New Ambulance for South Shore Given Green Light

The South Shore Fire Department will get a new, frontline ambulance for both fire and rescue, but the approval didn't come without some heated discussion.

Trustees Karen Albeck, Gary Feest and Jerry Garski all spoke up during the July 7 meeting of the Fire/EMS Oversight Committee about the lack of retrofit bids that Garski said may have saved the residents of both Mount Pleasant and Sturtevant thousands of dollars.

"Well, we really don't know," Albeck said. "And I really don't know which way I would have voted, but we didn't have all the information and that is the point."

Approval for a new ambulance was first handed down by both village boards in February 2010 so fire department personnel could determine their needs, put together the specifications for the new vehicle and send out requests for proposals. In March 2011, the Mount Pleasant Finance/Legal/License Committee reviewed South Shore's recommendation and moved it forward to the village board.

In April 2011, Garski, who has a background in trucks and other types of utility vehicles, suggested that South Shore Fire Chief William Bouma and Battalion Chief Jon Keiser explore remounting the 1998 ambulance they're looking to replace.

Remounting means using the original chassis with modifications and then mounting either a new back or replacing the original bus with the necessary changes to meet the needs of the department.

"If you have the chance to save taxpayers $30,000 to $50,000 then why not do it?" Garski asked at the meeting.

But Sturtevant Trustee and committee member John Johnson said he is not comfortable with the retrofit option because one vendor said the modifications needed would be too extensive.

"We have someone telling us it would be too much work," he said. "Given what is required of this vehicle, I feel the remount is too risky."

Adding to the issue is the amount of time allowed for bids to go out and be returned. While most bid periods are at least 30 days, especially when remount vendors are all out of state and an inspection of the ambulance is required, this bid period was at most 14 days and at the least was 10 days.

"I, too, am troubled with the short amount of time for the bid process," said Sturtevant Village Administrator Mark Janiuk, a member of the oversight committee. "But I don't like the remount so I move that we approve the purchase of a new ambulance."

Mount Pleasant Village President Carolyn Milkie asked to amend the motion so it reads that a new ambulance purchase is approved and that the next vehicle, a 2001 model, gets bid out as a remount. That could happen as early as next year.

The motion passed unanimously and the purchase will go before both village boards for final approval. South Shore's new ambulance will be stationed at either the new station on Old Green Bay Road or at the Sturtevant station adjacent to Village Hall.

Editor's Note: In a previous version of this story, it was incorrectly stated that the maximum number of days for the bid would have been 24 when it is actually 14. Bids were emailed out on June 20, mailed on June 21 and expected back by June 30. The deadline was then extended to July 6. We regret the error.