By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

The Hooksett Town Council took the first step toward a town-run ambulance service, though councilors were eager to strike the word “ambulance” from the new plan.

At the Wednesday, Aug. 23, meeting, council members voted 8-0 to use already available impact fees to purchase a fire department “rescue vehicle” that could be refashioned into a “transport vehicle,” if voters approve a town ambulance plan in the future.

“We’re not trying to purchase an ambulance right now,” stressed Town Councilor Mike Jolin. “We’re trying to purchase a rescue vehicle.”

The rescue vehicle, said Fire Chief Mike Williams, could be manned by already medically trained firefighters, and could be run parallel to service already provided by Tri-Town Ambulance, the nonprofit ambulance provider that has served Hooksett, Pembroke and Allenstown for more than three decades.

On many calls, councilors agreed, the rescue vehicle could be used in place of large fire trucks, which often respond to emergency scenes before Tri-Town, said Williams.

The council also voted to cease its earlier determination to petition the state to hold a special Town Meeting to revisit an ambulance proposal rejected by voters in May.

Town Administrator David Jodoin advised the council that the process would be too costly and would eat up too much time before next year’s election.

The Hooksett ambulance issue has been a contentious one since the council attached a warrant article to this year’s ballot asking for the purchase of an ambulance through impact fees, and $156,000 for six months worth of wages for four new paramedics.

Some councilors at the time suggested the warrant article was being rushed onto the ballot after pressure from the budget committee, members of which said they planned to create a petition warrant article if the council didn’t move forward with its own ambulance plan.

The warrant article narrowly failed after unpaid crews from Tri-Town campaigned in the parking lot of Cawley Middle School.

The company also mailed fliers railing against the town-run plan to every home in Hooksett.

After the vote, Tri-Town representatives said the campaigning was in part out of desperation, as Hooksett typically provides about half of Tri-Town’s ambulance calls. The group also sent a letter to the town saying it hoped to assist Hooksett as it moved toward having its own ambulance service.

Councilors Patricia Rueppel and Stuart Werksman suggested the ambulance plan on this year’s ballot failed because voters weren’t informed about perceived inadequacies with current ambulance coverage.

Williams has said publicly that there have been issues with Tri-Town’s service since 2000, but said at the latest meeting, “Tri-Town does a great job.”

“This isn’t a personal item with Tri-Town,” he said.

Williams said population growth in Hooksett and surrounding towns have precipitated the need for parallel service.

For night and weekend calls, the nearest Tri-Town ambulance is stationed at the company’s Pembroke headquarters.

Williams has said that two-thirds of last year’s ambulance calls from Hooksett came on nights and weekends, and that on 51 occasions last year, ambulances from other ambulance providers had to be called in due to Tri-Town’s unavailability.