UPDATED: Council Votes To Table Bucks County Rescue Squad Removal Ordinance

UPDATED: 9:45 p.m., Thursday: 

Bristol Township Council voted to hold off on the ordinance until August.

A few residents spoke in support of keeping the Bucks County Rescue Squad.

Original Story: 

After an outpouring of support for the Bucks County Rescue Squad, Bristol Township Council President Craig Bowen announced just hours before a vote that he would ask to table a motion on an ordinance that would remove the Bucks County Rescue Squad as the primary responder for a large portion of the community.

Bowen’s announcement came after Bristol Borough, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, and residents have come forward to support the Bucks County Rescue Squad. The borough and residents have questioned the plan that would replace the Bucks County Rescue Squad by placing a Levittown-Fairless Hills Rescue Squad ambulance at the Third District Fire Company station around the clock.

The Council was set to vote on the ordinance Thursday evening. It will now appear on the agenda for the August 16 meeting.

“I am going to call for a motion to table this matter until the Council’s August meeting and it will not be considered at tonight’s meeting.” said Bowen.

Under the proposed plan, the Bucks County Rescue Squad would be removed as the primary emergency medical provider for a large portion of the township and replaced with the Levittown-Fairless Hills Rescue Squad starting July 1.

“The [Levittown-Fairless Hills Rescue Squad] Paramedic Unit would be the first dispatched to all calls in the southern part of the Township. The Bucks County Rescue Squad would be the second unit dispatched. The distance between the two stations is approximately a half mile,” the township said earlier this week in a press release.

The move to present a plan to remove the Bucks County Rescue Squad came as a surprise to many when LevittownNow.com first reported it. A Bristol Borough official said they had no idea of the plan until a reporter contacted them.

On Monday evening, Bristol Borough officials and the public raised concerns about the township’s plan and were upset they were not notified or consulted.

“It truly impacts us and could create a public health crisis in the entire county,” Mayor Joe Saxton said Monday.”I really hope that Bristol Township thinks this over before acting on this at Thursday’s meeting.”

In the Thursday statement, the township said they plan to consult with Bristol Borough and the Bucks County Rescue Squad to “provide the best emergency services for the residents.”

Bristol Township’s sudden move last week happened due to “serious concerns over the administration” and a “bad situation,” the township said.

Sources close to the Bucks County Rescue Squad and township confirmed the “serious concerns” relate to alleged conduct by former rescue squad Chief Scott Bahner.

The Bucks County Rescue Squad Board of Directors put out a statement Tuesday that blamed a “pay dispute” between Bahner and the township as being the cause for the ordinance. Board President Michael Miller said the township was “retaliating against the rescue squad for unproven allegations that it has made concerning its own employee.”

In documents obtained by this news organization, the township alleged that Bahner, who also worked as a part-time police department community service officer in addition to his job at the rescue squad, logged close to $30,000 in unauthorized overtime over the course of two years.

The township hired Bahner in October 2014 to work between 20 to 24 hours per week at an hourly rate of $15.01. He was working under the command of the police department.

Bristol Township Chief of Police Robert Coulton sent Bahner a letter on October 30, 2017 outlining allegations and documents relating to hours he worked. The chief alleged that Bahner was not on-site for 1,777 hours of 2,503 hours he submitted for payment.

The police chief’s letter accused Bahner of being dishonest and misrepresenting information related to his employment. It also accused him of “theft and/or stealing of property belonging to the township, visitors, employees or citizens.”

The letter also said Bahner may have been in violation of several Pennsylvania laws, including theft by unlawful taking and tampering with records.

In a letter following Bahner’s resignation, Township Manager Bill McCauley wrote that Bahner was not entitled to the $29,618.33. He requested the former township employee and longtime emergency service worker pay back the township.

According to township documents prepared by its law firm, Bahner did repay the money voluntarily and resigned before he could have been terminated.

In late November 2017, Bahner sent a check to refund the township for $29,618.33.

Payroll records show that Bahner’s hours were overseen by two Bristol Township police command officers during the period where the alleged incidents happened.

Coulton, according to sources, turned the information over to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office. An investigation was not opened and the matter did not move past being a township administrative matter.

Bahner did not respond to a request for comment.

A source with knowledge of the situation said Bahner reportedly indicated to the township that he is considering a lawsuit that would dispute the township’s account of what happened.

The issue reportedly caused Bristol Township administration to become annoyed that the Bucks County Rescue Squad continued to employe Bahner following his resignation from his part-time community service officer job.

“There were management issues that brought this matter to a head, but the rescue squad has operating losses every year and has stayed in business by getting grants,” Bowen said in a statement.

The township has said they passed about $80,000 in grant money to the rescue squad several years ago.

A review of the 2016 IRS 990 forms filed by the Bucks County Rescue Squad and Levittown-Fairless Hills Rescue Squad show both emergency medical care organizations reporting losses under $100,000. They also both reported losses in 2015.

However, sources have said both rescue squads are financially stable.

The Bucks County Rescue Squad said in their statement that the organization is “financially viable” and there are no allegations of improper use of money received through the township.

“The township has never expressed to me an issue with the emergency medical services, care, or compassion of the Bucks County Rescue Squad,” Miller said.

“The ultimate goal of the Township Council is to provide the best emergency services for the residents of Bristol Township and Borough to make sure the service is available when the need arises,” Bowen’s statement said.

Supporters of the Bucks County Rescue Squad are expected to still attend Thursday’s 7 p.m. meeting at the Municipal Building on Bath Road.

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