Remodeled suite could house Cambria ambulance crews

It would cost $322,775 for Cambria’s health district to renovate a vacant suite at its Main Street site so serve as ambulance crew quarters. The district’s administrator, however, is optimistic that insurance would cover that cost.

Administrator Bob Sayers said he had received the extimate, along with a “very preliminary sketch” from Vanir Construction, on a proposal to renovate Suite A at 2511 Main St. The building was formerly occupied by an optometrist, Limberg Eye.

The Cambria Community Healthcare District board heard an update on the project at its monthly meeting, Wednesday, Dec. 13.

According to the sketch Sayers presented, the building could house two bedrooms, an office, a dayroom and kitchen, along with a toilet/shower room. A second, public toilet could be provided to help the district comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Sayers said.

It was unclear whether ADA compliance would be necessary, since the crew quarters would not be a public facility. Apart from the crews themselves, only staff members and, potentially, contractors working for the district would need access.

Board President Bob Putney suggested that allowing public access would be a distraction to employees and, potentially, a security risk. He proposed installing a sign indicating there would be “no public access” to the facility and making the public toilet reachable only through an external door. This would, he said, “provide the security for our employees that I think we need.”

Sayers said that “about half the cost estimate” involved making the facility ADA-compliant. The good news, he said, is that “we do believe … the insurance company could cover the cost of this” project.

Ambulance crews have been stationed at private residences since a landslide early last year destroyed a wooden debris wall behind the Main Street property and damaged the ambulance station.

Election of officers

Also Wednesday, the board elected officers for the coming year, with board Secretary Jerry Wood taking over as president, Barbara Bronson Gray becoming vice president and Shirley Bianchi assuming the role of secretary. The vote was 3-2, with Putney and Vice President Mary Anne Meyer opposed.

Meyer, the current vice president, was in line to serve as president under the board’s rotation policy, but said she would decline a nomination “at this point just because of my experience.” She stated that she preferred Putney continue as president.

But Gray and Bianchi both said the district should stick to the rotation policy contained in its bylaws.

“We need to act like a resposible government agency and not be politically inspired,” Bianchi said. “I think Bob has been a great president. That’s not the problem. The problem is that we need to follow our bylaws.”

This story was originally published December 13, 2017 at 2:22 PM with the headline "Remodeled suite could house Cambria ambulance crews."