Webster Town Board
January 4, 2024
A regular meeting of the Webster Town Board was called to order by Supervisor Flaherty at
7:30 p.m. at the Webster Town Board Meeting Room, 1002 Ridge Road, Webster, New York,
with the following officials present:
Supervisor ................................................................................ Thomas J. Flaherty
Councilwoman .......................................................................... Patricia T. Cataldi
Councilman .......................................................................................John J. Cahill
Councilwoman ........................................................................... Ginny L. Nguyen
Councilwoman .......................................................................... Jennifer S. Wright
Town Attorney ........................................................................... Charles J. Genese
Town Clerk ........................................................................... Dorothy M. Maguire
Department Heads Present:
Communications Director .............................................................. Bridget Harvey
Finance Director.................................................................................. Paul Adams
Supervisor Flaherty led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
***
The meeting was open to the floor for public comment.
Peter Elder, Republican Party Leader, stated he wanted to congratulate the Town Board. He
shared that tonight was a historic occasion. In 180 years, there has never been three women on
the Town Board. In addition, it is the first time the Town of Webster has had a female Town
Justice. He is very proud of this and that the Republican Party nominated well qualified
candidates.
Chris Smith, past Chief of the Northeast Joint Fire District and former NEQALS Board Member,
stated he has been in emergency services for thirty years. Although he understands the liability,
he believes the best way to provide Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for the Town of
Webster is to create an ambulance service similar to the Police Department. It would give the
Town control over these services. He mentioned that Honeoye Falls operates their own
ambulance service and claimed they have the best EMTs and paramedics in the County as no one
wants to leave their jobs.
Ron Nesbitt, Webster resident, commented that he planned on talking about the update on EMS
status in Webster but since it was the last item on the agenda, he would maybe come back in two
weeks to speak on the matter.
Supervisor Flaherty stated that EMS is a pretty pertinent subject in Webster today and it has been
for quite some time. On Tuesday, the day after Christmas on short notice, fifteen people from
the State EMS, Monroe County EMS, and Town Officials participated in a 2-hour meeting to
discuss the future of EMS in Webster. One of the action plans discussed and agreed upon at that
meeting was to provide an update status on EMS at the January 4, 2024 Town Board Meeting
even though at that time they were unsure what the update would include. Three days later
NEQALS held their press conference, and it was decided to provide a presentation on how
mutual aid works, what has happened the last five days as far ambulance calls in Webster, and
how many of them were covered by WEMS/NEQALS.
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Resolution No. 56: MOTION by Supervisor Flaherty, seconded by Councilman Cahill, to
approve the December 21, 2023 Town Board Minutes as submitted by the Town Clerk.
Vote on motion:
Supervisor Flaherty .............Aye
Councilwoman Cataldi ..... Aye
Councilman Cahill ..............Aye
Councilwoman Nguyen .... Aye
Councilwoman Wright……Abstain
Motion carried ................. 4-0-1
***
Resolution No. 57: MOTION by Councilwoman Cataldi, seconded by Councilman Cahill, to
approve the bills as submitted in Warrant #0124 by the Director of Finance.
Fund
General (A,B) CL #9366-9536;1-12
Highway (C,D)
Sewer (G)
Library (L)
Drainage Districts (M)
Park Districts (P)
Special Districts (N,Q,S)
Trust & Agency (T/A,TP,XM,XD)
Capital Projects (H) #193-203
H220 WWTP Improvement
H226 Lake Rd Pump Station MO.65
H231 WWTP Upgrade Phase II
H232 Highway Garage Building
H237 Coca-Cola fairlife
TOTAL
Vote on motion:
Supervisor Flaherty .............Aye
Councilman Cahill ..............Aye
Councilwoman Wright……Aye
Inside
154,527.53
28,195.81
85,831.20
43,943.14
350.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Outside
40,627.09
438.10
20,993.87
4,398.66
26.88
62.80
2,634.58
255,454.70
Total
195,154.62
28,633.91
106,825.07
48,341.80
376.88
62.80
2,634.58
255,454.70
7,551.13
22,814.99
1,727,926.84
461,657.62
11,500.00
2,544,298.26
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
324,636.68
7,551.13
22,814.99
1,727,926.84
461,657.62
11,500.00
2,868,934.94
Councilwoman Cataldi ..... Aye
Councilwoman Nguyen .... Aye
Motion carried .................. 5-0
***
Resolution No. 58: MOTION by Supervisor Flaherty, seconded by Councilwoman Cataldi, to
approve purchase orders as submitted by the Director of Finance.
