MAVAC Begins Taking Bids for New Facilities, Chief Tillotson Shares Details

Jack Eves: [00:00:00] X101 Always Classic, Jack here and joining me in the studio today is EMS, Chief for the Marathon Area Volunteer Ambulance Corps, John Tillotson. John, how you doing today? 

Chief John Tillotson: I’m doing great. Thanks for having me. 

Jack Eves: Of course. Yeah. And you know there’s some big news and another major milestone too, for your future ambulance station in the Village of Marathon.

Is that right? 

Chief John Tillotson: That’s correct. We are now taking bids for what will be, uh, an exciting new chapter in our history in Marathon Ambulance. 

Jack Eves: Yes, marathon Ambulance founded in the year 2000. It’s consisted of a number of full-time paid, uh, EMTs as well as part-time and drivers as well. And the new location is gonna be located at 15 Broome Street.

And there was a big reason, I think, for choosing that area, right? 

Chief John Tillotson: Yes. We were, um, eager to expand, uh, as our agency’s grown. We needed overnight sleeping accommodations for our full-time staff and our overnight medics. And uh, we didn’t have room for that at the fire station. We initially, um, where we rent space currently.

We looked into building onto the fire [00:01:00] station, it just wasn’t feasible because of the floodplain. 

Jack Eves: Right. 

Chief John Tillotson: So the MAVAC Board of Directors, um, looked at parcels available and the 15 Broome Street parcel is ideal. It’s right between, uh, the two on-ramps to interstate 81. It’s- 

Jack Eves: so quick access right there. 

Chief John Tillotson: Quick access, uh, it’s above the floodplain and uh, the parcels two acres.

So we have plenty of room to build and also there’s some room for some future, uh, economic development on the north end of the parcel next to what will be the new station. 

Jack Eves: Very nice. And you know, you’re saying plenty of room. ’cause right now it’s a little bit of tight space and you mentioned before we went on air, there’s some maneuvering that has to go on in the event of some calls, right? 

Chief John Tillotson: Right. 

So we’re, we’re, uh, renting space in the Marathon Fire Station and of course the Fire Department occupies a large portion of the station, and, uh, our two ambulances and our ALS Fly Car occupy what normally would be two bays. Um, so we have three vehicles trying to exit from a, uh, two overhead door bays.

So we sometimes, if we need the fly car in an emergency 

Jack Eves: mm-hmm. 

Chief John Tillotson: We have to pull out an ambulance, then pull out the emergency fly car and then back the ambulance in and then, and then respond. 

Jack Eves: It’s kind of like [00:02:00] Tetris right there all while the pressing matter is you gotta call, you gotta go to quickly.

Chief John Tillotson: Yeah. 

Jack Eves: So definitely having uh, their own entrance bay to their new building will be great. But it’s also gonna be great for, um, your employees as well. ’cause it’s actually gonna be new sleeping accommodations, a lounge area too for them while they’re staying in the overnight hours. 

Chief John Tillotson: That’s correct. We’ll have um, uh, three double depth bays, so we’ll have room for all of our current vehicles as well as room for future expansion.

Jack Eves: That’s great. 

Chief John Tillotson: We’ll have a, a day room with a, a full kitchen and dining area and a living room. We’ll have two bedrooms that can accommodate four, um, people sleeping overnight. Um, we’ll have a state-of-the-art classroom, which we’re very excited about, uh, be a training facility. So we’ll be able to do both live and virtual, um, EMS and emergency services training.

It’ll be very similar to the classroom at the regional training center and the building behind the Cortlandville Fire station. So it just gives emergency responders in the county another facility where we can do, um, training and uh, and it also be a multi-purpose space that can also be used by the Marathon community for events [00:03:00] when we need a space.

And heaven forbid we have another situation with a flood or other things that have sometimes plagued Marathon in the, in the past. 

Jack Eves: Yeah. 

Chief John Tillotson: It could serve as an emergency operations center because we’ll be well above the floodplain and the building will be equipped with, uh, all the technology to be able to be a communications hub and, uh, and a operations hub.

Jack Eves: And that’s amazing to hear, you know? ’cause it’s more than just, you know, a place where the, you’re having ambulances, you’re building it not just for MAVAC, but you’re also building it for the community. And as well as keeping in mind any potential emergencies. ’cause I know people in that area, they’re familiar with the floodings.

I think the last major flood there was in 2011, correct me if I’m wrong. But you know, MAVAC also has a huge coverage area as well in Southern Cortland County and even Northern Broome County. 

