Tonight at Mineola Village Hall, 155 Washington Avenue, there will be a hearing on an incentive program for members of the Mineola Volunteer Ambulance Corps (MVAC). The program, would essentially allocate monies in future budgets to pay for a pension for members of MVAC who qualify.

The Length of Service Award Program (LOSAP), according to MVAC, would persuade the experienced personnel to remain with the agency, and continue to respond to emergencies, since their annuity would increase with their years of service to the department.

However, such a program does come with a price. Village taxpayers would have to fund the program and will, therefore, ultimately have to approve the program through a referendum vote. Before a vote can be scheduled, the public hearing to hear the corps' proposal will take place at 7 p.m. on April 18.

The benefit plan being proposed authorizes an entitlement of $20 per month for each year of active ambulance service in which the ambulance worker satisfies a minimum participation requirement (50 points) up to a maximum of 40 years. The minimum monthly pension is $100; the maximum monthly pension is $800.

Points are based on the number of calls a member answers as well as training courses, drills, meetings and miscellaneous activities a member attends. An active volunteer ambulance worker is eligible to participate in the service award program provided the active volunteer ambulance worker has reached the age of 18 and has completed at least one year of ambulance service.

Members of the ambulance corps point out that while current salaries for professional ambulance workers range from $30,000 to $60,000 annually, the amount of compensation a volunteer would gain at the entitlement age of 65 is only a monthly allowance ranging from $120 for five years of service to $800 maximum for 40 years of service.

Over the past five years, the corps has averaged close to 1,400 calls annually. According to MVAC President Tom Devaney, the corps, which is comprised of about 70 members, has been averaging around 100 calls a month for 2007 with no more than three to five calls for assistance outside the borders of Mineola.

- Joe Rizza