By Chad Drury
Ottumwa Courier
OTTUMWA, Iowa — The Wapello County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will once again discuss the EMS advisory council, the second part of an ordinance that had been put on hold after disagreements over who should be represented.
Changes were made to the updated list of members, and approval of the list will begin the advisory council’s work to determine the EMS needs of the county as it looks to eventually pass an EMS levy.
Two of the changes were simple replacements: Bill Hoffman Jr. has been tapped as a representative from the Ottumwa City Council, in place of Dan Reid, who is up for re-election in November. Also, Loren McIntosh has been selected to represent Wapello County Rural Fire in place of Cory Benge, who was charged with felony theft of a wifi router from the city in June.
There was also a to-be-determined position to represent the EMS Association, and Amanda Hull, a firefighter for the city, was selected for that role.
All other representatives to the advisory council are unchanged.
The issue hadn’t been discussed since city and county officials held a work session in late May to discuss who should be on the advisory council and the roles the council should be tasked with.
Eventually, the county will put an EMS levy to the voters, and 60% approval is required to adopt it. Although Iowa law does not require counties to provide mandatory EMS service the way they do police and fire service, a county can levy up to 75 cents per $1,000 of taxable valuation, institute a 1% income tax, or a combination of the two.
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