A large group was on hand on Thursday evening at Vandalia City Hall, looking to figure out the best way to secure an ambulance contract for Fayette County.
Mayors from Vandalia, Brownstown, St. Elmo and Ramsey were on hand, along with Fire Chiefs from St. Peter, Brownstown, Farina and St. Elmo, the Vandalia Police Chief and St. Elmo Police Chief–who also serves Ramsey and Brownstown, along with Fayette County EMA Director Rachel Denning and 911 Coordinator Kevin Jenne. Representatives from the various departments and Rural Med EMS were also on hand. Representatives from the Fayette County Board and Vandalia City Council were also in attendance for the meeting.
Vandalia Mayor Rick Gottman kicked off the meeting and then gave the floor to Vandalia Police Chief Jeff Ray, who says this has been a topic of discussion for a long, long time.
Kim Bouser and other representatives from Rural Med said that costs have gone up significantly in the past couple of years, such as their insurance rates going up 30%. It was stated they are $156,000 short on each ambulance and they have 2 in Fayette County, meaning they have a deficit of about $300,000. They also stated their cost in Fayette County to house their ambulances is $1800 a month for rent and utilities. Bouser said such things as deployments to Florida during the hurricane have helped subsidize the losses in Fayette County. She says they do need some kind of support–either in funding or housing. She says they are looking a contract with the county and incentives.
How to come up with funding was also discussed during the meeting. The talk of a potential safety tax—an additional amount to the county’s sales tax–was discussed and some felt was a viable option. But, others pointed out you are at least a year from even bringing that to a vote. The Mayors on hand discussed sharing the funding cost for the ambulances–much like they do for Fayette County animal control, where the communities pay in based on their population.
The next steps will be to get the Fayette County Board’s opinion on the matter at their meeting on Tuesday. Then, if they are agreeable, the communities would take it up with their councils and boards to see if they would be open to shared funding. It was also brought up that they would then have to take request for proposals to see if other ambulance services were interested. The committee will hold their next meeting on March 10th at 6 pm at Vandalia City Hall.
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