Ambulance Services to Change in Edgmont Township

EDGMONT--The Board of Supervisors approved the line edging of a township road, discussed ambulance service and the Newtown-Edgmont Little League at its meeting Wednesday night.

Township officials met with Riddle Memorial Hospital officials to discuss the expense of having an ambulance vehicle and two emergency service personnel in the township on a regular basis.

"The hospital, like the rest of us, is tightening its budget," Board Chairman Ronald Gravina said.

It cost the hospital about $545,000 per year to have the vehicle and personnel in the township 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They then cut the service to 12 hours a day, seven days a week at a cost of about $352,000. But that too is still too costly.

As of June 30, Edgmont Township will no longer have an ambulance sitting in the township waiting for emergency calls, Township Manager Samantha Reiner said.

Residents will still receive ambulance and emergency services but they will rely on Newtown Township as well as the hospital and firehouse for the services.

Reiner said there were not enough emergency calls to support the service but the hospital assured the township that they will still meet the state standard for responding to calls in rural areas, which is 20 minutes.

In separate township news, the board unanimously approved a $3,000 proposal to stripe edge lines along Valley Road since it has been repaved and widened.

Reiner said there are no street lights on the road and for safety reasons the edge lines should be repainted.

The proposal was approved per meeting the traffic engineer’s guidelines.

In other township news, the Newtown-Edgmont Little League, supported by both Newtown Township and Edgmont, has fields on Bishop Hollow Road and residents there had a concern of baseballs hitting cars that drive on Bishop Hollow, Gravina said.

He said the speed limit is 40 mph there and he believed flashing caution lights are used when games are being played.

The Little League board installed a net recently to prevent baseballs from going into the roadway at a cost of $5,000 and asked both townships for assistance with the cost, Gavina said.

Reiner said the board increased its regular, yearly payment of $2,500 to $5,000 just this year to the Little League and have already paid them.

"We already doubled our contribution to them this year," Gavnina said. "We’ve done what we can do to help them as far as Edgmont is concerned."