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By JENNIFER LEARN jlearn@leader.net
Thursday, February 03, 2000 Page: 3A
The president of the township Ambulance Association said he has given
the Federal Communications Commission proof that the ambulance and Fire
Department were authorized to use the township’s radio frequency.
The FCC recently ordered the Fire Department and ambulance off the
frequency, saying neither was licensed. Emergency personnel say they need the
channel to relay crucial details about accidents and fires to other emergency
crews.
Don Hudzinski, association president, said he sent the FCC two documents
written on township letterhead by former township Emergency Management Agency
Director Mark Simko. The letters, both dated June 1990, say the township
authorized and would pay for installation of the local frequency in police,
fire and ambulance radios.
Hudzinski said FCC agent David Dombrowski is reviewing the information.
Dombrowski can’t talk to the media about ongoing investigations. According
to Hudzinski, the agent said the township might face fines if the township
gave the Fire Department and ambulance permission to use the frequency. The
reason: the township should have added them to its license.
Hudzinski also got an e-mail from Dombrowski that shows township EMA
Director Bill Alaimo complained to the FCC on behalf of the township about the
Fire Department and ambulance.
Alaimo has vehemently denied he complained.
Ambulance and fire representatives say they believe the township made the
complaint as part of a vendetta against emergency personnel.
“Anything the municipality is saying about having no knowledge whatsoever
of the complaint is bogus,” Hudzinski said. “Our use of the frequency was a
non-issue from the beginning, and now this whole thing of their making has
blown up in their faces.”