Commissioners of the Western Carroll County Ambulance District convened for a special meeting on April 3 to discuss awarding the contract for ambulance service to the western district. On March 22, three bids for the contract were opened – Eureka Springs Fire Department Emergency Medical Services, Ozark Emergency Medical Services and Mercy Ambulance Service – and commissioners agreed to review the bids and meet in a special session. It was after a lengthy back and forth Monday afternoon about cost and compliance that commissioners eventually voted to award the contract to ESFD, but it was not easy.
ESFD was the only bidder with representatives attending the meeting.
Chair Sam Ward opened the discussion acknowledging many people wondered why the commission put the contract out for bid. He maintained “a more succinct and complete agreement” was necessary to clear up issues in the contract itself. He also said the role of the commission is to provide the best service for inhabitants of the western district, and what was sufficient 20 years ago is no longer adequate. In his opinion was ESFD has fallen short on occasions.
Ward said the numbers of calls are increasing and ESFD has not met the requirement of responding to 90 percent of calls within 15 minutes. Commissioner Marie Lee said a previous commissioner had told her the 15-minute figure was “a number they picked,” not one arrived at by experience. Ward also noted Mercy and Ozark both stated in their bids they would station an ambulance in Holiday Island, but ESFD did not.
Ward mentioned an occurrence when ESFD could not free up an ambulance for 20 minutes. Commissioner David Carlisle asked how many times had this happened, and Ward replied once that he knew of.
Commissioner Ken Mills commented the bids from Mercy and ESFD included a balance sheet and profit and loss statements that showed they were viable. Ozark submitted only its Schedule C from Form 1040 which indicated a large loss, and nothing showing current assets.
Ward surmised, therefore, the bid from OMS was non-compliant. Mills reiterated he just wanted to see if the commission would have reasonable expectations that bidders would be able to fulfill the contract, and he saw ESFD and Mercy as “viable.”
Ward then commented the ESFD bid also to be non-compliant because in his opinion they bid two-part-time ambulances and the requirement was for two full-time ambulances available at all times for the western district. He insisted that because ESFD also serves the city of Eureka Springs, it would not have two available at all times for the western district. For Ward, that meant two of the three bidders were non-compliant, and Mercy’s bid of $590,000 was too expensive. Therefore, he suggested the commission rewrite the Request for Proposal.
“So we start from scratch?” Carlisle asked. Ward asked in response how the commission could award a contract if the parties are in violation of the contract at the onset.
Carlisle was not sure WCCAD could “achieve that luxurious level” of affording more than the two low bidders, and Mills read from the ESFD bid its strategy for calling in a third ambulance when necessary if one were out already.
Carlisle insisted ESFD would know when to call in a third ambulance to maintain compliance. There was also a mutual aid backup agreement with other ambulance services. He asked if ESFD would be non-compliant if all five ambulances happened to be called out for service. “There’s a logic and pie in the sky and reality,” he said, and pointed out as far as they know ESFD had one failure in 20 years.
Ward continued to point to what the contract says, and suggested the commission should rewrite the contract, as he did not want a contract the commission couldn’t enforce. Lee read from the ESFD bid that they would have two ambulances ready for WCCAD, and if one were out, they would bring in another one. Carlisle asked Ward if he thought ESFD was lying about its commitment, but Ward still saw the ESFD commitment as providing only two part-time ambulances contrary to specs in the Request for Bid.
Mills agreed with Lee’s reading of the ESFD bid. Carlisle replied that perfect costs $590,000, which was the bid from Mercy. He insisted it would be a “ridiculous use of the community’s resources” to force ESFD to buy another ambulance and hire more staff. He said the commission could ask for specifics about having a third ambulance available.
Ward mentioned the commission could put a penalty clause in the contract for non-compliance, and Mills agreed there was still some negotiating to be done with whomever they selected. Their job at this point, according to Mills, was to pick who most closely met the requirements of the contract.
Lee added that ESFD has equipment Ozark did not specify in their bid, such as 4×4 ambulances, and she said such equipment is critical in her part of the county, and Mills mentioned the training offered in Eureka Spring was a plus. He commented things change over time, so it is good to have a new contract, but he was satisfied they had resolved most issues. He asserted it was time to make a selection, then negotiate the contract.
Carlisle and Lee were convinced the contract could be negotiated and finalized by early May. Ward mentioned again the past issues with ESFD having two ambulances available per contract language “at all times.” Carlisle countered, “One hundred percent does not happen in this world. We can negotiate something that gives reality a voice.”
Ward said he was not against Carlisle’s point, but adamantly adhered to this view regarding “at all times.” Carlisle rebutted the point that legally that would mean the first ambulance could not respond to a situation until the third ambulance arrived at the station.
Ward then commented, “If Eureka is the best we can do, then let’s take out ‘at all times.’”
As the points began to circle, Lee moved they vote. Carlisle was first to vote for ESFD. Ward stated that commissioner Judy Giggey, not in attendance, had given him her proxy, and she voted for ESFD. Ward said he would vote for Eureka Springs if the commission could clear up points in the contract regarding “at all times” and 90 percent responses within 15 minutes. Mills and Lee also voted for ESFD.
Lee pointed to the overwhelming community support for ESFD, and said any differences could be resolved. Regarding the contract, she commented, “We’ll clean it up and make it right.”
Next regular WCCAD meeting will be Tuesday, April 18, at 4 p.m., at the Holiday Island Fire Department.