Select Board Conditionally OKs May Carnival at Berkshire Mall
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The springtime carnival will return to the Berkshire Mall property in a couple of weeks, if the hosts reach an agreement with emergency medical services.
On Monday, the Select Board approved a community event application for Gillette Shows' carnival from May 1 to May 11, pending a reasonable donation to the Ambulance Gift Account for EMS services.
"This isn't a new concept. We discussed this after last year's carnival," EMS Director Jen Weber said.
The department saw an "exponential" increase in the need for services at the event as its attendance continues to rise. In 2024, there were 20 transports to the hospital over the two weeks, not counting refusals or minor injuries.
"We ended up, last year, mobile posting up there just to make sure that we were there in case something happened," Weber said.
"So we had discussed it last year, and it also came up in a department head meeting that really it's come down to either they need to hire an ambulance to sit there like County Ambulance or Northern Berkshire, or we would be willing to mobile post for a donation into our gift account so that we are able to kind of compensate not being able to be where we usually are, not having bathrooms that aren't mobile."
The two entities have not yet agreed on the donation amount, and a monetary value for services hasn't been set. Mobile posting means that the EMS is still on duty, and mutual aid would be called if a situation arose while Lanesborough wasn't on site.
"We went from like two transports the year before last year to 20, and it just seemed like it was necessary more for us to be up there, because of all the people," Weber said.
"They had a lot more people last year."
She sees this as doing Gillette a favor by saving them a significant amount of money. Hiring an ambulance reportedly costs about $5,000 per night, but she recommends medical presence because of the event's popularity.
"It's a nice donation to the police department, it's a nice donation to the ambulance, and it's within our town," Weber said.
"We're happy to be there. We like to do the community events anyway, as everybody knows, we like to be out there, so we would not have a problem being up there."
Chairman Timothy Sorrell said he was the one who started getting Gillette here during his time on the police force, and pointed to the Police Department's volunteering in exchange for a donation.
"I guess my dilemma is, I wouldn't have an issue if you worked out a deal with them, but currently, what you're talking about is the town's ambulance, you people getting paid by the town being there, and plus, now you're asking for a donation. Are we on shaky ground of double dipping or something going on here?" he asked.
Weber explained that the EMS does not have a license to do details, so personnel can't volunteer their time for a donation.
"We have to be under the guise of the ambulance so for us to be able to provide that service to Gillette, we would have to have the ambulance with us," she explained, later adding "It is an inconvenience for our crew to be up there for that amount of time, even though they are getting paid."
She doesn't feel like the agreement is settled in any way. The board mulled holding a special meeting to approve the permit after a deal had been made, but feared it would be too last-minute.
To hold the carnival at the shuttered mall property, Gillette had to fill potholes and ensure that the access roads were in decent shape.
"I'll put air quotes around that," Chairman Michael Murphy joked.
Tags: carnival,
