NEW BERLIN – Concerned citizens have formed the Friends of the Village of New Berlin Ambulance Service and will hold a fundraiser on March 3 at the fire house.

The fundraiser will include a barbecue chicken dinner and a raffle in order to raise money to eliminate the $53,000 debt the NBAS is currently struggling to rectify.

According to co-chair of the Friends of the NBAS and former village board member Robert Hewitt, the purpose of the group is to maintain the current village ambulance service which he said has been facing hard times.

“The service went from 12-hour days to 24-hour days to provide more coverage,” he said. “But many things weren’t put together properly and there wasn’t a satisfactory budget.”

Last week, the Columbus town board voted 3-2 to allow Albany attorney Terrence Hannigan begin negotiations with CMT for service instead of the village, which the Town of Columbus has contracted with for the last three years.