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Photo by Cleon RIckel/The Ottawa Herald
Norman Wooge, rural Ottawa, urges Franklin County Commissioners Wednesday to keep an ambulance stationed at Wellsville next year, which commissioners did on a 3-2 vote.
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County to keep ambulance at Wellsville
By CLEON RICKEL, Herald Senior Writer
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The county commission said yes Wednesday to keep an ambulance in Wellsville but no to a donation from a bank to supply a gas card for it.
Commissioners voted 3-2 to keep a satellite ambulance station at the Wellsville Fire Department next year.
Commissioner Don Hay offered a motion, seconded by Commission Chairwoman Sue Farrell, to bring the ambulance back to Ottawa when the contract with Wellsville ends at the end of the year. That motion failed on a 2-3 vote.
“If you do this, you’re going to have to put ambulances in Pomona, Richmond, Williamsburg, Princeton and Lane,” Hay said. All of the county’s ambulances should be centrally located at Ottawa to provide the best service, he said.
A study done for the county by the Kansas Board of Emergency Medical Services says the most feasible option is to keep all the ambulances in Ottawa, he said.
Commissioner Don Stottlemire said he agreed with Hay that eventually, satellite stations will be placed in other Franklin County communities.
“I think it would be a very good idea,” he said.
Commissioner Ed Taylor said Nick Robbins, Franklin County EMS director, has said there’s been no detriment to having an ambulance in Wellsville and that it has been a benefit.
“I’m in favor of leaving it at Wellsville,” Taylor said.
Commissioner Roy Dunn said when he voted to move an ambulance to Wellsville, he looked at population demographics rather than ambulance runs.
Having an ambulance at Wellsville, one of the fastest-growing parts of the county, means most of the county’s residents are now only a few minutes away from an ambulance, he said.
Earlier in the year, commissioners decided on a 3-2 split to include money in the budget next year for the ambulance but decided to have a formal vote Wednesday. The ambulance was moved from the Ottawa Fire Department to the Wellsville Fire Department in January for one year on an experimental basis.
The second vote, which was to leave the ambulance at Wellsville next year, was 3-2, with Taylor, Dunn and Stottlemire voting for and Hay and Farrell voting against.
Prior to the vote, citizens who attended Wednesday’s meeting also were split.
Norman Wooge, rural Ottawa, urged commissioners to leave the ambulance in Wellsville, noting that Wellsville citizens are puzzled and frustrated by the county’s apparent waffling.
“They have spent time and money and provided a place to house the ambulance,” Wooge said. “... You should vote to protect progress and Wellsville’s growth.”
Gene Hirt, Williamsburg, who is a candidate for the commission, said a vote to keep the ambulance would be bad policy and would spur demands from other communities for satellite ambulance stations.
“You will have to be accountable to the taxpayers,” he said. “This ambulance belongs to them, not one or two commissioners.”
Helen Hood, whose husband, David Hood, also is a commission candidate, said the ambulance should be brought back to Ottawa — a view that also has been expressed by David Hood.
Commissioners also split 3-2 on a proposed gift by Wellsville Bank — but this time, they chose not to accept it.
The Wellsville Bank had offered the county a $5,000 gift to pay the fuel costs of the ambulance stationed at Wellsville.
County Administrator Lisa Johnson said there’s no state law concerning the legality of the gift offer.
The bank’s offer could be likened to a grant, she said.
“The county accepts numerous grants every year,” Johnson said.
However, Hay called the bank’s offer a bribe.
‘That’s exactly what it is,” Hay said.
“I think it’s bad policy,” Farrell said. “I don’t think it looks good.
“I’m not in favor of accepting the money.”
Stottlemire and Dunn voted to accept the gift.
With the vote tied at 2-2, Taylor, who was acting as temporary chairman because Farrell was losing her voice, paused for a long time.
He finally voted not to accept the money.
“I’m in favor of the ambulance station (at Wellsville) but I don’t think we should take the money,” he said.
“I would like to say I appreciate the bank making this offer.
“It’s a generous offer ... but I think the county should pay for it.”
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