BENTONVILLE — Benton County’s emergency medical service study is expected to be ready within the next few days, officials were told Tuesday.
Justice of the Peace Frank Winscott told the Quorum Court’s Committee of 13 the study “will be done by the end of this week or early next week” and County Judge Bob Clinard narrowed it further, saying the revised draft of the study is expected back from the consultant Friday.
The county received the initial draft of the study at the end of May and returned it after Clinard and his staff found a number of errors they wanted corrected.
The 100-page draft from the Ludwig Group details the methods used in the study, reviews information about emergency medical operations the county and provides some information on models adopted in other areas.
AT A GLANCE
County Action
The Committee of 13 forwarded to the June 28 meeting of the Quorum Court:
- A payment in lieu of taxes agreement with the Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation to assist in environmental upgrades to the Flint Creek power plant
- Spending $500,000 for additional asphalt for the Road Department’s 2012 paving program
- Spending $6,390 from the Adult Drug Court grant
- Spending $20,000 for remodeling work on the old Juvenile Detention Center for meeting space for the Equalization Board.
Source: Staff Report
The study makes a number of recommendations and includes ways to provide ambulance service to the county’s unincorporated areas. It also includes a hypothetical budget for a county emergency medical services department with startup costs of about $1 million and an annual operating budget of about $2 million. The report suggests a millage increase as a funding source for such a system.
Clinard said his preference for presenting the plan is to meet with the county’s Intergovernmental Council, which includes representatives of the county and its cities.
After that meeting and the evaluation of written comments, Clinard suggested the Public Safety Committee could take the question up for discussion. Winscott, who heads up the committee, said he had no objection to waiting for the results of a review by the Intergovernmental Council.
No schedule for any meetings was set Tuesday. Winscott asked all of the justices of the peace to get a copy of the study as soon as it becomes available and study it so the Quorum Court can begin its work.
The county began working on ambulance service in unincorporated areas of the county in 2009 after Bentonville raised the issue and said it couldn’t continue providing service outside the city without being reimbursed. The county paid $100,000 in 2011 and budgeted $150,000 for 2012 to reimburse ambulance providers as a token of the county’s intention to find a solution.
Bentonville has asked for $400 for each ambulance run into unincorporated areas that results in a patient being transported. No agreement has been reached with Bentonville or other ambulance service providers.