West Stockbridge — Following months of meetings and slide presentations, a measure to join the emergency medical (EMS) and fire services of West Stockbridge and Stockbridge has finally passed through the former’s dais.
On January 21, the West Stockbridge Select Board unanimously approved sharing essential services with its neighbor to ultimately coordinate around-the-clock EMS and fire services, securing improved response times with a new station house and ambulance. Although the project originally considered a three-way split adding Richmond to the group, that town ultimately bowed out, leaving Stockbridge and West Stockbridge as the primary players in the agreement.
As Stockbridge Town Administrator Michael Canales explained at the session, the goal is to employ paid professional staff backed up by volunteers. 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 and 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.
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 plan proposes securing a new ambulance staffed by full-time firefighters who are also certified emergency medical technicians (EMTs) from the existing Stockbridge Central Station and building a new fire substation on West Stockbridge Road, near the intersection of Route 183 and Route 102 in Stockbridge to house the ambulance and full-time staff. The costs of this new station, estimated to be $5.27 million, will be solely attributed to the town of Stockbridge at an annual cost of $354,000 in addition to staff salary and benefit costs.
With the program’s start date slated for fiscal year 2028, or July 1, 2027, in the intervening years Stockbridge will continue its current service contracts and West Stockbridge will need to enter into an agreement with Richmond for EMS coverage. During this time, Stockbridge will provide fire support, command structure for both West Stockbridge and Stockbridge, and daily coverage at 10 hours per day every day of the week. Two additional firefighters will be hired at the 60 percent-40 percent cost split, with Stockbridge assuming $154,571 of those charges and West Stockbridge assuming $101,535 of those charges.
A new ambulance will be contracted in the coming fiscal year as it takes about two years for delivery of the vehicle. That cost is about $450,000, split between Stockbridge ($270,000) and West Stockbridge ($180,000), with the ambulance Stockbridge received from Lee serving as a backup unit.
See Canales’ PowerPoint presentation here.
Canales advocated that the group would consider applying for a federal grant to fund some of the employment costs. “We understand that the costs for both communities is significant, but it’s also—what do you get for it,” he said. “We think that a 24/7 operation being backed up by volunteers is the way to go.”
Canales said that, as time goes on, the historic volunteer nature of such services becomes increasingly more difficult to maintain. “We’re heading toward the time when, most likely, volunteers aren’t going to be able to provide the primary support, especially when you run into times like during the workday,” he said, adding that the Berkshire County communities are aging up, making those volunteers less likely.
A town meeting vote by residents of both West Stockbridge and Stockbridge is needed to appropriate the budget for the program, at least for the next two years before the shared-services agreement becomes fully operational in fiscal year 2028.
