Marion skips an expected three-year wait, paying $380,000 for a new ambulance Scituate no longer needed
Town Meeting set aside $425,000 for a new ambulance in May, and the town expected a three-year wait for one to arrive. The capital committee takes up Fire Department and EMS requests for next year on Oct. 21.
MARION Marion bought a new ambulance for $380,000 with immediate delivery, skipping an expected three-year wait and spending less than voters set aside, because Scituate had one it no longer needed, according to minutes of the town's Capital Improvement Planning Committee.
Voters approved $425,000 for a new ambulance at the May 2026 Town Meeting, so the purchase came in $45,000 under that figure. "The expectation was that it would be a three-year wait before the ambulance would be received," the minutes say. "Before placing the order, Marion became aware that Scituate had at least one new ambulance they no longer needed."
The committee recorded the purchase under the heading "Congratulations to Fire/EMS Department" at its Oct. 7 meeting in the Town House conference room. Committee clerk Stephen J. Nojeim signed the minutes Oct. 9, and the town clerk's office stamped them received Oct. 15. They do not give the ambulance's make or model year, and they do not say what becomes of the $45,000 left on that line.
Where the money came from
The ambulance was one line in Article 15 of the May 11 Annual Town Meeting warrant, a $1,866,000 capital article. The article drew $1,172,000 from free cash, $269,000 from water retained earnings and a separate $425,000 from sewer retained earnings. The $425,000 "Ambulance Replacement (Fire)" was the largest of the 20 free cash items listed, which also included a $91,000 police cruiser, $115,000 for the first phase of a Sippican School roof replacement and $24,000 for apparatus bay painting for the Fire Department. The Finance Committee and the Select Board both recommended the article, the warrant shows.
The capital committee's January report, printed with the warrant, ranked the ambulance sixth of the 28 requests from departments outside the water and sewer divisions. Department heads submitted 40 projects worth $8.773 million for fiscal 2027, the report says. The committee treats anything costing at least $10,000 with a useful life of at least five years as a capital project, and its members score each request so the rankings give town officials "an impartial perspective."
Next year's list
The committee has turned to next year's capital requests. On Oct. 7, Town Administrator Geoffrey Gorman went over a Recreation Department request to replace every picnic table at Silvershell Beach with ADA-compliant, long-life tables, paid from the department's revolving account. He also presented the town clerk's request to keep digitizing town records and books in phases, and the minutes say a grant has been applied for to pay for all or part of this year's work. Gorman reviewed a draft 10-year capital plan as well, calling it a living document that will be updated through the fiscal year.
Fire and EMS requests come up at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21, in the Town House conference room, 2 Spring St., according to the committee's posted agenda. Police Department and harbormaster requests were on the committee's Oct. 14 agenda. The schedule in the Oct. 7 minutes then runs to facilities on Oct. 28, the Department of Public Works sewer division on Nov. 4, highway and water on Thursday, Nov. 12, and Sippican School on Nov. 18. In August the committee noted that a session proposed for Nov. 11 fell on Veterans Day, and the chair was to propose Thursday, Nov. 12 instead, its Aug. 26 minutes say.
Debra Watson chairs the committee, and its other members, as the Oct. 7 minutes list them, are Nojeim, Dave Janik, Casey Barros, Robin Shields and Fred Mock, who had served for some time as the Finance Committee's liaison to the committee. The Finance Committee meets at 9 a.m. the same day, Oct. 21, in the Town House conference room for a fiscal 2027 update that includes free cash and general fund balances, and to discuss the fiscal 2028 budget calendar, according to its agenda.
How to weigh in
The most up-to-date 10-year plan "can be viewed and/or obtained at the Town Administrator's Office," the January report says. The Finance Committee's Oct. 21 agenda includes public comment at the chair's discretion, limited to three minutes per speaker. The Town Administrator's office answers at 508-748-3520, and the Fire Department at 508-748-3596, according to the town's staff directory.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
How we verified this
Every fact comes from Marion's own posted records, listed below: two sets of capital committee minutes, three committee agendas, a Select Board agenda, the May 11 Annual Town Meeting warrant with the committee's January report, and the town's staff directory. We read them on Oct. 20. All but the directory are scanned documents, which we read page by page. We recomputed the free cash list in Article 15 (20 items, $1,172,000) and the difference between $425,000 and $380,000. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar and each claim against the documents. The minutes do not name the ambulance's make or year, and we found no Scituate record of the sale. We left out the private resident named in the minutes. Not heard: South Coast 360 has questions for the town administrator and the fire chief about the ambulance and the $45,000 and will add their answers.
Corrections
No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.
Sources (8)
- Capital Improvement Planning Committee minutes, Oct. 7, 2026 (PDF, scanned)Town of Marion Agenda Center. Signed Oct. 9; town clerk received stamp Oct. 15. The ambulance purchase, the price, the three-year wait, the fiscal 2028 requests and the meeting schedule. Read Oct. 20, 2026.
- Capital Improvement Planning Committee minutes, Aug. 26, 2026 (PDF, scanned)Town of Marion Agenda Center. Received stamp Oct. 9. The member nomination and the Veterans Day schedule change. Read Oct. 20, 2026.
- Capital Improvement Planning Committee agenda, Oct. 21, 2026 (PDF, scanned)Town of Marion Agenda Center. Received stamp Oct. 16. Time, place and the Fire Department and EMS requests. Read Oct. 20, 2026.
- Capital Improvement Planning Committee agenda, Oct. 14, 2026 (PDF, scanned)Town of Marion Agenda Center. Police Department and Harbormaster requests. Read Oct. 20, 2026.
- Finance Committee agenda, Oct. 21, 2026 (PDF, scanned)Town of Marion Agenda Center. Received stamp Oct. 19. Time, place, public comment, the fiscal 2027 update and the fiscal 2028 budget calendar. Read Oct. 20, 2026.
- Select Board meeting agenda, Sept. 15, 2026 (PDF, scanned)Town of Marion Agenda Center. The request to appoint a member to the capital committee. Read Oct. 20, 2026.
- Annual Town Meeting Warrant, May 11, 2026, with Addendum #1, the Capital Improvements Planning Committee report of Jan. 14, 2026 (PDF, scanned)Town of Marion. Article 15 on page 7; the committee report and ranking table on pages 24 and 25. Read Oct. 20, 2026.
- Staff DirectoryTown of Marion. Town Administrator and Fire Department phone numbers. Read Oct. 20, 2026.