LOCKPORT, N.Y. — The Lockport city Clerk confirmed to WGRZ on Thursday afternoon that an emergency meeting of the common council has been set for 6 p.m. Monday.
The meeting will be held in the council chamber at the municipal building.
There are two items listed on the agenda provided by the city clerk, and both involve the ongoing ambulance issues in the city.
Council President Paul Beakman is proposing a resolution to resume ambulance service that will be operated by the Lockport Fire Department.
Beakman told WGRZ that he called the emergency meeting because volunteer department had to respond to EMS calls in the city on several occasions Thursday morning.
At one time, according to South Lockport Fire Company chief Chris McClune, the Towns of Cambria, Lockport, Newfane and Royalton were all responding to calls in the city. That left their own districts vulnerable to service issues.
Alderman Kristin Barnard is proposing a resolution where the council will vote on a series of service options provided by Mercy EMS. Those five different contract options range between $80,000 to $600,000 per year.
According to an audit of the proposal where Lockport Fire resumes service, the city could generate between $650,000 to $840,000 per year. The audit, however, also points out that revenues could be significantly less within the first two years and that the financial portions of the service need to be monitored closely.
At the regularly scheduled Common Council meeting Wednesday night, South Lockport Fire Company chief Chris McClune urged lawmakers to come together and figure out a resolution.
"This cannot continue to happen, someone will lose their life and at whose cost," McClune said.
McClune was stressing to the council that volunteer companies can not quickly respond to an EMS call in the city. Average response times, according to multiple volunteers, ranges between 10 to 40 minutes. The large range in response times is due to the distance a volunteer company has to travel to get to the city. The response time also includes the time it takes volunteers to respond to their station.
Alderman Mark Devine told 2 On Your Side by phone that the main reason he ran for office in 2015 was to ensure ambulance service returned to the fire department.
WGRZ asked Devine about the root of the problem on this issue within the council.
"There's a lack of trust between members of the council and the administration," Devine said.
2 On Your Side also reached out to Alderman Fogle and Kantor for comment but did not get a response.
Alderman Kristin Barnard said she was surprised the council president would call an emergency meeting over a "few fender benders."
Barnard is proposing the resolution for the Mercy EMS contracts and said she was welcoming the council sitting down to figure out a solution.