Fair Oaks Ranch City Council will likely see an ambulance contract agreement with Bexar County ESD No. 4 on its Feb. 20 agenda after the city was notified in January that its current ambulance service provider will end that service in April.
Bexar County ESD 4, which already provides fire services to Fair Oaks Ranch, is the best and closest alternative for the city, Mayor Greg Maxton said Monday. He confirmed that its current provider, Acadian Ambulance Service, will not renew its contract with the city and will end service on April 30.
Council members discussed the matter in a workshop at its Feb. 6 meeting, asking for answers to questions surrounding response times, combining the ESD 4 fire and ambulance contracts and the stationing of ESD 4 ambulances in the city, similar to Acadian’s service.
City Manager Scott Huizenga has been negotiating with Bexar County on a short-term agreement “to prevent service disruptions and ensure continued high-quality emergency medical response,” city officials pointed out prior to the Feb. 6 meeting.
The cost to continue service will remain the same; ESD 4 will receive the same $6,125 per month that Acadian currently receives.
The City Council is expected to consider the interlocal agreement at its Feb. 20 meeting, following consideration by the ESD 4 board of directors on Feb. 17.
If all goes according to plan, ESD will begin serving Fair Oaks Ranch on March 1. That would appease Acadian, which has made known its desire to exit the service as soon as possible prior to the contract’s expiration date of April 30.
The interlocal agreement would be structured as a seven- month contract, designed to allow the city to evaluate service performance before making a long-term commitment.
ESD No. 4 launched its own emergency medical service platform on Jan. 1, according to Mayor Greg Maxton.
“We’re working to establish a contract that gets us through September ... and time to renegotiate the fire service and EMS contract” at the same time, Maxton said, combining ESD 4’s services into one pact.
The mayor said residents of Fair Oaks Ranch who live in Kendall County remain in the city’s coverage and would not fall into any county emergency services district, a current discussion among the Kendall County Commissioners Court.
ESD 4 currently has sustainable mutual aid agreements with other fire departments and EMS providers and will maintain those agreements for the duration of the contract with Fair Oaks Ranch.
Maxton said council needs to have a final agreement in place before the Acadian contract expires. Separation from the Acadian contract can begin earlier, Matson said.
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