The Owen-Withee-Curtiss Fire & EMS District held a special meeting on Thursday, May 21 to vote on the purchase of a new ambulance. Linus Snyder, representing the town of Hixon, appeared by phone and there was no representative present from the village of Withee.
It was reported that the ambulance committee had looked at a 2024 Medix Demo Unit on a Ford F550 4x4 chassis with a diesel engine and that was the choice of the committee. They also had them spec out a new ambulance, which would have added about $32,000 to the cost. The lift was removed from the price as they can buy one cheaper elsewhere. This is used to get oxygen tanks in the vehicle. The vehicle will have a warranty with it. The demo vehicle will be ready by July. A new vehicle would take over a year to get.
Board member Art Petke asked how urgent the need is. He was concerned about making the investment without knowing what is happening with the potential new fire station. Fire Chief Travis Serocki said that Med 2 is technically in service, but not reliable. It is a 2005 and has chassis issues among other problems. Serocki said they need at least two reliable ambulances.
EMS has $100,000 available for a downpayment. They would borrow $260,000, with the payments made from income on the ambulance side of things. Forward Bank offered the option of a 10-year loan at 5.75% interest with a payment of about $35,000 a year, or a five-year loan at 5.25% interest with a payment of about $60,500 per year. Grace Dale was not confident they could make the payment on a five-year loan. She said there is no pre-payment penalty and they could possibly pay it off in seven years.
Serocki said they also need to purchase a new radio for the ambulance at a cost of about $5,000. The radio in the ambulance that will be removed from service is believed to be the original radio. Serocki said Clark County is planning to upgrade to a system with encryption. This will save them having to buy all the radios needed at once and they can get a discounted rate because part of their service area is in Taylor County.
The purchase was approved along with the radio, paying $100,000 down and getting a loan for $260,000 for 10 years. All voted in favor except Petke who felt they need to wait until they know where they are going with the new building.
It was asked if the old ambulance could be sold. It can be, although it isn’t worth a lot. Before they could sell it, they would have to remove all the lights, graphics, etc. from the vehicle.
Under other business, board chairman Dan Goessl asked if they could put a closed session on their next meeting to discuss the salaried employees. He said they are putting in a lot of hours. Board member Mark Klein said he would like to see some comparables. Serocki said that it would be hard to get numbers for an exact comparison because different districts operate differently. Board member Jane Stoiber asked that they put the contract with Curtiss on the agenda.
Serocki said he hasn’t heard anything official from Tammy Baldwin’s office on the request for funds for the new building and is hoping that no news is good news. He continues to provide her staff with any additional information they request.