By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com
The new contract with the Central Joint Ambulance District is still in its infancy and already there is some discontent in New Washington.
During negotiations, New Washington was told that the village would be placed in the tier 2 level after a satellite station was agreed upon. This tier would have a 13-minute response time. Now there is talk of realigning those tiers, which would adjust New Washington’s expected response time to 17:59.
Village Clerk Julie Cronau reported that a run from Dec. 3 took 19 minutes, which is longer than either of those time frames. There is another ambulance board meeting on Dec. 17. New Washington Council member Jerri Lucius will attend to express concern on the part of village officials.
New Washington’s concern is shared by Auburn Township, also a new member of the CJAD. Township representative John Brown said he too remembers being promised tier 2 status. He confirmed that his group was “not happy” with the current levels of service and lamented the lack of progress in getting the satellite station up and running. Brown asked the village to check their minutes from the meeting when these negotiations took place, to confirm that these levels of service were promised. He also confirmed that he will be attending ambulance board meetings to follow up.
This was the first council meeting in the newly renovated Village Hall. The room looks very nice and council approved the purchase of new chairs for administration and visitors.
The community Christmas Carol night will begin at 5:30 on Dec. 17 at St. John’s. Supper will be at 5:30 with caroling at 7.