News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Fentress County Officials experiencing trouble getting two ambulances delivered to the county that were supposed to arrive in April.
EMS Director Daniel Coleman said the company they ordered from continues to deal with supply chain issues. The company told Coleman they cannot be held liable for the issues. Coleman said that due to the problems, the company has issued several change orders increasing the overall cost of the project as well.
“They did agree to pay for the graphics on one of the ambulances and the graphics to do the other would be $3,131,” Coleman said. “So in total, looks like to get the trucks is going to be an extra $9,375.40.”
Coleman said one ambulance is slated to be finished by late September and the other by late October. The county commission passed a motion to pay the increased costs Monday.
“If you cancel the order, you’re out another two years on trucks,” Coleman said. “And if you essentially, they say if you don’t pay, you don’t get your trucks.”
Coleman said he will be monitoring the situation closely to ensure progress is being made going forward.
“They cannot guarantee that we’re going to have all of our pieces and parts at that same time,” Coleman said. “They say the reason we didn’t get our ambulances whenever they were supposed to be delivered was because Ford didn’t manufacture chassis. And he gave a big long legal term on the manufacturing part, how they can’t be held liable for Ford’s problems. They couldn’t get 40-gallon fuel tanks. They couldn’t get windshield wiper Motors was the other thing they couldn’t get, they said. And he said it’s all dependent on if they have the parts or can get the parts.”
Coleman said the original order was made before he was the EMS Director but from his understanding they originally chose this company because they were told the company had a pre-built ambulance they could get to the county more quickly than the competition.
“You can ask (County Executive Jimmy Johnson),” Coleman said. “I have argued and argued and argued. We was on a call Friday arguing, trying to get him to cover the other graphics as part of their stuff and he just basically refused and said that they would cover one.”
The commission approved a bid from Select Tech Inc. to remount one of the department’s existing ambulances for some $225,000. That work is expected to take about eighteen months from start to finish.
