Ambulance station OK’d for Tenn. county
Ron Clayton, Correspondent
Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee)
Copyright 2006 Chattanooga Publishing Company
ATHENS, Tenn. -- Residents in southern McMinn County could soon have their own ambulance station.
McMinn County’s Emergency Services Committee this week agreed to go ahead with a contract for a third station and asked County Mayor John Gentry to make recommendations to the county attorney.
That will mean quicker ambulance response times for the southern portion of the county, local officials said.
“Our office has received complaints about response times,” Mr. Gentry said. “That area has been the least populated, but it is growing and every life is valuable.”
The new station will be at the Riceville Fire Department, which was built with an extra bay for an ambulance. The contract is expected to last for 10 years, county officials said.
The county will pay $60,000 to $80,000 to build living quarters and install heating and cooling for the ambulance crews, and it may agree to pay the fire department’s utility bill to compensate for use of the 1,200-square-foot section.
The county will sublet the space to Woods Memorial Hospital, which operates the ambulance service.
Woods Director David Southerland said hospital officials likely would agree to a $600 a month rent from the county and that was in line with Mr. Gentry’s proposition.
The ambulance service is overseen by county-owned Woods Memorial Hospital and receives 18 percent of the service’s income. Mr. Gentry said that fund now contains nearly $400,000.
During discussion this week, Commissioner Owen Vincent asked about parking for the new station. Rice-ville Fire Chief Jim Ross said the department owns three acres behind the station on U.S. Highway 11, so parking should be no problem. Others asked questions about liability insurance and security issues.
Mr. Gentry will develop the contract and then bring it back to the committee, the fire department and the hospital for final approval.
The full County Commission must give final approval before design and bidding can be scheduled.