LAKEVILLE – The Lakeville Fire department’s vehicle fleet is about to get a bit bigger. On Monday, Fire Chief Michael O’Brien and Plymouth County officials came to the Select Board meeting to announce that Lakeville would be receiving $572,403.49 from the federal government to buy a new ambulance, at no cost to Lakeville’s budget.

“This award was born from need,” O’Brien said. “Fourteen months ago we put our newest ambulance into service. That ambulance already has just under 50,000 miles on it already.”

O’Brien said that due to “increased call volume” and longer ambulance rides to more distant hospitals as hospitals closer by struggle to find capacity for new patients, a new ambulance was needed to keep up with demand.

“We have a ton of demand for our services,” he said. “We’re dealing with accidents on almost a daily basis.”

The $572,403.49 for the ambulance comes from the federal government’s 2021 American Rescue Plan, an economic stimulus program designed to combat the effects of the Covid pandemic. 

In most towns in Massachusetts, the state of Massachusetts is the body that administers these sorts of federal grant programs, County Treasurer Thomas O’Brien said. However, in a controversial move at the time, the Plymouth County government decided to administer Covid related federal stimulus programs. 

At the September 18th Select Board meeting, Plymouth County Commissioner Jared Valanzola said that this arrangement led to Lakeville receiving more money than the town would have received otherwise.

“The end result was 50% more dollars to Lakeville than to like sized communities outside Plymouth county,” Valanzola said.

O’Brien said that the grant wasn’t just for a new ambulance but also for the related equipment inside the ambulance as well. 

“We have an ambulance that shows up ready to go out on the first call, without any direct burden to our residents.”

At the Select Board meeting, Plymouth County officials, Lakeville Town Manager Ari Sky, the Lakeville Select Board, and O’Brien posed with a large check to celebrate the new funds. Thomas said that more checks would be on the way to Lakeville.

“We will be back,” Thomas said. “We’ve already delivered some money. We’ll deliver more, but we’re very thankful for the partnership that we have here in the town of Lakeville.”