Saugus selectmen chase ambulances

SAUGUS – American Ambulance has decided it is time for a move after the Board of Selectmen rejected the terms of its five-year lease at 12 Hamilton St.In May, the board decided not to move forward with the lease saying that then-Town Manager Scott Crabtree never requested approval and that the financial terms were not beneficial enough to protect the town.American Ambulance Chief Operating Officer Brendan McNiff said he was informed by Crabtree that the terms would have to be renegotiated in order to execute the lease.”Given the large cost of renovations required in the building, as well as the $57,000 we had already invested in repairs, we decided to begin the search for an alternative,” McNiff said.The selectmen ultimately listed this issue as the fifth of nine charges cited when they voted 4-1 on Oct. 29 to terminate Crabtree.McNiff said that the switch to the new location at 16 Hamilton St. will take place by the end of the year. He added that the company answered a request for proposal in March 2013 to open a location in Saugus.”We negotiated industry-standard lease terms with the town manager,” he said, adding that the company assumed occupancy last September.McNiff said that the cost of overhead as well as any renovations will be lower at the new building, which is large enough to house 10 ambulances.A national company based in Miami, American Ambulance will also be able to establish its Massachusetts communication center administrative offices at 16 Hamilton St.”Saugus will be our headquarters from which we will build our company on the North Shore,” said McNiff.