04/29/2026
Good morning!
Later today, the banquet hall portion of our station on Shermanta Drive is being used for a public event hosted by a regional industrial developer in regards to the Watts Township/Amity Hall area development.
The developer hosting this event rented our facility through our standard lease and price, ordered some light refreshments and drinks at our standard price, and booked some trade show materials from a partner business at the standard price. All of these invoices have been paid in full by the developer.
Additionally our agency's elected President/Assistant Chief has attended, by invitation and in response to requests from our local fire company partners, two separate meetings regarding the proposed development in Watts Township. These meetings were not attended to support this effort but, rather, to gather information as it may pertain to EMS response and capability, and respond to the requests from New Buffalo Fire Company.
NONE of these actions should be perceived as endorsing OR opposing the proposed development that has become a very heated and polarizing issue in our community. In fact, the discussion at our March, 2026 company meeting was that our agency had no "position" on the matter and would participate ONLY to collect information as it pertains to the provision of emergency medical services in our community. Even within our personal forums and communications, content regarding this project has been minimal or non-existent.
Our mission statement holds true:
"...to provide a variety of programs and/or services designed to ease the pain and suffering and protect the lives of residents and transients of the Duncannon area..."
This includes community training initiattives, public relations/public safety engagements, ambulance standby services, and, of course, responding to 911 emergencies.
A generic AI "EMS" person was recently featured in an image shared on social media, EMS has been mentioned specifically as being onboard/in support of this project in groups and on posts, and our office voicemail has received several unpleasant messages from anonymous sources expressing their displeasure of our "support" of the data center by "allowing" the use of our facility.
We assure you that numerous events with which some may not agree have been held in our facility through the years. However, it is NOT our place or role, as a private property with public access and as an agency that receives public funds, to discriminate against entities that desire to rent our banquet hall or receive our EMS and training services. Additionally, we are a poor local ambulance service that relies on facility rentals, volunteers catering, BINGO, meal fundraisers, and a subscription program to supplement our service billing and municipal contributions in order to keep our ambulances staffed, compliant, and in service. As you may know, Watts Township is the only Perry County municipality to which our agency provides primary EMS service (for 100% of the township) that does not provide any financial support of our operation outside of a small payment to Penn Township for volunteer workers' compensation insurance, as required by law (we think.)
It should also be noted that Watts Township's secretary reached out to our office about hosting the May Supervisors' Meeting in our banquet hall but ultimately chose to host said meeting at the the New Buffalo Alliance Church on Susquehanna Trail.
We've also learned over the last twelve hours that, in addition to this evening's event at our station, another meeting/gathering is taking place regarding the development proposal at Abundant Harvest Church this evening during the same time frame.
For the record (and please share/spread/disperse widely), our agency has no official position on this project and believes that community engagement with elected officials before, during, and after such issues are in focus is a part of our civic duty and critical for compromise, understanding, and, ultimately, good outcomes. Our agency simply does not have enough information or perspective to form a qualified and educated position. From the beginning, our administrative and operational officers have been adamant that our agency is not a supporter or opponent in this project and it is a polarizing matter for our community members to resolve, in time, and with the proper information, research, interaction, and feedback. This is also a polarizing matter and if we were to take a position, it would undoubtedly damage critical relations with a significant portion of our community due to the sensitive, emotional, and personal nature of the matter. We simply cannot afford to do so if we want to maintain service and live up to our Mission Statement.
Should there be anything I'm missing or that is relevant to our renting our public assembly space, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at knace@pecoems.com or (717) 834-5904. Please don't make your voice message anonymous and I will absolutely respond.
Thank you for your time reading all of my words. I wanted to make sure I was not ambiguous.
-Kraig Nace, Chief of Operations/Secretary/Treasurer
Duncannon Emergency Medical Services, Inc.
