Dublin is weighing its options for providing emergency services to residents.
The town currently relies on EMS technicians from Peterborough to respond to emergencies in Dublin, but board members discussed prospect of Cheshire County Ambulance assuming these duties next year. Dublin is in Cheshire County, whereas Peterborough is in Hillsborough County.
“If you have a cardiac event, Peterborough’s EMTs are able to provide critical care,” said Karen Vanderbilt, deputy chief of EMS in Dublin at Monday’s Select Board meeting.
Cheshire County Ambulance is based in Keene, and Vanderbilt also spoke to the issue of response time.
“There’s a 25-minute delay (coming from Keene,)” Vanderbilt said. “Getting to Dublin is a huge burden. Sometimes that time involved can be a big deal.”
Cheshire County Ambulance has proposed locating a substation in Dublin, but Vanderbilt suggested that the town seek more information on this point.
“Even if Dublin had one, that doesn’t mean that it will always be manned,” she said.
“We’re in Cheshire County,” said Board Chair Chris Raymond. “We deserve their services.”
At Monday’s meeting, Vanderbilt said that Cheshire’s initial proposal would involve a charge of $39 per head based on the population of Dublin. In 2023, the town reported 1,580 residents. The current service arrangement with Peterborough involves billing on a per-call basis.
Vanderbilt spoke to the current challenge of having enough EMTs in the area.
“Jaffrey can hardly staff their ambulance,” she said. “Peterborough often has to go there.”
Traceymay Kalvaitis, pastor of Dublin Community Church, proposed that a “peace pole” be installed on a very visible site in town.
“The idea behind it is it would be a unifying thing,” Kalvaitis said. “I was glad to hear that towns around us have them.”
New Boston and Hopkinton are other towns in New Hampshire that have installed peace poles. “May peace prevail on earth” is displayed on the four-sided poles.
“The purchase and engraving of the pole would be less than $1,000,” Kalvaitis said.
Kalvaitis suggested that gifts could provide these funds, but that “The first thing that people will look at is ‘Who’s gifting it?’ So what do I think of it based on who’s gifting it?”
“It ought to be a petition warrant article,” said Raymond.
Kalvaitis provided pictures of existing peace poles for the board’s consideration. No action was taken.
Town Planning Board Chair Don Primrose addressed the board regarding the censure of Planning Board member Donna Garner. Raymond is the Select Board representative to the Planning Board.
Garner was censured after a complaint that she falsely invoked town authority in an attempt to stop work on a neighbor’s property. On Oct. 17, the Planning Board voted to hold the censure in abeyance on the grounds that Garner was not notified in advance of the complaint against her and did not have time to respond. Garner, who was not at Monday’s meeting, has stated that she was acting strictly as an abutter and that she was only seeking a plan for the driveway, as she was told it would be in a different location.
Peters spoke to the timeline of the process that resulted in the censure.
“Notice needs to include notice of a censure,” Peters said. “It’s a question of due process.”
“There was no RSA violated in the censure,” said Raymond.
Primrose responded that he told Garner of the prospect of a censure 10 days before the meeting at which it occurred, and that agenda for the meeting was posted online three days prior to the meeting. That agenda notes “Other Business: Review Formal Complaint, Dr. Thomas Hulslander.” Thomas and Maureen Hulslander are the owners of the property.
“You’d have to substantiate that timeline,” said Peters.
“Donna (Garner) asked to speak after the censure, which typically is not allowed, but I let her speak,” said Primrose. “We’ve had no contact with her for 53 days.”
“That doesn’t mean she’s not on the committee,” said board member Carole Monroe.
Board members discussed the rarity of censure interest in clarity for the future.
“I’d like to have a process in place so that if it happens again, we have the same process,” said Primrose.