Figures are looking good for the Starke County EMS, as EMS Director Paul Matthewson and Mary Lynn Ritchie told the county commissioners this week that they are currently up 15 percent over last year on incoming funds.
Matthewson said they seem to be in pretty good shape as the end of the year approaches, and despite a high volume of ambulance runs in October, they are relatively up-to-date on billing.
On top of that, Matthewson explained that they are keeping current with billing and working hard to get rid of old debts through collections and write-offs. He said they are working on debts from 2007, and they still need to take care of debts from 2008 through 2010, and then his department will have a more accurate idea of what funds are still out.
The commissioners also heard from Sheriff Oscar Cowen, who requested permission to buy a new vehicle for his department. He said he has been looking at decommissioning a 2006 Ford or a 2008 Dodge police vehicle, and Commissioner Dan Bridegroom recommended having the highway garage take a look at the two and determine which one is in worse shape.
A motion was made and approved to have Cowen retrieve quotes on vehicles from, preferably, local vendors, and Bridegroom also asked Cowen to get quotes on having a crash bar installed on the new vehicle. Cowen said he will return with quotes from local Ford and Chevrolet dealers at the next meeting.
