Clay Ambulance Committee Approves 3-Year Contract With Celina

The Clay County Ambulance Committee has approved a three-year EMS contract with Celina for the county commission to consider.

Celina Mayor Luke Collins said the two entities agreed on a some $464,000 contract with a 2-3 percent yearly increase.

“The employees at the ambulance service are happy about that,” Collins said. “It will help us keep employees, and it will help us to hire more employees.”

Collins said a concern during negotiations was inflation, so the contract includes a 90-day clause to renegotiate. Collins said if a major inflation increase occurred during that time, the city may come back to the county seeking more funding.

“There is some worries from the city’s perspective about inflation,” Collins said. “The last three months, we’ve had inflation rates in the sevens, so we added a clause in the contract.”

Collins said the agreed upon contract was a happy median for both the county and city. Three proposals were considered ranging from $587,100 per year to $446,000.

“It’s competitive,” Collins said. “They can make more money for sure going to these large urban areas, so we just have to do the best we can to encourage these people.”

The county commission will consider the contract for approval in May. The county’s payment to Celina to run the ambulance service is paid monthly to the city.