By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com

The future of the Central Joint Ambulance District became muddied this week when news leaked that the city of Bucyrus was looking to go solo in the ambulance service business.

Tensions between the townships and the city have risen in response to the revelation, especially since the Central Joint Ambulance District (CJAD) approved a new three-year contract with Life Support last week.

New Washington CJAD Representative Steve Aichholz brought the issue to the village council after having discussed it at the previous CJAD meeting. He reported to his fellow council members that Bucyrus planned to pull out of the CJAD by the end of the year in order to run its own ambulance service out of the fire station, which has been in a mutual aid agreement with Life Support.

Of the 233 9-1-1 calls Life Support responded to in March, 154 of them came from the city. The next largest group of calls stemmed from Liberty Township with 14, and Whetstone and Chatfield townships with 13 each. Aichholz used the January numbers to showcase the disparity between Bucyrus runs and the rest of the district: 166 calls for the city compared to a combined 80 calls for the rest of the district.

“It’s not hard to imagine what Life Support will do when Bucyrus pulls out,” Aichholz reportedly said at the meeting.

CJAD president Jamie Sherk, a Liberty Township trustee, expressed similar frustrations over the news.

“If they pull out of the ambulance district, it’s going to mess everything up for the whole county,” Sherk said frankly. “It’s going to leave us with a big bill.”

One of the biggest benefits of going with Life Support was the zero subsidy in the contract, a deciding factor in the CJAD’s decision to go with the ambulance service in 2014 after LifeStar asked for a $210,000 subsidy per year. That perk could go by the wayside if Bucyrus pulls out and, instead, be replaced with a $600,000 subsidy, a number estimated by Sherk.

“If they pull out of the district, we’ll have to rewrite the contract, we’ll have to rebid the contract. Just my guestimation (sic), probably a $600-700,000 subsidy,” Sherk said. “Then the townships will have to pay for that.”

Sherk pulled no punches when it came to the matter of Bucyrus dropping out of the CJAD.

“It’s going to screw the whole county,” Sherk said. “I just hope that when it gets to council, they’ll use their heads and see the light.”

Despite the rumors flying around, Mayor Jeff Reser cautioned that no decisions have been made by the city.

“We are looking at all our options but we haven’t decided on any course of action as of yet,” Reser said. “We want to make efficient use of the tax dollars provided for us by our hard working residents and, at the same time, we want to be sure that the townships have options.”

Reser pointed out that Crestline and Galion currently operate their own EMS departments. He added that Bucyrus was one of the few cities of its size not to have EMS as part of its service.

“We are discussing the possibility of adding this service but we are not ready to make a decision,” Reser concluded.

Though the CJAD has already voted in favor of the three-year contract with Life Support EMS, the ambulance service still needs to agree to the deal.

Editor’s note: The matter of Bucyrus dropping out of the Central Joint Ambulance District was first discussed at the April 19 CJAD meeting.

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