BELMAR — During public comment of the Nov. 26 council meeting, Mayor Gerald Buccafusco reported that the borough has not been approached by Monmouth County officials to be included in a county shared-services agreement for emergency medical services (EMS).
The South Monmouth Emergency Medical Services (SMEMS) shared service agreement, which will expire at the end of this year, encompasses the local municipalities of Belmar, Lake Como, Sea Girt and Manasquan. The four municipalities funded the shared service of the SMEMS that was made up of paid professionals from the Borough of Belmar, who served as the host organization in the service agreement.
The Manasquan borough council, at its Dec. 2 meeting, unanimously passed two resolutions, authorizing a new shared services agreement with Monmouth County for EMS and withdrawing from the borough’s current EMS shared service that expires at the end of the year. Sea Girt is reportedly also looking into this shared service option from the county (see related story, page 1).
“We are aware of those agreements with Manasquan and Sea Girt and we have not been approached by the county to become a part of that agreement,” Mayor Buccafusco said.
Borough Administrator Kevin Kane also confirmed that neither he nor any borough official had heard from the county about such an agreement, but said that the borough is “going to look at all options.”
“Neither myself, the mayor, police chief, no one has been approached by the county on our end. I’m not going to speak for Lake Como but I assume it’s the same thing with them,” he said. “We’re looking at all options as far as that goes, as far as EMS goes, and what is going to be the best public safety situation for the residents of Belmar. That’s our number one concern.”
“We’re going to look at all options, including the county, and assess it and (the) mayor and council will decide,” Kane said.
This is an excerpt of the print article. For more on this story, read The Coast Star—on newsstands Thursday or online in our e-Edition.
Check out our other Belmar stories, updated daily. And remember to pick up a copy of The Coast Star—on newsstands Thursday or online in our e-Edition.
Subscribe today! If you’re not already an annual subscriber to The Coast Star, get your subscription today! For just $38 per year, you will receive local mail delivery weekly, with pages and pages of local news and online access to our e-edition on Starnewsgroup.com.
