First Response Services Committee reviews ambulance replacement, flood study plans and OKs sheriff—s $400 retirement study

At a meeting of the First Response Services Committee, members heard reports on emergency vehicle needs, facility flooding and maintenance, and voted to authorize a $400 study requested by the sheriff—s office on a state hazardous-duty retirement supplement.

The committee prioritized an ambulance replacement question after Matt Beatty, speaking for first-response operations, said the oldest reserve ambulance has passed 200,000 miles and has required nearly $20,000 in recent repairs. "We've already spent almost $20,000 just keeping it in service," Beatty said, and described two options: purchasing a new ambulance or remounting an existing box onto a new chassis. He said a new ambulance from Emergency Equipment Professionals Inc. is quoted at a little over $290,000, with an auto-loader and power cot adding about $67,000, putting the total near $350,000. A remount to a Ford F-350 chassis was estimated at about $176,000. Beatty said lead times on a new vehicle would be about 12 to 15 months.

The remount quote, Beatty said, "is included. That's all included in that price." He described the reserve vehicle as not a frontline truck and said the department believes…