The DeWitt County Board took another step forward Thursday night in its pursuit of developing a new county wide ambulance service.
By a 10 to 1 vote, the Board approved the formation of an Ambulance Advisory Committee. Board Chair Melonie Tilley explains the purpose of the committee will be to bring forward a plan for the new ambulance service.
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Over an hour of the Board's regular monthly meeting was devoted to the formation of the new committee, which followed a special work session on the topic held last week. Much of the debate centered on the makeup of the committee. Tilley notes the committee could have been made up of County Board members, or representatives from the public. It was decided that public representation would be the best course of action.
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What was originally proposed as a five member committee eventually morphed into a nine member committee. The expansion occurred primarily due to concerns voiced by Board member Dana Evans over all parts of the county receiving fair representation.
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Tilley says the new nine member committee will be composed of representations from the five fire departments included in the new ambulance service area, as well as DeWitt County CenCom & E-M-A, and two at large members. There will also be a County Board member appointed as a non-voting member of the committee.
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The County Board also voted 11 to 0 to pay the members of the Ambulance Advisory Committee 20-dollars per meeting plus mileage. No one was officially appointed to the committee. That's expected to take place at a special meeting of the DeWitt County Board that has been set for 7pm on May 3rd.
The DeWitt County Board has until the end of the year to adopt a plan for ambulance service for much of the county as the Dr. John Warner Hospital has announced it's ending the current service at that time. Voters overwhelmingly approved a tax referendum in March to fund the new service.