Chief John Tillotson: Correct. We, we cover 135 square miles. Uh, we serve six townships, uh, the village and town of Marathon, the town of Lapeer, the eastern portion of the town of Virgil.

Jack Eves: Wow. 

Chief John Tillotson: The town of Freetown, the town of Willett, and the northern portion of the town of Lyle in Broome County. Um, so we, uh, we, we span a long [00:04:00] distance and included in that is about 11 miles of interstate 81, uh- 

Jack Eves: Which is a very busy highway, as I’m sure you know. 

Chief John Tillotson: Yes. And if you think of it as 80, 11 miles north and 11 miles south, it’s really like covering 22 miles of interstate highway, given that –

Jack Eves: Good point.

Chief John Tillotson: That, um, you know, that’s divided highway. So we’re very, very busy on the interstate, especially in the winters. 

Jack Eves: And I know with this project, I mean, you guys first been talking about it for years, working on that grant funding, and of course you got that major grant, federal grant award from US Senator Schumer, as well as former Congressman Molinaro.

You wanna give some details on that? 

Chief John Tillotson: Yes. So we, um, we sought all opportunities for outside funding. Uh, we wanna minimize the impact. That this building project has on the taxpayers and the townships we serve. We actively sought out, uh, congressional funding. We worked with Congressman Molinaro and Senator Schumer’s, uh, staff.

Uh, I wrote a grant to them, uh, explaining the, the difficulties we were having with their current space issues. And, um, they were, uh, gracious enough to sponsor our project. We received a $975,000 [00:05:00] a congressional grant, um, which will, um, offset a large portion of the project. Um, and, uh, the plan is we’re going to bid now.

Um, we are seeking bids from, we hope to receive, uh, a large number of bids from both local as well as regional, uh, contractors. 

Jack Eves: Right. 

Chief John Tillotson: Um, the bids. Period is open until May 21st at 11:00 AM Um, and uh, the bid opening will be on May 22nd. So we’re excited to see where it goes. We’re excited about the grant.

Um, we’re also continuing to pursue other grant opportunities. Um, of course the Village Marathon was very fortunate to receive, um, a New York Forward, um, Grant Award. And, uh, we intend to apply to be one of the projects there, um, to receive some funding. Um, we’ve also, uh, submitted additional congressional grant funding requests to Congressman Riley and Senator Gillibrand.

Um, and uh, of course those are largely dependent on what happens with the federal budget situation.

Jack Eves: Yes, fingers crossed there. Yes. And you know, it’s great seeing, you know, finally, I mean, how is that feeling, knowing that it’s like, okay, we finally got to the step where we can send out the request for [00:06:00] proposals.

We can actually really start seeing those numbers. We got the plans ready to go. How is that feeling for you and everyone else at MAVAC? 

Chief John Tillotson: I think it’s really exciting. The community has really embraced this project. We’ve had a large number of local, uh, people and businesses who’ve donated to this cause, uh, for two years now.

They’ve seen the, the billboards on our, on our property that say Future Home of MAVAC. I think now the excitement of seeing the legal ad for bids placed in the newspaper, uh, following us on social media, the community has really embraced this. They, they value their emergency services in, in the Marathon community and the surrounding communities.

They know this is an important community infrastructure project. Uh, and I think they’re excited to see it finally come to fruition. And we’ve, we’ve worked hard to, to make this dream become a reality. It took a while to acquire a parcel of land. 

Jack Eves: Mm-hmm. 

Chief John Tillotson: Then it took a while to, to amass the finances, to get us to the point where we could do this.

Uh, the grant from Senator Schumer and Congressman Molinaro certainly. Tip the needle in the favor of being able to do this. And then of course, our, our, um, our [00:07:00] commercial lending partner, the First National Bank of Dryden, have been wonderful to us. They’ve helped us, um, be able to, to get over the top and we can’t say enough of good things about First National Bank of Dryden, uh, President Clint Brooks, vice President Mike Shaddock.

They really. Met with us. They, they wanted to partner with us. They view this important community infrastructure project is one that’s gonna be, uh, important to the community for decades to come. And so we’re happy to see it. We’re looking forward to groundbreaking this summer. Um, and I think our staff is excited to have 

Jack Eves: Yes! 

Chief John Tillotson: Proper sleeping accommodations to have space, uh- 

Jack Eves: You’re gonna have ’em all wanting to work the first shift there. 

Chief John Tillotson: That’s right. And, and really this is the first major new building project in the Village of Marathon in probably 50 years. 

