NEW BERLIN – The Town of New Berlin will hold a special public hearing regarding the controversial Unadilla Valley Ambulance Corporation (UVAC) and a state required Certificate of Need (CON) that could decide the fate of hotly-debated ambulance service at 6 p.m. Monday in the Unadilla Valley Central School District auditorium.

The town currently has a two-year, temporary CON agreement with New York State Department of Health and Susquehanna Region Emergency Management Services (SREMS), which will conduct the public hearing. According to Village of New Berlin Ambulance Service COO Kenneth Wiggins, the SREMS has control over any recommendation to the state whether the town should or should not receive the CON, which is necessary if the town wishes to contract with an ambulance service such as UVAC.

There are several points of concern for town residents in regards to UVAC and the town’s ambulance services, as there are already provisions in place for said service to be provided by the South New Berlin Fire District, the Village of New Berlin Ambulance Service – which operates only within the village – Cooperstown Medical Transport and UVAC. Cost is also an issue, as the town has adopted a total of $40,576 in

appropriations to cover the cost of ambulance service. That total is nearly five times as much as the previous year, $8,215, and some town residents are upset that the town has contracted with UVAC an annual payment of $40,000, payable in one or more installments and with full payment due by Jan. 30 each year the agreement is in effect. The big question, said one resident, is this ... where will that money come from?