Valley Emergency Medical Services (also known as VEMS) is still trying to collect a $190,000 tab it says the City of Derby owes the organization.
VEMS is a regional service that provides paramedics to bolster ambulance calls throughout the lower Valley.
VEMS filed a lawsuit against Derby in December, indicating they are considering no longer providing paramedics to the city due to lack of payment.
Derby stopped paying its annual $30,000 VEMS bill in 2007.
Former Mayor Anthony Staffieri, in past interviews, said VEMS needed to change its funding formula so that Derby was not forced to pay the same annual fees as larger cities, such as Shelton.
In an interview Feb. 27, V. Michael Simko, a lawyer hired by VEMS, said he had yet to speak to Derby lawyers regarding the case.
On Feb. 5, Simko filed a motion trying to compel Derby to respond to the VEMS lawsuit. A Superior Court judge granted Simko’s motion to compel on Feb. 20, and Derby began filing court documents connected to the case Feb. 27 and Feb. 28.
“I am getting my evidence and documents ready for our own motions and hearings,” Simko said.
The matter was on the agenda of the Derby Board of Aldermen Feb. 27, but was not addressed. On March 4, the Derby Board of Aldermen met in executive session with corporation counsel Kevin Blake to discuss the VEMS lawsuit. Executive sessions are closed to the public and are allowed in certain circumstances, such as when discussing legal strategy.
After emerging from executive session, Derby Aldermen took no action on the matter.
There were no court dates on the case scheduled as of March 3.
Simko said the VEMS lawsuit against the city is justified and that the organization has continued to provide service to Derby even though the city stopped paying.
“What we have here is an air-tight agreement with the City of Derby (saying Derby) would be one of five towns that contributes to VEMS,” he said. “They are all shared and shared alike. When Mayor Staffieri came in, he put the kibosh on that.”
Simko said Derby is the smallest city in terms of geography served by VEMS, but it has the third-highest population and the fourth-highest number of calls of the five municipalities (Ansonia, Derby, Oxford, Seymour and Shelton) served by the organization.
