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Min 06/06/1984 459 Wichita Falls , Texas Memorial Auditorium Building June 6, 1984 Items 1 & 2 The City Council of the City of Wichita Falls, Texas, met in a called joint session with the Commissioners' Court of Wichita County, on the above date in the Council Room of the Memorial Auditorium Building at 3:00 o'clock P.M. , with the following members present. Gary D. Cook Mayor Thomas E. Swift Charles Thomas Charles Harper Councilmen Craig A. Wilson Bill Palmer James A. Welburn James Berzina City Manager H. P. Hodge, Jr. City Attorney Wilma J. Thomas City Clerk Fred L. Werner Chief Accounting Officer The invocation was given by Councilman Wilson. Mayor Cook and Judge Tom Bacus called the meeting to order. County Com- missioners present were Bud Greer, Weldon Nix, Dod Wiley, and Gordon Griffith. Mayor Cook announced that the meeting was being held to set up an interim contract for ambulance service. City Manager James Berzina explained that the City has been told by Plumlee that they will cease operations at 8:00 o'clock A.M. , Thursday, June 7, 1984. It is necessary that we proceed with an interim approach. The first proposed contract will be with Wichita County, Burkburnett, and Iowa Park. The County presently pays 50 percent, the City of Wichita Falls pays 42 percent, Burkburnett pays 5 percent, and Iowa Park pays 3 percent of the costs. Mr. Berzina explained and reaffirmed what have been the conditions in the past. The second contract deals with interim period ambulance service with Life Line Emergency Medical Services, operated by Mike Harmon. Lease equipment is now on the way from Fort Worth. Life Line will be paid a subsidy of $18,667 per month. Contract negotiations seem to be proceeding pretty well . It appears that the nucleus of this service will be with the personnel from Plumlee. Mr. Harmon will oversee it until a contract is developed. Councilman Harper asked about the 15-day period? The City Manager ex- plained that they want to space out the subsidy in 15-day increments. Dis- cussion centered around whether this contract would bind the Entities to accept a long-term contract with the contractor. Judge Bacus stated that it does not bind us. The Council agreed to add a sentence at the end of Paragraph IX that would clarify that the Entities would not be obligated to enter into a long- term contract. The Council also agreed to change Paragraph VIII to read that the contractor would be paid $9333.50 for start-up service, and a like amount on the 16th and 31st days. Councilman Swift stated that his first thought is that a person going into a contract like this should have some money of his own with which to operate. Judge Bacus commented that this is a new business. Councilman Thomas noted that Mr. Harmon could not borrow any money, and why not subsidize someone in our local community? It appears that all he has is a birth certificate and a breath of air. Judge Bacus agreed with his concerns. Councilman Thomas stated that through his checks with other people driving ambulances, their thinking is not that great. If he wanted to get rid of someone, he would brag on him. City Manager James Berzina stated that Mr. Harmon has already saved us a lot of money on equipment lease and purchase because he knows where to go to 460 get the information. Their references have consistently stated that he will deliver, and to not be afraid of him because his bid is significantly lower. Councilman Thomas stated that Mr. Harmon has not produced the financial statement yet that he should have produced a month ago. Mr. Berzina stated that this is an interim con- tract, and we can always get out of it if he is not satisfactory. It will cost us $28,000 for the interim contract. We will own the ambulances. Mayor Cook expressed appreciation for the work and recommendations of the staff. RESOLUTION NO. 112-84 RESOLUTION APPROVING INTERIM CONTRACT WITH WICHITA COUNTY, BURKBURNETT AND IOWA PARK FOR INTERIM AMBULANCE SERVICE. Moved by Councilman Wilson that Resolution No. 112-84 be passed. Motion seconded by Councilman Harper. Mr. Berzina noted that the City Manager of Iowa Park has the authority to sign the contract. Gary Bean, City Manager of Burkburnett, stated that he is in favor of this, and that he has the full authority of his Council . The motion was carried by the following vote. Ayes: Mayor Cook, Councilmen Swift, Harper, Wilson, Palmer, and Welburn Nays: Councilman Thomas RESOLUTION NO. 113-84 RESOLUTION APPROVING INTERIM CONTRACT WITH LIFE LINE EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES FOR FURNISHING INTERIM AMBULANCE SERVICE. Moved by Councilman Wilson that Resolution No. 113-84 be passed. Motion seconded by Councilman Palmer. It was noted that the ambulances will be located at the North Beverly, South- west, and Central Fire Stations. Councilman Harper stated that he shares the same concerns as Councilman Thomas, and he has heard the same things. He stated that he will vote for it only because it is an interim contract. Councilman Thomas stated that he will vote against it because Mr. Harmon has not produced the information he should have. The motion was carried by the following vote. Ayes: Mayor Cook, Councilmen Swift, Harper, Wilson, Palmer, and Welburn Nays: Councilman Thomas Mayor Cook announced that the City Council ' s portion of the meeting has been concluded. Judge Bacus commended the City Manager and his staff for the excellent job they have done, stating that they have been the backbone of this matter. They have come down to this recommendation of the Committee as the last and best alternate, rather than going into the business ourselves. He believes the interim contracts will safe- guard the Entities before we enter into any long-term contract. Judge Bacus presented both contracts to the Commissioners. It was moved by Mr. Nix, and seconded by Mr. Greer, that Resolution No. 112-83 be passed. The motion carried unanimously. Mr. Wiley asked if we wanted to change contractors, could we stop it then? Judge Bacus stated that we could. Mr. Nix stated that he feels we are pretty well covered under this contract. Mr. Wiley stated that he feels Mr. Harmon should bring the required instruments. Mr. Nix also likes the 15-day interim pay period. Mr. Griffith favored moving forward on this. It was moved by Mr. Nix, and seconded by Mr. Greer, that Resolution No. 113-84 be passed. The motion carried unanimously. 461 Mayor Cook stated that he appreciated the County coming to this meeting, and is looking forward to working with Life Line on an interim basis. The telephone numbers for ambulance service will be 911 for residents of Wichita Falls, and 322-5611 for other cities. Mr. Berzina introduced Mike Harmon, with Life Line Emergency Medical Services. Mayor Cook welcomed him to Wichita Falls, stating that the City and County have approved interim contracts on an interim basis. Mr. Harmon stated that they have two new ambulances stocked. They will be acquiring one lease car which the City has with one contractor. He stated that they will have a meeting at 4:00 o'clock with Plumlee employees. They want to use local people as much as possible. He plans to have 16 staff members. Mr. Harmon stated that he has been in the ambulance business 11 years. He started in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. He has had undergraduate training at Henderson and SMU. He went with Daniels Ambulance Company. When he left, they had 53 ambulances. He managed the ambulance service in Fort Worth for three years. The City Council and Commissioners' Court adjourned at 3:55 P.M. 1984.PASSED AND APPROVED this i day of / Gar D. Cook, Mayor i ATTEST: Wilma J. Thomas~, City Clerk a