Council approves ambulance lease

The Whitehall Town Council voted unanimously Monday night to enter in to an agreement to lease the Ambulance Barn, itemized equipment and inventory to Community Beacon of Hope Inc. for a three-month trial beginning March 1.

Beacon of Hope Inc. is under the direction of former Whitehall Ambulance Director Tyler Steinebach.

The decision was made after the Town of Whitehall looked at their options regarding an ambulance service and was unable to sustain their enterprise fund. Mayor Dale Davis explained an enterprise fund has to generate enough money to support itself. Council President Mac Smith said this kind of takes it out of the town’s hands, and Beacon will be operating under their own license, and doing their own billing.

Smith said during the three-month trial, the Town will be looking at the mileage, use of equipment, and things of that nature to determine what the value of the use is so the town will be getting their money back for the ambulance building.

“I think it important to recognize it is a trial period to give Tyler (Steinebach) the opportunity to show the town he can present a viable option to protect the residents of this community and that’s why we did it for a short length of time. That’s why we don’t have some onerous amount that he has to pay at this time, he is starting out, we trust his organization and they have served the town well,” Town Attorney Ed Guza said.

Steinebach said 911 calls are not the only service that they have to offer and there are a lot of needs in this area they are looking into.

“We will work with JVEMS to figure out if there is a good way that works for both of us for calls in general. There are two services in this area and we are going to have to do some talking to make this work. If one service disappears, it affects the other. We have to make sure both services are viable. It’s going to be a matter of maximizing revenue and balancing what the community itself needs,” Steinebach said.

“We will be doing audits throughout, at least quarterly, because we want to know exactly where we are at,” Steinebach added.

Smith explained the new service will be responsible for repairs, utilities, insurance, taxes etc., and this lease is similar to others the town has.

Guza said part of this is to prepare for the contingency or possibility that the Jefferson Valley Rural Ambulance District is approved and Whitehall is the middle of the donut, so to speak.

COUNTRY STORE

Council voted and accepted a donation from the Ladies of the Country Store.

“The Ladies of the Country Store donated $10,000 dollars to be used towards payment of the Ambulance Barn only,” Town Clerk Treasure Summer Fellows said.

She added the donation would cover the loan payments for five months.

“Thank you ladies the Town very much appreciates it,” Fellows said.

PUBLIC COMMENT

During the Public Comment portion of the meeting, Whitehall resident Joel Andrews raised concern about the town budget. Andrews stated he contacted a few offices including the Montana State Financial Services Division. He said Administrator Cheryl Grey wrote a letter that stated the Town of Whitehall is required to submit an annual operating budget, annual financial report and audit report, and that Grey had contacted the town about the delinquent 2016 budget. Andrews said Grey indicated in the letter Fellows had developed the budget for the 2016. Andrews read from the letter, “the 2017 budget had been adopted, but it had not been prepared using the standard budget format and Grey suggested the budget be submitted as is.”

“We (the constituents) are concerned here, and we want a complete audit and Governor Bullock states that in Montana Government his thing is transparency. There is no transparency here, not in our eyes,” Andrews said.

Fellows said the town has opted to do bi-annual audits that are due by March 31, she believes. Fellows said she is currently waiting on the auditor to complete the town’s audit reports, and is not behind on the audit for the fiscal year 2015/2016. Fellows stated the annual financial reports are currently being worked on. Davis extended the offer to have Andrews come in Thursday morning to discuss his concerns.