A suggestion to hire an ambulance service at Peconic Landing would cost $1000 per day and is not “feasible,” according to Robert Syron, president and CEO of Peconic Landing.
Syron, who came before the planning board at Monday’s meeting to discuss the new tennis courts that are part of the planned expansion of Peconic Landing, also addressed issues that have arisen, including the request by both the East Marion and Southold fire districts to be included in talks regarding concerns over mutual aid calls.
According to Southold Town Planning Director Heather Lanza, both the East Marion and Southold fire districts sent letters to the planning board and “suggesting that Peconic Landing hire an ambulance service at night and on the weekends” to help the situation.
Syron, however, said it was “disheartening” to receive the letters from the neighboring fire districts. “We are barely impacting them.”
Any delays at this point in the project, Syron added, would cost “thousands of dollars a week.”
Syron said he’s been working with the Greenport Fire District and there’s a plan in place. He added that Peconic Landing representatives started meeting with the Greenport Fire Department chiefs and wardens in June 2013.
Neither Southold Fire Chief Peggy Killian nor East Marion Fire Chief Frank Thorp III was immediately available for comment.
“It is the understanding of the department and Peconic Landing that a lack of EMTs within the district creates the need for mutual aid calls. We are very close to an agreement,” Styron said.
At the core of the agreement is the goal to reduce the number of calls to Peconic Landing as well as to increase the number of EMTs available to serve the district, Styron wrote after the meeting, in an email to SoutholdLOCAL.
“Based upon these goals the agreement calls for adding 10 to 15 EMTs to the Greenport Fire Department over the next two years. Presently, approximately 30 of our employees have signed up to enroll in EMT training based on financial incentives provided by Peconic Landing. Of these, we have identified ten employees to start training and become EMT certified. The construction timeline of 16 months is ample time for our first EMT candidates to complete the six month EMT training program.”
Syron added that “the work of the Greenport Fire Department will be strengthened as a result of this unprecedented agreement, which was negotiated with the best intentions of the village, east/west fire district and neighboring districts. We believe we have a plan in place that addresses the mutual aid issue not just for Peconic Landing but for the entire Greenport Fire District. The increase in residents by Peconic Landing’s expansion will be mitigated by the significant increase in EMTs added to the Greenport Fire Department and the town.”
Syron said he believes “we have adequately addressed the concerns raised by the fire districts and we are not aware of any obstacles preventing the planning staff and board from approving Peconic Landing’s project. Further delays of this project will financially impact the project significantly. If the bond market changes to the negative, the project could cost millions over the life of our debt service, delay receipt of tax revenues for the town, delay receipt of village fees, delay the creation of 43 new jobs and affect the economic impact of the construction itself.”
At the meeting, Syron said four out of 13 mutual aid calls went to Peconic Landing this year, with an overall reduction in calls to the facility.
Syron also said the Greenport Fire District should be negotiating with Peconic Landing, and they can share information with the other two districts.
“The letter from the planning board stating that both districts have concerns about the expansion adding to the number of mutual aid calls is clearly addressed in this agreement. I respect the concerns of the neighboring districts and want to assure them that these concerns have been addressed and should not impact approval of our project.”
As it stands, Peconic Landing is set to break ground in mid-October, Syron said. “Any further delays costs everyone.”
Of the request by the two neighboring districts that Peconic Landing hire an ambulance service, Syron said, “We do not believe this is a realistic request. Firstly, we reviewed two quotes from ambulance companies and discovered that such a request would come at a significant cost that would be borne entirely by Peconic Landing’s residents. Since Peconic Landing is the largest taxpayer in the town, it does not seem equitable that residents be responsible for a private expense that is otherwise available to all town taxpayers. Secondly, adding an ambulance service does not address the issue of mutual aid calls, which the joint agreement addresses.”
The expansion will not only create 43 new jobs but will provide state of the art health care specialization, programs and ameniies, Syron said.
The planned expansion of the retirement community, located at 1500 Brecknock Road, north of New York State Route 25 in Greenport calls for the proposed construction of two new buildings that would add to the existing continuing care retirement community.
Currently, the facility has 118 cottages, 132 apartments, 24 assisted living and 32 skilled nursing beds.
The proposed additions include an 87,426 sq. ft. apartment building with 46 apartments and a parking garage, and a 35,543 sq. ft. nursing home with 33 beds, including a reconfiguration of the parking lot on 144 acres in the hamlet density zoning district.
Syron asked the planning board not to “spend precious time and thousands of dollars to speak to the two adjoining districts. We don’t want to step on anyone’s toes but we think they should be talking to each other.”
Planning board president Donald Wilcenski said he understood the time constraints and added a special meeting could be called to keep plans moving forward.
