CENTERTON — Kelly Copelin said he’ll vote for Benton County’s plan to provide ambulance service in unincorporated areas, but he’s not entirely happy about it.

Copelin said he disagrees with the county’s handling of the issue. He also suggested there could be other ways of paying for ambulance service.

“I think there’s always ways to cut spending in this county,” he said.

Copelin, a county resident who lives near Gravette, was one of more than 50 people who turned out for a meeting Saturday at Centerton City Hall. It was the third in a series of public meetings on the county’s proposal to create an emergency medical services district with an $85 annual fee to be levied on households in the district.

Residents will decide whether to accept the plan in an election Feb. 11.

Those representing the county at the meeting included Bob Clinard, county judge, and five justices of the peace. Susan Anglin, justice of the peace for District 9, hosted the meeting.

“This is an extremely important vote,” Anglin said. “It is your option to decide, do you want ambulance service for sure, or do you want it out there as a question mark.”

Anglin explained the Benton County Quorum Court considered several ways of paying for ambulance service for the unincorporated areas, which the cities have provided for years without compensation. The per-household fee was deemed the best option.

It is not feasible for the county to create its own ambulance service, she said.

“It would take about 47 employees,” Anglin said. “And ambulances are not cheap.”

Several audience members asked questions and expressed skepticism about the plan.

Wesley Vanderhoff asked about those who might not be able to afford the fee.

“What do you tell the single mom who is barely getting by?” Vanderhoff said. “How do you tell her, if you don’t increase your taxes, you won’t get (ambulance) service?”

Pat Adams, justice of the peace for District 6, said the $85 per year breaks down to $7.08 per month.

“That is not going to break anybody,” Adams said. “It’s not a great sum of money.”

Steve Curry, justice of the peace for District 11, said if the county has to use money from reserve to pay for ambulance service, the county will go broke.

“I don’t think $7 per month is too much to ask to make sure your neighbor is taken care of,” Curry said. “We got to stick together, folks — rich, poor or in between.”

Also attending the meeting was county resident Theresa Pockrus, a former county collector who helped organize the petition calling for the Feb. 11 vote.

Pockrus said it seemed the county was making it difficult for residents to vote by limiting the number of voting precincts to 15 for this election. There are at least 45 precincts that have people who live in unincorporated areas.

Justices of the peace said that decision was the Election Commission’s, not theirs.

Benton County has agreed to pay seven municipal fire departments providing rural ambulance service about $942,000 for 2014. The money would ensure the service is available, but not pay the cost of patient care. All of the cities — Bella Vista, Bentonville, Gravette, Pea Ridge, Rogers, Springdale and Siloam Springs — have said they will bill private insurance, Medicaid and Medicare and the patients for the cost of any calls where a patient is transported by ambulance.

The county has no plan in place to pay for rural ambulance service if voters reject the proposed fee.

Ann Snyder, a Centerton resident, said she will be among those working at the polls Feb. 11. Her message for the audience was neither for nor against the fee proposal.

“If you people don’t get out and vote, don’t complain about it,” Snyder said.

Saturday’s meeting was held in conjunction with Centerton Mayor Bill Edwards’ monthly Coffee with the Mayor public meetings at City Hall. Edwards, who’s been mayor since 2011, said it was the biggest turnout he’d ever had for one of his coffee meetings.

The city of Centerton gets its ambulance service from Bentonville for a flat fee of $90,000 per year. Centerton will have its own ambulance service some day, but when that will be is unknown, Edwards said.