Calex Contract

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Created on Wednesday, 13 September 2017 20:20

Written by Victoria Baldoni

ST. JOHNSBURY - The Saint Johnsbury Selectboard discussed the future of services provided by Calex Ambulance at a Selectboard meeting on September 11, 2017.  The conversation stemmed from a proposed change to their licensing services.  Ultimately, it was decided that the decision would be tabled until another meeting.  

Calex is a non-profit medical emergency service that has been providing services to the Northeast Kingdom and the surrounding areas since 1984. Currently Calex is funded by special appropriations voted on in each town it serves on Town Meeting Day.  The group was formed through different municipalities when Northern Vermont Regional Hospital (NVRH) decided they weren’t participating in ambulance services anymore. The special appropriation under which it was conceived, had to have five percent of voters to put it on the ballot and then had to win by majority vote on town meeting day.  But now they are proposing they be under a contract with those towns.

If Calex were to be contracted by the town of Saint Johnsbury, under the proposed plan, its budget would be passed by the voters through the traditional budgeting process. A contract wouldn’t necessarily mean more money for Calex, but it would make it easier for their specific budget to increase in the long run. 

“One of the benefits to the contract is that it allows the town to basically set terms within the contract itself, and it can be mutually beneficial to both Calex and the town of Saint Johnsbury,” said Town Manager, Chad Whitehead.