Pending bids, Med Care to break ground in fall

MEXICO- If all goes well with a request for contractor bids, Med Care Ambulance could be breaking ground on their new building site by fall. According to board president, Steve Brown, financing is secured, a purchase and sale agreement has been signed before the town’s planning board and abutting landowner concerns are being addressed.

Earlier this summer, board members of Oxford Federal Credit Union unanimously agreed to reach out to the ambulance company and offer them the parcel of land behind VIP that enters from Highland Terrace. The $1.8 million project will sit on approximately two acres of land with a 40-foot buffer between lots.

This project has been in the making for the past several years, but only in the last two has it gained momentum.

“This has all been a wonderfully cooperative public service gesture that the credit union has come forward with,” noted Brown. “Their board saw our need for being able to stay centrally located within the 11 towns we serve and to also be close to the bridge connecting Rumford and Mexico. It really is the ideal location for us to be in.”

Med-Care representatives met with concerned abutters last week to hear their concerns. Brown wanted to address those concerns of landowners living near the proposed site, stating, “We understand homeowners want to continue to live in a peaceful neighborhood. I am hopeful that we are helping ease their concerns. Many of our calls are non-emergency, so sirens will be kept at a minimum. We do need to run them when we are entering traffic, but, otherwise, residents won’t hear them every time we leave the station.”

Pending the return of requested contractor bids that were sent out last week, as long as they fall within the proposed budget, board members will be making a decision in the next several weeks as to who will get the contract.

The new facility will have four garage bays, adequate sleeping/living quarters for full- and part-time employees, storage space and enlarged office space. The current facility is in violation of fire code and would take approximately $250,000 to be brought up to code, not to mention that it’s too small to house the large fleet of service vehicles and technicians.