LEWISTON – A new labor contract with firefighters could open discussions about creating a city-based ambulance service.
The contract, set to go before city councilors Dec. 16, would set wages and costs for a city-based emergency medical service.
Actually creating an EMS service is a policy decision that remains to be made, said City Administrator Jim Bennett.
“If the community and the council decide that is something they want to pursue, that’s a decision that will come down the road,” he said. “This just sets the costs so we can discuss it.”
The city and the local chapter of the International Association of Firefighters have been negotiating a new contract almost since the last one was signed last year.
That contract, which covered the 18 months from June 2001 to December 2002, required firefighters to pay 7 percent of their health insurance premiums but gave them 34-cent, across-the-board raises and retroactive pay increases.
Bennett said the biggest contract item being discussed would allow firefighters to retire after 25 years on the job. All city employees hit retirement age at 65, regardless of the number of years on the job.
That gets tough for someone in a job as physically demanding and challenging as a firefighter, Bennett said.
“You end up requiring people to work when they are more likely to be injured, and injuries like that cost the city, as well. So there is benefit in this for the city,” he said.
The biggest controversy over the contract will likely be EMS services. Bennett began discussing the idea publicly last December. He estimated an additional $1 million in revenue for the city each year from emergency calls for transportation.
United Ambulance Service, a private company, provides EMS and ambulance services for Lewiston now.
Bennett knows his proposal is controversial.
“There are people that don’t even want us to consider it,” Bennett said. “But I think it’s worth at least talking about it. And if the community decides it’s not something we want to pursue, at least we will have made an educated decision.”
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