After realizing current city and county leaders have never met to discuss the possibility of forming one ambulance service, members of an advisory committee threw the ball into their court.
The decision Friday morning also eliminated the need for the Ambulance Advisory Committee, which over the course of many months has tried to come with a solution for a combined service with no success.
Dick Works, county commission chairman, noted “the two governing bodies never sat down together” to discuss ambulance service after the split several years ago that left the county with two services.
Former county commissioner Kent Thompson, and a member of the advisory commission, was adamant that no solution is possible unless either the county or city yields control of their ambulance service.
Generally, about $2.5 million is spent annually on the two services, including funding for Iola’s fire department. Ron Conaway, city director of EMS, and Jason Nelson, county director, both said individually their services could provide service for all of the county for $1.3 million.
“Let’s look at dollars and cents and do what’s best for all of the county,” said advisory committee member Tom Williams.
Williams followed with a motion for “the two governing bodies to sit down and talk at their earliest convenience.”
The vote was unanimous, 6-0, with two members, Mike Russell and John McRae, absent.
Carl Slaugh told the Register later he would arrange a meeting at a neutral site and outside a meeting of either body soon, probably in early November.
Ambulance talks handed back to governing bodies
