BAKERSVILLE — The Mitchell County Board of Commissioners continues to take concrete steps toward reaching an agreement with Watauga Medics to be the county’s next EMS provider.
The board, during its regular meeting on Monday, March 1, discussed a proposed contract with Watauga Medics that County Attorney Lloyd Hise said he plans to finalize in time for the board to review ahead of its next regular meeting on Monday, March 15.
Hise and other county representatives met with Watauga Medics Director Craig Sullivan late last month to discuss the proposed contract.
Hise said the bid price for Watauga Medics is expected to clock in at $1.440 million, which is down from the $1.455 million bid the organization made last year before the county ultimately accepted a bid from Lifeguard.
“We did get a little bit of a reduction,” Hise said.
Hise said Watauga Medics, which would locally become known as Mitchell Medics, LLC, would provide four new ambulances that are Ford F350, Chevy 3500 or larger.
“It will be all new,” Hise said.
In addition, vehicles would be stocked with ample IV pumps and all of the latest equipment mandated by the state.
Additionally, Sullivan has agreed to keep all employees on staff that were employed before the county sent the termination notice to Lifeguard. These employees would make the same amount of money they made under Lifeguard.
“He made no commitment to people who have come on since then, but he said he’d interview everybody,” Hise said. “His commitment is to those who were there in February.”
Hise said the contract also addresses any transportation issues by setting the schedule as such that the county isn’t left with just one ambulance on the road at any given time.
Greene and representatives from Lifeguard will continue to negotiate the official end date of the organization’s service to the county. After that, the Watauga Medics contract could take effect.
The proposed contract is for five years, keeping Watauga Medics in place through 2026 but either side could terminate the deal with six months of notice.
A new addition to the EMS contract is the option to extend the deal for two years at any time 12 months before the expiration date. While the deal can be extended by two years during this time, a consumer price index adjustment would be required in such an instance.
“The price doesn’t change for five years, which is a good deal for us,” Hise said.
Watauga Medics would use the county’s facility and the two sides would have a maintenance and repair agreement.
Additionally, Watauga Medics would retire ambulances once they reach 175,000 miles.
Watauga Medics is also expected to draft ambulance design sketches to submit for approval soon and a purple and white color scheme to match the Mitchell High colors has been discussed and considered.
The commissioners agreed to carefully review the proposed contract and list any questions or concerns with it ahead of the board’s next regular meeting.