BY TOM STEPHENS
Examiner Contributor
The DeGraff Village Council learned during their Tuesday evening meeting that, as it stands, getting emergency medical services for the village will take up about half of the village’s total budget per year.
The village advertised for bids for EMS services after its contract with Riverside EMS was dissolved at the end of February.
Since March 1, emergency medical calls from DeGraff are relayed through the Logan County Sheriff’s Office dispatch system, where the nearest available EMS is called to the scene.
The bids for an EMS contract for DeGraff were advertised and had to be returned to the administrative office by 5 p.m. Monday, where they were to be opened at Tuesday regular’s council meeting.
The council received one sealed bid from Robinaugh Emergency Medical Services of Bellefontaine, which offered two options for service. The first included two full-time on-site staff and equipment and an annual 3 percent increase at the cost of $596,911 per year.
The second option offered a dedicated ambulance from the Bellefontaine office and one paid first responder who lives in the district for $578,787 per year. Both these figures represent approximately one-half of the village’s total budget in a fiscal year.
A representative from the Riverside EMS was in attendance and indicated that he had an unsealed bid that he was willing to offer the council. But at the request of Village Solicitor Zeb Wagner, the council went into a 20-minute recess to research the suggestion, and after reconvening, found that the offer from Riverside EMS could not legally be accepted at Tuesday’s meeting as it didn’t meet the requirements as outlined in the public notice.
Mayor Stephanie Osborne referred the Robinaugh bid to the Finance Committee, which will likely recommend another round of sealed bids.
Village Administrator Ken McAlexander told the Examiner after the meeting adjourned that the village doesn’t have over half a million dollars to spend on EMS services, leaving DeGraff in a no-man’s land when it comes to EMS options for the village.
“The Village of DeGraff currently doesn’t have a (EMS) contract with anyone,” McAlexander said. “It’s whoever the Sheriff’s Department can send. It’s a scary situation at the moment.”
Passed on the second reading Tuesday was an ordinance which approved the write-off approximately $17,000 of past-due utility accounts. McAlexander and Village Clerk Kassandra Staley explained that the statute of limitations comes into play on many of these cases and in others it would cost the village more to litigate than could be recovered.
Council member Sandra Short pointed out that the village did not forgive all of the past-due accounts and that it continues to pursue many cases, having already recovered $50,000 in under-payments, with the expectation of recovering several thousand dollars more of the same.
Another ordinance appointed Zeb Wagner as the village solicitor for one year beginning April 1 and ending March 31, 2024. This was passed in emergency basis without dissent as was an ordinance which amended the schedule of fines for traffic violations in the village.
The next scheduled meeting the next regular meeting of the DeGraff Village Council is scheduled for 7 p.m. April 4 in the Village Hall, 107 S. Main St.
Mayor’s Court
In an ordinance passed on the second reading at Tuesday’s DeGraff Village Council, waiver amounts and Mayor’s Court court costs for minor traffic transgressions in DeGraff — more commonly known as ‘fines’ — in the language of the ordinance “shall be imposed at the following rates”:
• A first offense speeding ticket up to 10 miles an hour over the speed limit? $129. For those going from 21 to 25 miles an hour over the speed limit, expect $175 for the first offense. Anyone busted for going at least 26 miles an hour above the posted limit gets to visit the mayor in person in a courtroom setting.
• Make sure you don’t forget the seatbelt. Drivers who are caught without their seat belt can expect to pay $145, passengers $135 and improper use of child restraints are $170 per.
• As for improper turns or a slow roll through a a stop sign, fines are $150, while other traffic or non-traffic violations come in at $125 per infraction.
• Possession of marijuana or marijuana paraphernalia is $125 per offense.