Mayor won't support ambulance space in new fire dept. plans

NO COMMITMENT

I would in no way, shape, or form, commit to moving forward with an ambulance component into that fire station.”

Matt Mohrfeld, FM Mayor

LEAVE IT IN

From my side of it, you need to leave some growth in that building from where we want to downsize it to. If something happens with budgets and we have to start multitasking and bring the ambulance and fire together because of budget issues with what the state’s doing, we’ll be hampered that way.”

Joey Herren, FM Fire Chief

FORT MADISON – A $12 million authorization to build a new public safety building in Fort Madison may get scaled back from original plans.
The new fire station was originally designed and presented to the community as a fire department/ambulance bay for a city-run ambulance service. However, at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, the plans for ambulance space was discussed and may get cut out of the plans.
At a workshop prior to the council meeting, the council heard plans for department goals for the next five years, which included a new public works building and a new fire station.
When the goals came up for a vote during the regular city council meeting, current Fire Chief Joey Herren asked if the fire station goals were going to be discussed prior to approval.
Herren then spoke to the council about his opinion that the ambulance space be left in the designs to provide for growth of the department as well as new state property tax restrictions which he said could hurt current local government’s ability to pay for ambulance services in the future.
Currently Lee County provides EMS/Ambulance services throughout the county, while paid and volunteer departments within the county respond, as well, to 911 calls for medical services.
“Because of some the advancements that have happened since we first started to plan for the first station, we have pulled out the ambulance (of plans),” said Fort Madison Mayor Matt Mohrfeld.
“There was the good fortune to have the county to commit to an investment in the ambulance service and put $10 million worth of infrastructure behind that, we are pulling our efforts to advance a potential ambulance service out of our plans.”
But Herren checked the Mayor saying it was his recommendation that the ambulance space be kept in the plans.
“It goes against what we presented to the public. We didn’t expect this three years ago and (the mayor) and I haven’t agreed on this and I thought we should talk about it,” Herren said.
“From my side of it, you need to leave some growth in that building from where we want to downsize it to. If something happens with budgets and we have to start multitasking and bring the ambulance and fire together because of budget issues with what the state’s doing, we’ll be hampered that way.”
Herren said the size should be left the way it is, but said the City Council was the authority for the final decision.
Mohrfeld gave Herren credit for including the ambulance in the initial plans, but said the ambulance dynamic in the county has changed since then.
“What has changed dramatically since then is the county making a firm commitment to it. It would be one thing to say if they just contracted with a service, but it’s another to say if they didn’t put any money into the infrastructure. Right now we have a four-bay ambulance with four bunks at a cost of $7 million in conjunction with the (Lee County) Health Department going into the west end of town.”
Mohrfeld said asking the city taxpayers to pay for a backup to that county system at this point doesn’t seem financially responsible.
“I would in no way, shape, or form, commit to moving forward with an ambulance component into that fire station,” Morhfeld said. “But again, three years ago this was up in the air when it transitioned from the private sector to the public sector with the county and they made the decision to step up and back that.”
Herren reiterated that fire staff presented that original plan with the ambulance space included to the voters who approved the project with about 70% support.