County Board Delays Final Decision on 911 Ambulance Service to January

Effingham County Board members Tuesday voted to delay a decision on a 911 Ambulance Service provider until their January meeting.

The vote to continue the matter only passed 4-3 with members Doug McCain, John Perry, Elizabeth Huston and Rob Arnold voting Yes and members Norbert Soltwedel, Heather Mumma and Joe Thoele voting No.

There is a fundamental disagreement among some on the Board whether a contract is even needed, although Perry acknowledged that he could see the merits of a lead agency overseeing the process with the other ambulance agencies in the county taking part.

Others think there needs to be a sole agency to handle 911 calls. Most or all of the agencies currently operating in the county already have mutual aid agreements in place to handle calls, so that's an issue that still needs hashed out.

Ambulance Oversight Committee Chairman Rob Arnold said he is not taking the issue back to his committee until there is clear direction from the full Board. Arnold's complaint is that the Board rejected his committee's recommendation on a vendor, but has not given direction to the committee as to how to proceed.

County Board Chairman Jim Niemann said he expects the issue will come up at the Board's Legislative Committee meeting in January.

The goal was to have a six-month window for a new provider to be contracted. That six-month window was to begin in October with the current contract with Abbott EMS expiring in April 2022. The Board since voted to extend the contract with Abbott another six months, meaning the agreement won't expire until the end of 2022. Niemann indicated that Abbott understood when agreeing to extend the contract that a new agreement might be finalized in the meantime.

Also Tuesday, the County Board voted to set the date for a hearing on a reconfiguration of Landfill 33 on February 8 at 9am. Niemann said the hearing needs to be held within a 30-day window after February 5. The presenters of the reconfiguration will have to present information that Landfill 33 meets all nine siting criteria, just as they did when siting a new landfill earlier this year. That new landfill has not yet been finalized. 

The reconfiguration of Landill 33 is aimed at prolonging the life of the landfill until the new landfill is developed.