Hatfield Select Board Approves $35,000 for Expanded Weekend Ambulance Coverage

HATFIELD — February 1, 2022 — Hatfield Select Board approves $35,000 in federal relief funds to expand weekend ambulance coverage after record call volume. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to use American Rescue Plan Act money to staff the town's ambulance for 16 hours on Saturdays and Sundays and eight Friday evening hours through June 30, responding to data from Fire Chief Bob Flaherty showing 45 EMS calls in January alone — more than double the highest monthly total on record — and a department losing roughly $60,000 in annual revenue on calls it cannot cover. The board also unanimously authorized up to $5,000 from the town's open space fast-action fund to appraise a 21-acre Jericho Road parcel that could support farmland preservation, a public trail, and two affordable housing lots before a state land grant deadline in July. The board declined to waive a 3 percent community impact fee owed by cannabis operator TreeWorks LLC, with Chair Luke Longstreeth noting the town has not yet received a single payment under the five-year host agreement and that town administrator research showed the fee waiver trend cited by the applicant was not widespread among neighboring communities.