett Medical Center for medical services at the Otsego County Correctional facility at an annual cost not to exceed $80,000 from March 1, 2021 through Feb. 28, 2023. The contract is for a Bassett physician to supervise correctional facility staff, provide on-site services at the jail once a week and write prescriptions as medically necessary.

The medical center will also provide laboratory and radiology services and inpatient and outpatient services as needed for which the county will be billed and it will act as the medical director for the correctional facility.

—The representatives also approved a contract between the county sheriff's department and Otsego Northern Catskill-BOCES for a school resource officer at the Otsego Area Occupational Center in Milford. ONC-BOCES will pay the county $85,000 for the service.

—The board also approved changing vendors for the purchase of body cameras for the sheriff's deputies and correction officers. According to the resolution, the National IPA contract expired and after discussing the issue, it was determined that it was necessary to amend Resolution No. 220-20210505 to authorize the purchase using a different contract. The new vendor, Axon Enterprises, Inc., of Scottsdale, Ariz., has been hired to provide the body cameras at a cost not to exceed $36,000, the resolution said.

Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221. Follow her @DS_VickyK on Twitter.