Vote on motion:
Supervisor Flaherty .............Aye
Councilwoman Cataldi ..... Aye
Councilman Cahill ..............Aye
Councilwoman Nguyen .... Aye
Councilwoman Wright……Aye
Motion carried .................. 5-0
***
Resolution No. 59: MOTION by Supervisor Flaherty, seconded by Councilwoman Cataldi, to
approve the prepaid vouchers included in Warrant #0124 by the Director of Finance in the
amount of $324,636.68. [Included in the summary of vouchers approved in Resolution #57]
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Vote on motion:
Supervisor Flaherty .............Aye
Councilman Cahill ..............Aye
Councilwoman Wright……Aye
Councilwoman Cataldi ..... Aye
Councilwoman Nguyen .... Aye
Motion carried ................. 5-0
***
Resolution No. 60: MOTION by Supervisor Flaherty, seconded by Councilman Cahill, to
approve the renewal of a Mobile/Manufactured Home Park Permit for the Sunset Valley
Manufacturing Home Community located at 898 Ridge Road, Webster, New York for the
calendar year 2024 which was inspected by the Department of Public Works and is being
operated according to the zoning and land use standards or requirements at the time the use was
legally commenced. The fee for the permit was received and the application is on file in the
Town Clerk's Office.
Vote on motion:
Supervisor Flaherty .............Aye
Councilwoman Cataldi ..... Aye
Councilman Cahill ..............Aye
Councilwoman Nguyen .... Aye
Councilwoman Wright……Aye
Motion carried ................. 5-0
***
Penfield Volunteer Emergency Ambulance Representatives, Glenn Becker, current Board
President and Dan Riordan, EMS Operations Manager, appeared before the Town Board to
present an update on the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) status in Webster.
We were asked here tonight since we are the agency closest to the borders of
Webster that would be coming in most often providing mutual aid. We were asked to come in
here and explain that. We also have the New York State Department of Health Certificate of
Need for the entire West Webster Fire District. Our main base is just a couple miles south of
NEQALS facility and since 2021 when the West Webster Fire District contracted with us to
provide services, we have been staffing an ambulance twelve hours a day five days a week from
the West Webster Fire Hall on Gravel Road to support northwest Penfield and respond primarily
off Jackson Road to the rest of Penfield. I want to thank you for this opportunity to provide
some clarity on how EMS mutual aid works. Dan Riordan, our EMS manager, is going to speak
briefly about how EMS works and some specifics about what additional resources we can put up
during this period of uncertainty. Aside from being good neighbors, both Dan and I have
previously lived and worked in Webster. Four of our Board Members, three of them are here
tonight, live in Webster and more than twenty of our current staff also live and work in Webster
so we have some valid connections here and some personal care about the people here. Our
concerns first and foremost are with the residents in Webster and Penfield with excellent EMS
ambulance coverage at this time. We are also concerned with the first responders, EMTs and
paramedics. who have been providing support to the Webster community over all these years.
Monroe County uses one County-Wide Dispatch System for police, fire and
ambulances. They have a series of standards and questions they ask to determine the type and
severity of the incident to respond to when somebody calls
911. Based upon that information
they send the closest available local resource for the address to the scene. That could include a
combination of police, fire and ambulance resources. If the primary agency is unable to respond,
right now in the Webster that would be NEQALS, the 911 Center has GPS data on the location
of each vehicle and immediately dispatches the next closest appropriate resource. For the Town
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of Webster ambulance calls, staff resources most likely Penfield, Irondequoit or Ontario
ambulance. Just last year Penfield was dispatched over 600 calls in Webster in 2023. Since
NEQALS announcement last week, last Friday, we have been in close contact with the Director
of Operations from Ontario ambulance and Irondequoit ambulance. Every twelve hours my
operations team and I are checking the status of the NEQALS staff and flight cars and BLS
ambulances via Monroe County’s 911 Net Viewer System. From Friday at 1500 to today at 3:00
PM there have been sixty-three EMS calls in Webster, not counting mutual aid that may go
outside of Webster and they have covered fifty-five of them. The additional calls have not been
a burden on our staff. Credit has to be given to the dedicated EMTs and paramedics at NEQALS
that are still going on calls. We are closely monitoring the situation and the amount of mutual
aid calls on our own crews to avoid burnout of our own staff and to maintain high morale. We
have been in contact with the leadership at the West Webster Fire Department and we are
prepared to ramp up staffing if necessary to expand our operation at West Webster to 24/7 which
for the last two years has just been one ambulance, ALS, Monday through Friday, 6:00 AM to
6:00 PM. We do have the equipment and staff to expand our staffing if the situation is to
deteriorate further. As we have described, the County of Monroe has a robust mutual aid plan in
place for neighboring agencies to support one another and the other county agencies are here to
help and support you. If you have any questions on that matter, you are welcome to call me at
(585)872-6060 Ext. 7 and I can explain more things in detail if needed.
***
There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at
7:53 p.m.
___________________________
Dorothy M. Maguire, Town Clerk
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