Voters in Cambria will decide this November whether to fund a new ambulance station for the community.
It would be built in the parking lot next to the current facility along Main Street. But while the healthcare district says the new building is needed, others say they don’t feel the community should pay for it.
“We can build the building over on one side and tear down the buildings once we move in and not disrupt service at all,” said Cecilia Montalvo, Cambria Community Healthcare District Board President.
The project is estimated to cost $6.9 million with $1 million already secured in federal funding. Measure C would raise property taxes to help pay the remaining costs.
The Cambria Community Healthcare District says the nearly 70-year-old building, which has four healthcare workers on at all times, has issues like asbestos and other problems.
“Heating and air conditioning, getting some of that up to date, our plumbing needs a full rework. It would be a little more than just giving a facelift to this building,” said Tim Nurge, Cambria Community Healthcare District Operations Manager.
“The sinks back up sometimes, there is no central heating, there is no central air conditioning, the electrical service in the building is funky,” added Chris Lewi, member of Cambria’s Local Ambulances Matter.
Back in 2022, a similar measure, Measure G, did not pass. It needed a two-thirds vote to but was about 165 votes short.
“We have a lot of older folks that live here. We have a lot of tourists that visit. We need that immediate care,” Lewi said.
Marilyn Kirkey, a 20-year resident of Cambria, says she would like to see a pay increase for healthcare workers at the ambulance station rather than a new building.
“A measure where you do have something for the pay increase because that is not at all included in this measure and then we can look at the building issue secondarily,” Kirkey said.
If the bond measure passes, supporters say the average homeowner in Cambria would pay around $4 more per month in taxes. For example, the owner of a home assessed at $600,000 would pay around $47 a year.
“That’s a cup of coffee a month,” Lewi said.
If approved by at least a two-thirds vote in November, the pre-design phase of the new ambulance station would begin in December.
