FALCONER — The village has settled on a new company to handle billing for emergency medical services provided by the Falconer Fire Department.

In April, the Falconer Village Board unanimously approved an agreement with MedEx Billing Inc. According to its website, MedEx serves more than 65 EMS agencies in New York and Pennsylvania.

The company was founded in 1991.

Up until February, the village had been partnering with Chautauqua County EMS under the county’s Certificate of Need to handle billing for emergency services.

However, Mayor James Jaroszynski called the agreement “inadequate” and noted that the Fire Advisory Board wanted to explore other options. The board and village attorney eventually settled on MedEx for a monthly billing cycle with detailed reports.

Under the EMS Cost Recovery Act, volunteer fire departments can recoup costs associated with providing EMS care, including ambulance transportation.

In other village board news:

¯ trustees approved a $1.58 million village budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year that runs from June 1, 2023, through May 31, 2024. The spending plan includes a property tax rate of $8.47 per $1,000 of assessed value, an increase of $0.024 from the current budget.

¯ the Falconer Fire Department reported 64 calls for the month of March. Among the calls were 40 for EMS and two fires.

¯ trustees agreed for the village to contract with Snow Construction at a cost of $5,000 for the removal of the chimney at the Community Building. Cracks in the bricks were previously discovered, and village board members had sought quotes to have a portion of the chimney removed to the roof line.

The contract with Snow Construction also includes the removal of any debris. Payment for the project will come out of the village’s building maintenance fund.

Once the chimney is removed, the village is looking to have a vent inserted from the boiler.

¯ the code enforcement officer received word from the owner of 12 N. Work St. of plans to demolish the former drive-thru bank building for creation of additional parking spaces.

¯ trustees approved a full-time code officer position as discussed at the April 3 budget workshop.

¯ library officials stated that Summer Band concerts will be held from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Thursday nights in July at Davis Park.

¯ trustees accepted the resignation of LeRoy Belin as animal control officer, effective March 1. In his letter, Belin said he enjoyed serving the village for more than 30 years.

The Ellicott Police Department is currently assisting with dog control; the village expects to hire a new dog control officer shortly.

¯ a farmers market will be held from June through September on Friday afternoons.

¯ four trees were removed from Pine Hill Cemetery. The village has applied for a grant to plant new trees. Meanwhile, new signs for the cemetery are expected to be installed prior to Memorial Day.