The Newton Board of Aldermen is looking at its options in the wake of issues that came to light with the county’s ambulance service over the Thanksgiving holidays.
Mayor Murray Weems said it took over two hours for an ambulance to arrive on scene to a wreck on Liberty Church Road south of town.
“Instead of getting an ambulance from Meridian or another nearby city, they sent one of their ambulances from Carthage to respond to the accident,” Weems said. “We don’t know exactly what’s going on right now, but the county has given LifeCare 30 days to come up with a response. We won’t know much until that 30 days is up.”
One idea that Weems floated was trying to start its own ambulance service. Once the up-front costs were paid off, he said it could become a way for the city to bring in additional revenue.
“Other cities have done this,” Weems said. “It might be worth looking into to see if we could make it work if something ever happens to the ambulance companies here in our county.”
No action was taken on that issue, but the city did proceed with the purchase of a trailer that would be used as the ambulance service’s office.
“Regardless of whether we do something with the ambulance service, we are going to have to do something about that trailer,” Weems said. “It’s unlivable for the medics to live in. We need to do something about it one way or the other.”
The city agreed to proceed with obtaining financing from Community Bank at 3.99 percent with a monthly payment of $705.
In a related matter, the aldermen also discussed the 911 dispatch proposal by 911 director Brian Taylor. The aldermen agreed to seek a formal proposal from the 911 to move dispatch to the county.
Until that time, the city hired Danielle Shoemake and Don Owens as full time dispatchers at the hourly rates of $8 and $8.24. Police Chief Harvey Curry said he would let the dispatchers know that the city may be moving the city’s dispatch to the county before they accepted the positions.
“It still may be at least three months before anything happens with this,” said alderwoman Romonica Evans. “We will still need dispatchers until that time.”
