Ambulance corps owns home, finally- Putnam Valley

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Ambulance corps owns home — finally

By BARBARA LIVINGSTON NACKMAN 

THE JOURNAL NEWS 

(Original publication: August 29, 2004)

PUTNAM VALLEY — The Putnam Valley Volunteer Ambulance Corps is done renting or borrowing space. 

Established more than four decades ago, the group finally owns a building. 

"It's been a long time coming and we are glad to be here," Irv Sevelowitz, chairman of the building committee and the town's building inspector, said of the nearly five-year process to construct a headquarters. He estimated the cost at roughly $1.8 million. 

The 70-member crew — 45 active members — moved into the new 12,000-square-foot stucco building on Oscawana Lake Road just south of Church Road in March, although the second floor is still under construction and donations are being sought for furniture, lighting, kitchen appliances and flooring. Once the new headquarters was habitable, the corps was able to give up the space it leased from the Putnam Valley Volunteer Fire Department on Oscawana Lake Road behind Town Hall. 

Each agency now has room to operate and grow, officials from both groups said last week. 

"It was pitiful they had to work in such cramped space," Fire Department President Joe Marro said. "Don't get me wrong, but I am happy they finally got their well-earned, well-deserved space." The Fire Department is moving its makeshift office from a vestibule to a now-vacant bay in its garage, Marro said. 

The two-story ambulance corps building has a three-bay garage, an exercise room, a lounge and offices on its first floor. Upstairs there are unfinished rooms — a large meeting room, kitchen, bathrooms and additional office space. 

"We can move around and have the feeling that we are our own entity," said Joe Piechocniski, a member since 1981, who is a corps driver and maintains the building during the day. 

"I love that we have this. Maybe it will help us attract new members, which is a problem with so many working couples," he added. 

Longtime resident Marie Kenny said the corps deserves its new digs. 

"It is a beautiful building in a central spot of town," she said. 

Kenny has lived in Putnam Valley for 42 years and said she gained a special appreciation for the crew when it came to her rescue as her husband, Robert, had a heart attack. 

"They were kind and quick. They took care of him and calmed me down," she said. "So, they deserve to have the space they need. I donate to them whenever I can. They are all volunteers." 

Members no longer have to pull out the trucks to hold training sessions. "It is certainly better than working in garages with the smell of diesel fuel," corps President John Petranchik said. 

Between the vehicles, a folding table was set up to function as an office where members would fill out required forms on each of the 500 annual calls. 

"When there was a call, we'd have to scoop everything up and move quickly," said Sallie Sypher, a former town supervisor and the corps treasurer. 

The ambulance corps is budgeted to receive $224,000 this year, which is expected to cover operating expenses and monthly mortgage payments. The cost for each town property owner is roughly 24 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, town officials said. Last year, it received $220,000, a significant increase from previous years in anticipation of the building project. The corps received $90,000 in 2002 and $75,000 in 2001, according to town records. 

The emergency crew had leased space from the Fire Department for $1,000 a year since 1974. 

Established in 1961, the corps bought its first ambulance, a second-hand vehicle, for $250 and temporarily borrowed garage space from Leonard Wagner, a Wall Street stockbroker and philanthropist who owned an 82-acre estate on Oscawana Lake Road. He died in 1992 but donated money for the construction of the Fire Department's headquarters in the early 1970s, making sure the ambulance corps would be allowed to share space.