City considers ambulance service, bill-pay service

Committees meet and discuss variety of issues facing Gentry

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

— Three committees met July 26 and discussed matters ranging from a new option for residents to pay their water bills to the likelihood the city will need to begin paying a price for ambulance service.

The water and sewer committee discussed a proposal from Walmart to provide a service whereby city water and sewer customers could pay their city bills at Gentry’s Walmart store or any other Walmart store in the nation.

The proposed service would not replace currently-offeredpayment options but provide another convenience for customers.

The only cost to the city for the service would be a one-time setup fee of $500 ($2,000 if the city should choose a directsend option) and funds would be transferred to the city within one to three business days.

Cost to the customer for the service would be 88 cents for the standard option and $1.88 for a next-day option.

The committee requested the mayor further research the service, including contacting other cities which use the service, and report back at the next committee meeting.

Convenience for water customers was one of the reasons considered as a positive point for enrolling in the service. Customers who are shopping at Walmart could pay their citybills while there and not need to mail them in or make a trip to the city offices. An online option is also included through the service.

Another convenience mentioned by Mayor Kevin Johnston is the option of paying city bills even while away on business orvacation. Customers would still need their city account numbers to use the service.

It is likely the city will soon have to enter into a contract with Siloam Springs and paya fee in order for city residents to continue to have ambulance service.

Though Siloam Springs has been providing ambulance service in Gentry withoutcost to the city, that is expected to change, withGentry required to help cover the costs of ambulance calls within the city. The county is already helping with costs of calls outside city limits and some cities are contracting with other cities for service, Gentry Fire Chief Vester Cripps said.

One informal proposal suggested by the Siloam Springs fire chief as a starting point for discussions would charge the city $12,000 per year for up to 200 ambulance calls within the city. The city would be assessed $200 per call for calls exceeding 200.

The cost to the city to operate its own ambulance service would far exceed that amount, Cripps said. He estimated the city would not be able to operate its own ambulance service for under $100,000 per year.

Committee members agreed they did not want to see the city lose its ambulance service over 12 to 15 thousand dollars.

The truck turnaround issue was also discussed at last Tuesday’s committee meetings. Johnston told committee members he had contacted Dean Green of McKee Foods, and they would be looking at all options to alleviate the problem of common carrier trucks backing out across Arkansas Highway 59 when trains block the tracks. Johnston said they would be looking to find the safest affordable wayto address the problem.

The matter will be brought back to the committee for additional discussion and a recommendation to the council.

“We need to make sure we don’t create another problem when addressing this one,” Johnston said.

The sale of a 1970s pump fire truck was also discussed. Cripps said a $1,000 bid had been received from Gallatin Fire Department but no one else had expressed interest.

The fire committee recommended that Cripps seek additional bids and then bring the highest bid back to the council for approval in September.

News, Pages 1 on 08/03/2011