Organizers working to set up an emergency medical services authority in northwest Lancaster County are considering their next steps after Penn Township unexpectedly failed on Monday to pass an ordinance authorizing it.
“We’re still working through some of this,” Marc Hershey, chair of the subcommittee working on the authority plan, told One United Lancaster on Thursday.
The authority would take over the role of Northwest EMS, which is struggling financially and faces an estimated shortfall this year of around $500,000. The new EMS authority would levy a fee on property owners, initially estimated at nearly $80 per year on average. The fee would apply to nonprofits as well.
Setting up the authority requires participating municipalities to advertise and adopt an enabling ordinance. Seven have done so. Penn Township, the eighth, advertised the ordinance, but when it came time for final adoption this week, the vote failed 2-3.
How will that affect the process? One big question is whether, due to Penn Township’s outcome, the other boards will have to re-advertise their ordinances and pass them again. In September, that’s what organizers said would have to happen in this circumstance.
Hershey said officials are checking with their solicitors. He said applicable state legislation would serve as a guide for how to conduct the seven remaining partners in finalizing their intent to continue toward the shared goal.
“We’re still very much excited in what we have been able to do,” Hershey said, noting the level of collaboration between the municipalities still interested.
The seven municipalities that passed the ordinance are Conoy, East Donegal, Elizabeth, West Donegal and Mount Joy townships and Elizabethtown and Marietta boroughs.
