THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 8, 1994 TAG: 9406080479
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: D4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940608 LENGTH: WINDSOR
Businessman Allen Brown went so far as to put up a sign in front of his glass door and mirror shop on U.S. Route 460, the main drag through town, urging residents to drop their support of the Windsor Volunteer Rescue Squad. Others have mailed letters of protest, among them a local florist, a grocer and a grain company owner.
{REST} ``I deeply regret your decision, made last night, to purchase a new ambulance, choosing not to use the local talent we have right here in our community,'' Richard J. Holland Jr., president of Farmers Bank of Windsor, said in a letter to the squad.
Several angry business owners and civic leaders are expected to show up tonight at the squad's monthly meeting.
They want the squad to reconsider its decision to buy from an Indiana firm instead of Robinson Ambulance.
Robinson has manufactured ambulances for nearly every emergency services organization in Hampton Roads since 1978. And it is located in the heart of Windsor.
The company was the low bidder on the ambulance order, by about $4,500.
But Robinson is not certified by a national company that provides engineering plans for ambulances, said Bill Sizemore, squad president.
Tommy Robinson, who owns the company with his father and brother, said he meets the engineering certification requirements. He just cannot afford the $16,000 certification fee.
The certification is not mandatory, and many emergency services organizations do not require it, Robinson said.
Even if squad officials decided that Robinson met their requirements, they wouldn't have to accept the lowest bid, Isle of Wight County Attorney Woodrow Crook said. The squad is a private organization and not subject to the Virginia Procurement Act.
But the squad, which answers emergency calls in the southern half of the county and relies largely on donations, may have to bow to public opinion.
``We believe that the rescue squad should support local businesses,'' said one member of the public, Betty Alphin, secretary-treasurer of Walters Grain.
by CNB