MILFORD – Milford Council members signed their 2012 ambulance service contract Monday with a mix of resignation and optimism.
In its contract with Milford, Multi-Township Ambulance Service says it will keep an ambulance in town for 24 hours a day as long as it can afford it, and reserves the right to cut in-town hours down to eight if finances dry up. In that case, Milford would be served from the Leesburg station for the other 16 hours, adding a few minutes to response time.
Council members hoped for a guarantee that in-town coverage will not drop, but after learning how much more it would cost, saw little alternative to renewal.
“We don’t have any leverage,” Dan Brown, with the Milford Redevelopment Commission, advised the council. “We have to provide continuation of service, so we have no choice but to sign it.”
But he expressed confidence that a cut in in-town hours seemed unlikely.
“I would be surprised if they cut back to eight hours immediately. I don’t think that’s their intent,” Brown said. “Their intention is to provide us with as much service as they can.”
He added that Milford was still “getting a real bargain” for its $58,000 yearly subsidy to M-TEMS. That’s only a third of what other towns, like Bourbon, pay, he said.
Milford would have to raise its subsidy by $75,000 to $127,000 to guarantee 24-hour in-town service for all of 2012, Brown told the council.
Council member Gary Hurd sighed audibly at the figure.
“If we can’t come up with that amount of money, we’ll get whatever they can provide,” he remarked. During the vote to renew he added, “I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.”
Hurd was recognized at the beginning of the meeting for his retirement from the council at the end of the year. Council President Bob Cockburn presented him with a plaque for his eight years with the town.
Departing Clerk-Treasurer Charlotte Siegfried also was recognized for her 16 years with Milford.
Dan Cochran was elected to the open council seat in November, and Joellen Free elected for the clerk position.
Also during the meeting, Utilities Superintendent Randy Veach announced the winners of the Christmas decorating contest he helped organize earlier this month. Billy Hesketh won the people’s choice award for residential lights, Turf Bar for business lights and Harvest with a Heart for animated display.
Among judges’ choices, Hesketh won for residential lights and T-Zone for business lights. About 20 people and businesses participated, which Veach and council members said was good for the contest’s first year.
