Latest news with #WallkillTownBoard
Epoch Times
29-07-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
Town of Wallkill Plans $7.9 Million Renovation to Wastewater Treatment Plant
ORANGE COUNTY, N.Y.–The Wallkill Town Board voted on July 24 to begin the process of applying for grants to pay for upgrades to the Wallkill Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). The town plans to devote $7.9 million to upgrade the essential facility. A 2025 Engineering Report by Dutch engineering and consultant company Arcadis identified improvements that could be made to the WWTP. Improvements would replace currently in use equipment that is at risk of operational failure and could have high maintenance costs in the future. The replacements would be newer and more energy efficient machines that are more reliable and have lower operational downtime.
Epoch Times
28-05-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
Town of Wallkill Approves New Ambulance District to Save Financially Troubled EMS
ORANGE COUNTY, N.Y.—The small town of Wallkill on May 22 voted to establish an ambulance district and create a new tax aimed at keeping the Town of Wallkill Emergency Medical Services (TOWEMS) out of financial ruin. Property owners in the new district The tax rate will be updated each year based on the TOWEMS annual budget and is expected to rise as ambulance operation costs rise. Operating costs go up in conjunction with the increase in calls, according to officials. Executive director of TOWEMS, Alexandria Willshire, spoke to the Wallkill Town Board at a separate meeting on May 13 about the need for the new ambulance district. She said that before the pandemic, emergency medical services (EMS) agencies across the county had around 10 percent call volume increases every year, which was manageable, since agencies could expand sustainably at this rate. According to Willshire, TOWEMS saw a 26.2 percent increase in calls in 2024 and are expecting an even higher increase this year. Willshire said the loss of other commercial mobile life services that served the area contributed to the sudden increases in calls to the TOWEMS in 2024. However, she said she's not sure why the number of calls is even higher this year. 'We just can't [manage] these increases any longer. We're maximizing the use of every available resource. Everyone in our building, including administrators who run a multi-million dollar organization, and even providers are sleeping between shifts, like anything we can do to cover these calls. What we're doing right now is not sustainable.' Related Stories 5/27/2025 5/23/2025 Many EMS providers in New York are suffering financially. Between 2019 and 2022, 17.5 percent of EMS providers in the state Most of TOWEMS' funds come from fees-for-service and occasionally grants. Without the new tax, the organization cannot keep up with rising wages and costs associated with maintaining ambulances and medical supplies, said officials, leaving TOWEMS with significant budgetary shortfalls. Willshire gave examples of recent cost increases. 'Medical supplies and equipment are skyrocketing. We've seen more than a 100 percent increase in some of our supplies since COVID. Our equipment cost increases are honestly something that keeps me up at night. A stretcher system that pre-COVID was around $40,000 is now above $65,000, and that doesn't include the $12,000 of annual maintenance that's required per stretcher. No piece of medical equipment or supply is safe from these increases,' she said. The TOWEMS was originally called the Town of Wallkill Volunteer Ambulance Corps, and switched its name in 2014. The organization currently has 48 employees. They serve the Wallkill area, but also support the city of Middletown, the towns of Wawayanda, Mount Hope, and Chester, as well as southeastern Sullivan County.
