Three of the city's helipads could be closed soon as the city's finance and administration committee voted in favour of closing the pads at Vermilion Lake, Capreol and Dowling.
The resolution to close the helipads was tabled by Ward 8 Coun. Al Sizer on March 4 in a move to reduce the tax levy by $73,266.
The finance and administration committee met for a third straight evening on Thursday as they continue to work towards finalizing the 2021 budget that aims to produce a tax increase of no more than 3.9 per cent.
Committee members have pored over numerous items in the more than 600-page budget binder, working section-by-section and asking questions of staff while searching for savings wherever possible.
Sizer noted on Thursday that helipad utilization has been very low, with the Vermilion Lake helipad not being used since 2016, while still being maintained.
"I'm asking that we eliminate the three helipads that are under-utilized, as a matter of fact one of the helipads had not been used at since 2016," said Sizer. "The other two in Capreol and Dowling have only been used once from 2016 to 2020."
Joseph Nicholls, chief of fire and paramedic services for the city, elaborated on Sizer's point, while explaining that in many cases ground ambulances can respond to emergencies just as quickly as an air ambulance.
"In 2018 we did a review of Capreol with Ornge air ambulance and their concern at that time was over-utilization at that time that was costing a significant amount of money for cancelled calls," said Nicholls.
"That project found that ground ambulance from Capreol is just as fast the helicopter and some would ask how that's possible. You have to take into consideration the shutdown time for the helicopter, the startup time, the flight time and then the shutdown time at the hospital and the time to move down to the emergency department. A ground ambulance can certainly have a patient down to the emergency department in the same amount of time."
Nicholls further explained that the levels of training and expertise of ground paramedics has grown significantly over the last 20 years.
In addition to the costs associated with maintaining the helipads, Nicholls stated that the Vermilion Lake helipad sits upon less than ideal ground and has been shut down since last fall, meaning it hasn't received any type of maintenance such as snow clearing, rendering it unusable.
Ward 3 Coun. Gerry Montpellier asked for some clarification about the location of the helipad at Vermilion Lake as he believed it wasn't possible for a ground ambulance to get to the location faster than a helicopter.
Deputy fire chief Paul Kadwell informed council that the helipad used by Greater Sudbury's emergency responders is right off Vermilion Lake round and that Montpellier may have been thinking of a separate helipad that is used and maintained by someone other than the city.
Montpellier wasn't happy with the motion in any case, pointing to the relatively small savings for something tied to community safety.
"I can't believe we've been reduced to this to save pennies, we're going to close our helipads," said Montpellier. "Is this what we're becoming in Sudbury? We're going to cut out helipads to save $73,000. I'm highly disappointed that this is where we've come to save pennies."
While voting to scrap the helipads means that they will no longer be maintained or suitable for use, it was explained Thursday that air ambulances will still be in use and landing areas are wherever the pilot feels is a safe enough place to set the helicopter down.
The finance and administration committee ultimately passed the motion by a count of 10-3 with councillors Mark Signoretti (Ward 1), Gerry Montpellier (Ward 3) and Michael Vagnini (Ward 2) voting in opposition.
