By Glenn Evans
Weatherford Democrat
MINERAL WELLS, Texas — Residents near Mineral Wells but outside the city limits will no longer see a city crew when they call for an ambulance starting next year.
That’s what the city council learned Tuesday. The change is effective at midnight on Dec. 31, 2024.
No action was required on a certified letter from Emergency Services District No. 1 informing the city it was terminating its year-old interlocal agreement by which city crews answered EMS calls beyond Mineral Wells’ borders.
The city crew responded to 717 calls in the county during the past two fiscal years, at a cost of $336,452.
ESD1 Commissioner Carolyn Land said Wednesday the service district’s intent was to relieve the city EMS of the load it was carrying in the county — especially with the city department short-staffed and struggling to keep paramedics.
“The Emergency Services District just felt like if we were placing a burden on the city, we needed to take that burden back,” she said. “It just seems like a responsibility that the Emergency Services District needed to step up and help the city right now.”
County Judge Shane Long said the same, adding that $144,000 the county previously agreed to send Mineral Wells for its EMS is not affected.
The county support, Long said, was to help the Mineral Wells EMS crews keep and retain paramedics — and the Level 1 medical capability paramedics provide city residents.
“The county is committed to supporting the city with these funds,” Long said, adding that county and city attorneys are finalizing the interlocal agreement to transfer the funds. “What their service area is is really not a dealbreaker for us.”
The council spent slightly more than two hours in closed session Tuesday, discussing the services district agreement and other issues before City Manager Dean Sullivan announced the EMS change in open session.
No action was required.
“This will change the city’s service area of responsibility,” Sullivan said, adding the services district will resume coverage in the unincorporated areas beyond the city limits. “And we will be prepared to clean up whatever falls out from that.”
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