NEW BERLIN – Special board meetings have been called in the Town of New Berlin and the Town of Columbus on Friday to address the contested issue of emergency medical transportation in the area, and explore potential opportunities to contract with the New Berlin Ambulance Service.

Both townships have scheduled their meeting to be held at 6 p.m. Friday at the New Berlin Town Hall and the Town of Columbus Courthouse.

According to New Berlin Town Supervisor Bob Starr, focus of the New Berlin meeting will be on a recently signed contract the township has for emergency medical transportation services with the Unadilla Valley Ambulance Corporation (UVAC). The contract had many New Berlin taxpayers up in arms when it was included in the town’s 2014 budget. Starr said the board will convene in executive session with the town’s lawyer to discuss the possibly exiting the contract and subsequently sign a new agreement with New Berlin Ambulance Service, a municipal corporation with the Village of New Berlin.

In November, 2013, the town signed an 18-month $50,000 contract with UVAC under the leadership of former Town Supervisor Ross Iannello, who was ousted from his position during the 2013 general election. Starr, who ran his campaign on a commitment to nullify the agreement with UVAC, said Friday’s meeting is the first step in switching ambulance services.

“The objective is that we would prefer to change the contract with the Village of New Berlin for ambulance services rather than UVAC,” Starr said. “We need our attorney’s advice as to where we’re going to go from here, how we’ll go, and if we’ll go.”

“It would be my preference to go back to using the village for ambulance service,” he added

While the meeting is open to the public, Starr noted most contract matters must be discussed behind closed doors in executive session. Public comment is not included as part of the meeting agenda.