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Dr. Erwin Stuebner tells the Board of Selectmen that Village Ambulance Service is doing much better financially. The nonprofit had been in danger of collapse earlier this year because of falling revenues.

Williamstown's Village Ambulance on Better Financial Footing

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
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The Board of Selectmen discuss its review process for Town Manager Jason Hoch, left.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Village Ambulance Service is on a better financial footing now than it was at the beginning of the year, and a study group looking its long-term viability has a consultant's report to consider steps going forward, the president of the non-profit's board of directors said Monday.
 
Dr. Erwin Stuebner addressed the Board of Selectmen to give an update about the service, which was on financial life support in January.
 
The nonprofit service's appeals to the town at that time prompted the formation of an ad hoc committee that ordered a study funded jointly the service, the town, the Fire District and Williams College.
 
The committee is currently reviewing a draft of the consultant's final report, but, in the meantime, receipts for the ambulance service have increased and leveled off.
 
"In January, we were getting around $70,000 [per month]," Stuebner said. "It went up to as much as $140,000 and has settled down into the $100,000 to $110,000 range. If that continues, we'll be able to make a small profit.
 
"We had an auditor audit our billing company and found there were probably some … lack of effort and unexplained reasons why we weren't getting what we were owed, particularly some of the Medicare funds.
 
"After we were audited, we had an upturn in our receipts, and it kind of stayed level."
 
Internally, the service also trimmed some expenses by restructuring its administration. Michael Witkowski, who was its executive director for a little more than a year, has left its full-time employ but stayed on as a consultant, Stuebner reported. Witkowski, who still lives in Williamstown, remains committed to the service, Stuebner said. But as an hourly consultant, he will be able to help with his expertise at a lower cost.
 
Witkowski attended Monday's meeting of the Board of Selectmen to support Stuebner.
 
Despite the financial jeopardy of earlier this year, Stuebner said the ambulance service never had to cut back on its service to the three towns it serves: Williamstown, Hancock and New Ashford.
 
"The field medics and EMTs have not missed a beat through all of this," Stuebner said. "There has been no diminishment of services at all."
 
Monday's other big topic for the Board of Selectmen was its annual review process for Town Manager Jason Hoch.
 
Chairman Hugh Daley reminded his colleagues of the extensive "360 review" it conducted last year, a process that involved surveys of town employees and members of the community — like committee chairs — who have regular interactions with the town manager.
 
The members of the board debated whether they wanted to conduct the same process, a scaled-back version or an entirely different kind of review.
 
Selectman Jeffrey Thomas, who helped then-Chairman Andrew Hogeland develop last year's survey, pushed for a complete repeat of the process. Selectwomen Anne O'Connor and Jane Patton each indicated that it could be a lot to ask of individuals to complete the same survey year after year, and doing so runs the risk that responses will become more perfunctory.
 
"We should always get as much information as we can that is reasonable," Thomas countered. "Maybe we'll put a few people out, but I'd rather err on the side of getting more information. This is really about helping Jason do the best job possible.
 
"The only way I can do my job better is by getting input and feedback from people. It's a pain in the butt, but I've learned to seek it out wherever I can. I'm not that worried about overdoing it."
 
O'Connor recommended the board seek input from Lenox, which recently completed the review of its town manager, and Hoch said he could reach out to his South County counterpart to learn how that review was conducted.
 

Paul Lovegreen of Tunnel City Coffee will operate a smaller version of the coffee shop in the new Williams Book Store.
Daley indicated he liked the idea of a process similar to the one he uses in his business, which conducts in-depth audits or maintenance audits of its operation on a rotating annual basis. He characterized last year's town manager review as analogous to the in-depth audit and suggested this year could be a "maintenance" year, in which the board would gather less data.
 
He promised to take the feedback from Monday's meeting and bring a formal proposal to his colleagues later this summer with the goal of completing the personnel review by some time in September.
 
In other action on Monday, the board approved a one-day alcohol license for a special event at the Buxton School on Aug. 5 from 7 to 9 p.m., and it OK'd a common victualer license for Paul Lovegreen, the owner of Tunnel City Coffee, to operate Uptown Tunnel Coffee, a coffee shop to be located across the street from his current operation in the new Williams College book store.

Tags: ambulance service,   evaluation,   

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Mount Greylock School Committee Votes Slight Increase to Proposed Assessments

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee on Thursday voted unanimously to slightly increase the assessment to the district's member towns from the figures in the draft budget presented by the administration.
 
The School Committee opted to lower the use of Mount Greylock's reserve account by $70,000 and, instead, increase by that amount the share of the fiscal year 2025 operating budget shared proportionally by Lanesborough and Williamstown taxpayers.
 
The budget prepared by the administration and presented to the School Committee at its annual public hearing on Thursday included $665,000 from the district's Excess and Deficiency account, the equivalent of a municipal free cash balance, an accrual of lower-than-anticipated expenses and higher-than-anticipated revenue in any given year.
 
That represented a 90 percent jump from the $350,000 allocated from E&D for fiscal year 2024, which ends on June 30. And, coupled with more robust use of the district's tuition revenue account (7 percent more in FY25) and School Choice revenue (3 percent more), the draw down on E&D is seen as a stopgap measure to mitigate a spike in FY25 expenses and an unsustainable budgeting strategy long term, administrators say.
 
The budget passed by the School Committee on Thursday continues to rely more heavily on reserves than in years past, but to a lesser extent than originally proposed.
 
Specifically, the budget the panel approved includes a total assessment to Williamstown of $13,775,336 (including capital and operating costs) and a total assessment to Lanesborough of $6,425,373.
 
As a percentage increase from the FY24 assessments, that translates to a 3.90 percent increase to Williamstown and a 3.38 percent increase to Lanesborough.
 
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