Streator council will consider bids, fire department proposal for ambulance service at Tuesday meeting

The city of Streator received two bids for its emergency ambulance service, along with a proposal from the Streator fire chief.

The Streator City Council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 14, at City Hall, 204 S. Bloomington St., to discuss its options for providing emergency ambulance service to the community. The City Council meeting was pushed back from June 15 to June 22 to give council members time to research those options after its discussion.

Both bids from private companies exceeded numbers initially proposed by Advanced Medical Transport, the city’s current provider, however, the city seeks to take over the billing process moving forward.

AMT did not submit a bid, as expected. The company said in a recent letter to the mayor and City Council, it won’t stay in Streator long-term, nor will it guarantee staying to Oct. 1, as it initially proposed, after the company took issues with how the city negotiated services.

To provide emergency ambulance personnel to the city’s request over the next three years, Kurtz Paramedic Service Inc. said it would cost the city $3,399,534 and Paramedic Services of Illinois said it would cost the city $3,390,252, which is $9,282 less expensive than Kurtz. Kurtz, however, had a lower bid over the course of five years by $33,876, but City Manager David Plyman had questions about the bid’s calculations.

AMT is a private company that has provided the Streator area with 911 paramedic ambulance service since 2004. During that time, the city has not contracted with or compensated AMT, as the company made its money through its own service.

In March, the ambulance company told Streator the city would need to begin paying annually for it to stay: $400,000 for the first year, $500,000 the second year, $600,000 the third year and $700,000 the fourth year.

The city sought alternatives, including bids from private service providers, as well as the Streator Fire Department.

Streator Fire Chief Gary Bird recommended the city follow a model recently adopted in Pontiac, which combines civilian employees and adding members of the fire department.

Bird said the city could generate $33,638 in revenue over the next three years, assuming it is able to generate income from hospital transfers from OSF Center for Health-Streator and receive federal funds from the Ground Emergency Medical Transport program. OSF utilizes Stark County Ambulance for its transfers, but there are times when the company is too busy with transfers and another company is called. Over five years, the Bird’s proposal would cost the city $67,632, he said.

Plyman is recommending the City Council seek alternatives to the bids received and the council should compare those bids with the fire chief’s proposal.

Plyman said Bird is making assumptions concerning the city’s ability to control labor costs. The city will need to negotiate salaries with its firefighters union, the city manager said.

Plyman also noted a blend of civilian and union personnel requires consent from the firefighters union by Illinois law. Once the city decides to utilize firefighters for EMS services, the city’s ability to use civilian paramedics, whether by contract or direct employment, will be restricted by the Illinois Substitutes Act, the city manager said. He also noted firefighters contract’s are subject to arbitration under Illinois law.

Bird said early discussions with the firefighters’ union indicate the union is willing to keep employee costs in-line with industry standard for the region and suspend the Substitute Act for a period of time. A 17-page document was shared by the Streator Fire Department on its Facebook page, giving full details of Bird’s proposal.