Lanesborough Select Board backs new DPW hire, ambulance lease in final 2025 meeting

LANESBOROUGH -- December 22, 2025, Lanesborough Select Board approves DPW hire and ambulance lease, hears $90,000 overnight staffing proposal. The board voted unanimously at its December 22 meeting to hire Wayne Davis as a full-time Department of Public Works laborer and to approve a revised lease for the town's ambulance service at Lanesborough Plaza, with a January 1, 2026 start date delayed in full occupancy by an Eversource power hookup backlog. Ambulance Chief Jen told the board that overnight call volume has risen 32 percent since 2022, reaching 104 calls on the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift this year, and that the current $50 stipend-plus-$40-per-call overnight model can no longer attract staff who earn $20 or more per hour at competing agencies. She estimated converting to a paid 24-hour shift structure would cost between $59,000 and $90,000 through June, funded largely through an underspent salary line, a retiring stipend line, and a Finance Committee-approved transfer from unspent rent. In public comment, developer JMJ representatives confirmed a revised offer of $1.16 million, stripped of tax credits, toward a Baker Hill Road District dissolution agreement, while resident Mark Seegers raised legal questions about whether the town may accept private funds tied to a property tax outcome without consulting the Attorney General or its financial advisor.