Jack Eves: That’s another good point. Yeah. And it, and you know, people like seeing that progress too, especially in Village of Marathon, you know, it’s a quiet village and, but when they’re seeing progress and development.

There, you know, it really gets people motivated as well for maybe a project they might have in mind as well. Yeah. Uh, when are you looking to hopefully, uh, break ground and start the whole work? 

Chief John Tillotson: Yeah, so the plan is assuming [00:08:00] the bids, uh, come back at the end of May, um, within, um, range of what, uh, what we’ve projected them to be.

Um, we, uh, we will award bids. Um, and hope to begin work in as early as maybe June or July with the, the site work. Um, our, our construction managers to TSG Construction Services, they’re, um, supporting us in this project. And our architectural team of TetraTech from Ithaca. Uh, they’ve both been wonderful.

They have really managed all of the difficult details of the logistics design.

Jack Eves: That’s great when someone else could do it. 

Chief John Tillotson: Design, uh, planning and, uh, facilitating the, the bid solicitation process. I can’t say enough about both of those, uh, partners. Um, TSG, um, is the one, um. Receiving the bid packets. So if there are any bidders out there, any contractors, uh, still interested in bidding, definitely reach out to TSG construction services.

We’d be happy to, uh, to consider, uh, any and all bids. And we really would love to see as much of the work as possible. Go to local contractors, 

Jack Eves: Of course. Yeah. 

Chief John Tillotson: If their bids are, are, are, uh, are in range. So, uh, so we are excited. This is a, this is big news in the [00:09:00] village of Marathon de Big News, probably only to the Maple Festival.

Jack Eves: Yeah. You can’t never try to compete with a Maple Festival right there. Agree with the there, but you know. This. I think this is also gonna be big news for Cortland County too. ‘Cause I mean, Marathon Ambulance also. Great Mutual Aid call and the quick response they get right on the highway and come up. And I’ve seen them in the city of Cortland, in the Village of Homer, helping out with TLC.

’cause um, there’s some days where, you know, it’s a slow day and then there’s some days where it’s like it’s nonstop with calls. Yeah. So it’s also great to see that progress too, and know that, you know, MAVAC is down there, they’re ready to help in their area, but they’re also willing to help all their neighbors as well.

Chief John Tillotson: Yeah, our, our call volume has continued to increase. I was looking at some call stats since, uh, 2017. We’ve had about 150% increase in call volume over the last, uh, eight or nine years. And, uh, we do provide a lot of mutual aid about one in every four or five calls as a mutual aid call. And all ambulance agencies are busy.

We all need mutual aid help and we’re always happy to help our neighbors, whether it be to the north or the south, or the east, uh, or [00:10:00] west, where whichever direction we go, and, and we’re happy to receive their help. In turn when we need it in Marathon. And that’s what’s great about emergency services is we all step up to backfill exactly when, when our neighbors need help.

And, uh, we’re fortunate to have the staff we have in Marathon. We have a great crew of paramedics and EMTs and drivers and, uh, and we, uh, uh, we’re, we’re pleased as a board of directors to now be able to provide them with a facility that really, um, um, will be, uh, a comfortable, safe, um, high, high class, uh, environment to work.

And the state-of-the-art training facility opened some new possibilities for us to host other agencies-

Jack Eves: Right? 

Chief John Tillotson: To be able to train, to be able to learn. And uh, and it’ll be a great community resource. 

Jack Eves: And you know, speaking of that, and I know probably some residents are still having some questions, maybe listening to this interview, you guys are planning to host a public Open House in June.

Um, that date will be, we will definitely announce it once we get closer to there. John, thank you so much for coming in again, if anyone had any more information, wanna look more into it. Where can they go? 

Chief John Tillotson: They can go to our [00:11:00] website at MarathonAmbulance.org. Uh, they can also check out our Facebook page, uh, Marathon Area Volunteer Ambulance Corps or Instagram, Marathon Area Volunteer Ambulance Corps 

Jack Eves: All over.

Chief John Tillotson: Exact, Exactly.

And if they have specific questions about the bids and they’re interested in bidding, um, they can contact, uh, TSG Construction Services, um, at 607-765-7460. 

Jack Eves: Awesome. John, thank you so much for coming in. Again, that’s Marathon Area Volunteer Ambulance Corps EMS. Chief John Tillotson MAVAC is building their new ambulance headquarters that’s gonna be located at 15 Broome Street. More information can be found at MarathonAmbulance.org. John, thank you so much for coming in today. 

Chief John Tillotson: Thank you so much for having me. Jack Eves: Of course. For X101, I’m Jack Eves.