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Date: 6/8/2022
HUNTINGTON – Approximately 120 residents packed Stanton Hall on June 6 for the Annual Town Meeting, in the second part of a two-step process to pass Proposition 2½ overrides to fund the Huntington Public Library and the town’s share for the Hilltown Community Ambulance Association (HCAA).
The overrides passed in a special election on June 4 by a more than 2-1 margin. Funding for both the library and ambulance service also overwhelmingly passed in the Annual Town Meeting. However, while the library passed with 11 opposed and no discussion, funding for the ambulance, which passed by a greater margin with only a handful opposed, engendered the longest discussion of the night.
Huntington Firefighter John McVeigh challenged the ambulance service asking for an increase when, according to him, it didn’t meet the standard of service delivery.
“As a taxpayer, I am not happy with the services, or the lack thereof,” he said, adding that the fault did not lie with the service providers on staff but with the board of directors and departing service director Angela Mulkerin.
McVeigh said while the ambulance service may be open 24/7 year-round, it is not adequately staffed with paramedic-level service, which he blamed in part on the director, who he said was hired as a working director, but had not been working as a paramedic on the ambulance. He said he thought the service should be level-funded, and the town should solicit bids for ambulance services.
Board of Selectmen Chair Edward Renauld said while a lot of what McVeigh said may be accurate, the contract this year is for one year, as opposed to the previous three-year contract. He also said the ambulance service just hired a new director, Bailey Jones, a paramedic who has been with HCAA for over a year.
“I don’t think this is the year to look at it,” Renauld said, adding that he is personally willing to give
HCAA a year to see if things are going better. “It’s in the town’s interest that they succeed,” he said. Renauld also said the increase for Huntington in this year’s service contract is only $1,300.
Huntington resident William Ellen, a paramedic captain with the Northampton Fire Department, said while he agreed with some of what McVeigh said, there is in fact a huge shortage of paramedics even in Northampton, which pays better.
Ellen also said that the per-capita rate per resident of the Hilltown Community Ambulance Service is half that of the Highland Ambulance Service, which McVeigh pointed to as superior. He said the town wouldn’t be able to get a cheaper service or even attract a for-profit service, because its call volume is not high enough.
“Definitely, HCAA needs to improve, but the alternatives are far worse and far more expensive,” he said.
There were also questions about the town’s assessment for the Gateway Regional School District, which had to be amended on the floor from $2,981,153 for the alternative assessment, which had already failed to pass all six towns, to $3,126,582 for the statutory method of assessment.
Resident Barry Kelso asked about the cost per student. Gateway business manager and Huntington resident Stephanie Fisk said approximately $11,000 per student, which Kelso questioned.
Fisk said there had been an increase of 21 students in Huntington this year, which accounted for a greater percentage share of the costs to the town. The assessment passed with 10 opposed.
Also questioned was the cost of $690,875 for the vocational tuition of 35 students from Huntington at Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School and Westfield Technical Academy. Residents were asked to fund these tuitions with $554,567 in taxpayer funds, $100,000 in free cash – leftover money from previous budget years – and $36,000 from stabilization, the town’s savings account. The vote ultimately passed with three opposed.
Selectman Roger Booth said that passage of the total budget with the overrides amounts to a total percentage increase of 5.788, or an increase of approximately $230 in annual taxes for the average house in Huntington, valued at $238,600.
Ballot questions pass
HUNTINGTON – During the special election on June 4, Proposition 2½ overrides to fund the public library and Huntington’s share of the regional ambulance service passed handily, with 240 residents turning out to vote, a much higher participation rate than the 63 who voted in the regular municipal election on May 21. The proposed $86,328 property tax increase for the public library passed 169-71. The second question, $58,777 for ambulance services, passed 177-62, with one blank ballot, according to unofficial results released on election night.