Stockbridge —Town Hall’s meeting room was a bit crowded on March 26 as members of both the town’s Finance Committee and its Select Board assembled to hear details from Fire Chief Vincent Garofoli and Town Administrator Michael Canales on efforts to merge the municipality’s fire and emergency medical services (EMS) departments with West Stockbridge by July 1, 2027.
Having been in the works for the past two years, the plan aims to provide around-the-clock EMS and fire services backed by volunteers for the two communities, adding a new station house and ambulance. Although the measure will produce improved response times for both municipalities, Canales told officials the change will result in better response times for Stockbridge than West Stockbridge due to the proposed placement of the new fire station on West Stockbridge Road, near Routes 102 and 183.
Under the plan, the two communities will split the total annual salary and benefits cost pro rata according to size for eight full-time fire/EMS professionals, one full-time chief, and two deputy chiefs at $977,205, with Stockbridge absorbing 60 percent of the costs ($589,785) to West Stockbridge’s 40 percent ($387,420). The department will report to an oversight board that includes the fire chief, town administrators, and Select Board designees.
Garofoli informed board members that staff may work 24-hour shifts, with the possibility of back-to-back shifts.
West Stockbridge currently shares EMS services with Richmond. Stockbridge has two EMS shared-services agreements—with Lenox for EMS for the Stockbridge Bowl area and Lee for EMS services for the remainder of the area inside its borders.
The costs of this new station is anticipated to be around $5.27 million, based on recent builds, said Garofoli, with the station fully owned by the town of Stockbridge at an annual cost of $354,000, fees in addition to staff salary and benefits.
According to Garofoli, the town of West Stockbridge is pursuing a grant-based option for combining its police, fire, and highway departments under one roof, “making their own complex so they’re not going to be financially available to look at something permanent here.”
“The other part of that, too, is having the station physically located in Stockbridge and having total ownership, control, and maintenance of it, if for whatever reason the financial situation between the two towns change, we wouldn’t be left holding the bill or having to pay out fair market value for splitting their portion of the building if we were to ever dissolve,” he said.
For the program to come to fruition, the new ambulance must be ordered as soon as possible “since the build-out times for ambulances and fire apparatus have well exceeded one-and-a-half to two years, sometimes even greater than that,” Garofoli said. “So, getting the ambulance ordered in the beginning is hopefully going to save us any trouble down the road by having the equipment when we’re ready for that [program] start date,” he said.
At a cost of $478,083.26, that ambulance purchase will be the first capital expenditure of the budget for fiscal year 2026, Garofoli said. With the towns’ 60-40 cost split, that cost to Stockbridge is $286,849.96 and $191,233.30 for West Stockbridge.
Finance Committee members questioned the effects of recent tariffs imposed by the federal government on goods emanating from outside of the United States, with Canales confirming the quoted prices can be locked in prior to the end of this fiscal year. “That contract isn’t changing,” he said, adding that town meeting approval is also needed.
The plan includes an ambulance obtained from Lee that will serve as a backup unit.
With the program’s start date slated for fiscal year 2028, or July 1, 2027, Stockbridge will continue its current service contracts with Lee and Lenox in the intervening years. Canales reported that West Stockbridge has entered into an agreement with Richmond for EMS coverage for the next two seasons. With West Stockbridge Fire Chief Steve Traver having retired at the end of last year, Garofoli took over January 1 to lead the town’s department.
During the interim years of 2026 and 2027, Stockbridge will provide fire support and command structure for both departments, bringing on two new staffers and daily coverage at 10 hours per day every day of the week. Those additional firefighters will be hired at the 60-40 cost split of approximately $260,000 all-in costs.
Canales said he will be seeking grant funds over the next two years—Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants (SAFER)—to help with the costs of staffing up the program for at least four firefighters. These grants directly fund fire department efforts to increase or maintain trained local firefighters.
However, group members voiced concern that the program, which is coordinated under the Federal Emergency Management Act (FEMA), will be curtailed along with the slashing of other government agencies. On March 27, the SAFER website listed the following note: “FEMA.gov is being updated to comply with President Trump’s Executive Orders. Thank you for your patience and understanding.”
Canales responded that the group will still apply but “whether or not there’s going to be funding, we don’t know.”
“We’re not counting our chickens before they hatch, but we are definitely going to pursue whatever grant would be available to assist us,” Garofoli said.
Committee members queried about training opportunities for individuals seeking the new positions, with two local programs currently supported by grants.
Garofoli told the dais that the EMS director role will be hired first to allow for the group to focus on state licensing for the program, with an eye toward hiring firefighters who are also licensed paramedics.
“It’s a very complex endeavor, but an absolutely necessary endeavor for an aging population,” Finance Committee Chair Jay Bikofsky said of the program. “There ain’t no way to get around it. Period.”
Although the project originally considered a three-way split adding Richmond to the group, Richmond officials ultimately bowed out, leaving Stockbridge and West Stockbridge as the primary players in the agreement.
At the session, the Finance Committee approved Canales’ proposal to change the town’s financial reserve policy from maintaining a 10 percent Stabilization Fund and a 10 percent Free Cash Fund to maintaining a 10 percent Stabilization Fund but targeting a five percent Free Cash Fund.
The move provides for the overflow from Free Cash to go to the Stabilization Fund, a measure Canales said “allow[s] us to be as efficient as possible with the use of our funds.”
