The Ashaway Ambulance Association has sent a flier to residents warning that their safety could be jeopardized by the Town Council’s decision to withhold most of the association’s annual payment.
“Without the necessary funding the service is not able to support itself and prosper. As a result, stunting the growth of the organization and putting many lives at risk,” the flier reads.
In the past, the town has funded both Ashaway and Hope Valley ambulance services, but last March, citing numerous shortcomings, the council decided not to fund Ashaway Ambulance. The town withheld the final quarter payment of the annual $45,000 it had budgeted for the association last year, and has withheld two quarters of the current fiscal year’s total of $50,000 budgeted.