Mayor explains why she voted no to ambulance

Before rumors, emotions, and exaggerations take over conversations I’d like to report the facts that have been discussed in open public meetings.The ambulance council rejected a contract bid Monday from the Chickasaw Ambulance and I would like to share some of the reasons for the no vote. So this is not an accusation of personal reasons, I voted with the support of the City Attorney and my council members with one abstention.First remember that this council is made up of mayors or representatives from eight cities and one member of the board of supervisors:1.The Chickasaw Ambulance proposed for the period July 1, 2019, the amount of $165,000, the period July 1, 2020, $365,000, and the period beginning July 1, 2021, of $365,000. The service agrees to provide one, year-round ambulance 24 hours per day, seven days per week with EMT and or paramedic level response and ground transportation within Chickasaw County and to each of the respective communities herein, and one back up ambulance in case of equipment failure on the first ambulance.They are saying they would like to hire more staff with the money, but is not guaranteed in the contract on any page I have been given to vote for. It was the same verbiage as the previous contract.This service has the right to propose and negotiate a rate increase without canceling the contract in its entirety. The service may terminate the agreement by giving prior written notice of said intention to terminate no less than 180 days prior to the date of termination. The [Ambulance] Council may at any time on or after July 1, 2021, terminate the agreement by giving prior written notice of said intention to terminate not less than 180 days prior to termination.I don’t believe I can accept the fact that if we don’t pay them enough, they can terminate us again if that is their wish with 180 days notice, but the council has to pay two years of the contract before it has any rights to terminate.We are given very specific reasons we would be allowed to terminate the contract “in the absence of default,” and I feel we should have the same rights as the service does for terminating a contract.— For more on this story, see the May 2 New Hampton Tribune.