EMMITSBURG,
Md. – Several dozen local and county officials and fire
and ambulance personnel attended the June 3 groundbreaking
ceremony for the new Emmitsburg Volunteer Ambulance Company
building to be built on Creamery Road.
Speaking
on behalf of EVAC were President Joseph Pelkey and Chief
Rick Sharer. Town commissioners attending were board President
Christopher V. Staiger and commissioners Joyce A. Rosensteel
and Glenn Blanchard.
Included
among the speakers were county commissioner Michael L. Cady,
who presented the ambulance company with a certificate of
congratulations, signed by all of the county commissioners.
Among the attendees were also county commissioner John R.
Lovell Jr. and Walter F. Murray, director of the Frederick
County Fire and Rescue Division.
Two-year effort yields results
In
presenting the certificate, Cady described the volunteer
services as “the heart and soul of every community.”
Staiger said that the ambulance company has given a lot
back to the community “beyond that you give to lifesaving
emergencies.”
Sharer
defined the groundbreaking as “another milestone in
our history,” and described the theme of the event
as “progress and expansion.”
The
proposed 25,895 square foot, two-story EVAC structure will
be located on a 4.01-acre tract on Creamery Road, purchased
in 2004 for $130,000 from Sheridan “Dan” and
Greg Reaver of Emmitsburg Glass Co. Pelkey previously told
The Dispatch the nearly $2 million price tag does
not include the cost of the land.
The
fate of the present ambulance headquarters on county land
on South Seton remains uncertain. Under the terms of the
lease between EVAC and the county, the building, which was
constructed by the ambulance company, would become county
property.
The
county is presently reviewing a request from EVAC to permit
the company to sell the building to a farmer or business
that would then remove it. EVAC would like to use that money
as partial payment on the new building.
The
ambulance company hopes the new building will be completed
by early 2007.
Planned structure will have multiple uses
According
to plans filed with the town, the building’s first
floor will be 70 feet by 211 feet; while the second floor
will be 60 feet by 70 feet. The second floor will be devoted
to housing career and volunteer ambulance personnel; and
the first floor will include the ambulance bay and a social
hall, space for bingo and other fundraising activities,
complete with kitchen facilities and bathrooms to serve
special events. The building will also serve be used for
emergency disaster relief.
Fees
for ambulance services, from social hall rentals, and from
ambulance-held events, will continue to enhance emergency
operations, and will help the company pay for the building.
In
order to finance the new building, the ambulance company
must take out a $1.9 million loan. The annual payback on
the loan, based on non-profit status, would be $112,000,
according to Pelkey.
To
further assist EVAC in dealing with construction costs,
the Frederick County Commissioners voted 4-1 on May 8 to
grant up to $30,000 relief from permit fees and a 75 cent
per-square-foot excise tax that would be due the county
from the construction of the new building.
See
related story, “Board
asks attorney to look at EVAC loan deal,”
in this issue.
