Colfax public safety committee recommends 40-year-old ambulance agreement be updated
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — The existing ambulance service agreement between the Colfax Rescue Squad and the municipalities served is 40 years old, and members of the village board’s public safety committee concur that it’s time to update the agreement.
The service agreement currently in place was executed in the late 1970s or early 1980s, except for the agreement with Wheeler, said Don Knutson, director of the Colfax Rescue Squad, at a meeting of the Colfax Village Board’s public safety committee October 4.
Wheeler signed the agreement with the Colfax Rescue Squad in 2008, and in consultation with attorneys for Wheeler and Colfax, the agreement currently on file was created, he said.
An example of the existing agreement, signed by representatives for Colfax and Elk Mound but not dated, was included in the packet for the public safety committee.
The existing agreement is one page and was typed on a typewriter.
According to the document, Colfax agrees to provide ambulance housing; provide an approved ambulance and adequate equipment; provide trained personnel and any additional training as needed; provide year-end financial statements; and conduct one yearly informational meeting.
Elk Mound agrees to pay to the Colfax Rescue Squad account $2.00 per capita based on the previous official census; payment to be made by March 31 of each year; and to attend the yearly informational meeting.
By way of comparison for the $2 per capita on the existing agreement, the Colfax Village Board has approved a per capita of $22.10 for the 2022 Colfax Rescue Squad budget.
Wheeler
The agreement with Wheeler is two pages, single spaced, and is dated March 3, 2008.
The first page is devoted to the responsibilities of the Colfax Rescue Squad in providing services, and the second page describes Wheeler’s responsibilities.
For example, “Wheeler, in order to comply with its obligation under WI Statute 61.64 to provide emergency medical ambulance service, agrees to assist in the funding of Colfax through annual per capita user fees for this service. The annual user fee shall reflect, as much as possible, a proportionate amount paid for the actual service provided by Colfax based on the latest population estimate from the Wisconsin Department of Administration Demographic Services Center within the contracted area of Wheeler.”
The updated agreement includes a provision that if Wheeler wants to withdraw from the Colfax Rescue Squad’s service area, notice must be given to Colfax on or before October 15, and then the withdrawal would go into effect December 31 the following year, Knutson said.
The reason for the withdrawal not going into effect until more than a year later is so that the Colfax Rescue Squad’s budget would not be thrown out of balance by not receiving the per capita for that year, he said.
The updated agreement also includes the provision that the Colfax Rescue Squad can terminate the agreement by providing notice by October 31. The non-renewal would take effect December 31 the following year.
The updated agreement allows the Colfax Rescue Squad to charge individual patients for service as well and stipulates that the charges will include mileage, supplies, procedures and a base fee.
All of the municipalities served by the Colfax Rescue Squad should have an updated service agreement in place, Knutson said.
The public safety committee approved a motion to recommend that the Colfax Village Board send the updated agreement to the municipalities served by the Colfax Rescue Squad.
Village trustees Margaret Burcham and Jeff Prince, along with Colfax Village President Jody Albricht, serve on the public safety committee.
Burcham is chair of the committee.
Albricht was absent from the October 4 meeting.
Municipalities served by the Colfax Rescue Squad include the Villages of Colfax, Elk Mound and Wheeler, and the Towns of Colfax, Elk Mound, Grant, Otter Creek, Sand Creek and Tainter.
Viking Drive
In other business, the Colfax public safety committee recommended a stop sign be taken out on Viking Drive at the intersection with Riverview Avenue.
The stop sign is not in the village’s ordinances, Prince said.
At one time, the sign was a yield sign, and then it was changed to a stop sign, but it’s not enforceable since it is not in the ordinance, he said.
Prince said he recommended taking out the stop sign and not replacing it with anything.
The traffic on Riverview stops, and the existing stop sign on Viking Drive is on a curve, he noted.
The public safety committee recommended that the village board approve removing the stop sign from Viking Drive.