VOORHEESVILLE — In a landslide 54-to-2 vote on Nov. 15, the Length of Service Program, or LOSAP, will be discontinued for Voorheesville Area Ambulance Service members. LOSAP provides pensions for volunteers.

VAAS stopped functioning on Oct. 15, although some members have sought to continue their services with a merger with Delmar-Bethlehem EMS. The vote allows members to stop paying fees for a service they no longer have.

Village Clerk-Treasurer Linda Pasquali told The Enterprise earlier this month that most of VAAS’s 36 members had dropped out, with just four to six remaining when the service disbanded. Deputy Clerk-Treasurer Karen Finnessey told The Enterprise that, even if some of these members go on to serve with Delmar-Bethlehem, they would stop receiving a pension.

Had LOSAP continued, Finnessey said, “They would pay yearly fees until they are 62...Some members had not accrued much. The yearly fees would wipe them out.”

She added, “As of October 15, they can no longer accrue points.”

Former VAAS member Thom Smith told The Enterprise on Tuesday that a merger with Delmar-Bethlehem EMS is currently in the process of being formed with VAAS. A meeting still needs to be held to hold a vote between the organizations on whether the merger should go through. If the vote is favorable, the merger must be reviewed by the state attorney general and state supreme court.

Delmar-Bethlehem EMS has its own LOSAP program that would be offered to members brought in by a merger, said Smith.

“We’re grateful that the town and the village put funding in that,” Smith said of VAAS’s LOSAP. But he added, “We understand why it was necessary to discontinue that.”