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Tower council authorizes initial legal work to pursue ambulance joint powers agreement
Summary
Councilors in Tower voted to authorize preliminary legal work—up to $2,000—to draft a Joint Powers Board agreement for ambulance service, after a councilor outlined options including a special taxing district and a JPA; no public comments were offered.
Mayor David Setterberg and the Tower City Council authorized preliminary legal work on April 30 to explore forming a Joint Powers Board to manage ambulance service across neighboring townships.
Councilor Bob Anderson described two paths for organizing ambulance service: a Special Taxing District, which would set a levy and have the county distribute costs to property owners, and a Joint Powers Board that would assess fees per property across the ambulance service area. Anderson said the operational model would be the same under either approach, that the City would no longer directly operate the ambulance service, and that a request for proposals would be required to select an operator. He identified Vermilion Lake, Greenwood, Tower and Breitung as jurisdictions already interested and said Kugler and Eagles Nest still need to be contacted.
Anderson asked the council for help drafting the agreement and proposed working with attorney Troy Gilcrest of Town Law Center; he shared a cost estimate of about $1,500 to $1,700 for an initial draft. Mayor Setterberg recommended locating the PSA-area map showing current ambulance coverage, and Councilor Joe Morin suggested first asking the attorney what information he would need to prepare the document.
Mayor Setterberg moved to authorize Councilor Anderson to work with the attorney and other agencies for up to $2,000; Councilor Morin seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (ayes by those present at the time). The authorization covers attorney drafting work and outreach needed to form the JPA; it does not itself create the JPA, change taxing authority, or award any operating contract.
Next steps, as discussed at the meeting, include contacting the remaining jurisdictions named by Councilor Anderson, assembling the current ambulance PSA/coverage map, and having the attorney draft a proposed Joint Powers Board agreement or equivalent taxing-district paperwork for future council action.
