Paramedics with Life Care ambulance service may see better accommodations after the Newton Board of Aldermen agreed to pursue financing for a new mobile home for the paramedic’s headquarters.
In a regularly scheduled meeting Monday, Oct. 15, Aldermen heard from Ron Davis, who they had previously tasked with researching mobile home costs.
“Y’all had taxed me and Jay Collins (Newton Fire Chief) to look into trailers for the ambulance service,” Davis said. “We went to two places, Top Gun and Regional Home Center of Meridian. We went to both places and looked at trailers.”
After researching both distributor’s inventories, Davis said he had identified three different options. The best option, he said, was a Model 8000 16- by 60-foot trailer, with two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Top Gun provided the lowest quote of $38,339 for the Model 8000 trailer. That price would come after trading in the current trailer for $4,500 credit.
“It’s not the cheapest, but I think it’s the best,” he said, adding the trailer is built to Hurricane II specifications, which means it’s built to withstand even the most severe storms.
Davis also brought quotes for a 16- by 70-foot trailer, for $49,000, and a 14- by 60-foot trailer for $37,639. While the 14- by 60-foot trailer was the cheapest option, he said it wasn’t built to hurricane strength and did not come with no-carpet option – a specification Life Care had requested.
The 16- by 70-foot trailer, Davis said, was just too big.
“My recommendation is to go with the $38,000 sixteen by sixty,” he said. “I think it’s a little more than we were hoping to get by on, but everything else was higher and bigger trailers. We don’t need a bigger trailer.”
The board agreed with Davis’ recommendation and tasked City Clerk Charlene Evans with soliciting bids for financing to make the purchase as Top Gun does not provide in-house financing. The board will decide whether to accept the bids at a later meeting.
The Board of Aldermen also:
- Agreed to purchase an ad from the Multi-County Community Action Agency for $150 to support the Neighborhood Service Center;
- Approved the City of Newton’s 2019 Municipal Compliance Report;
- Approved placing a tax lien of $2,310.03 on 205 Bingham St. to recoup clean-up costs; and
- Set a date of Dec. 19 for the Newton Blues Marker unveiling.
