WISCONSIN RAPIDS, WI (WSAU) — The Wisconsin Rapids city council held a special meeting on Tuesday night to discuss a contract where they would provide the Town of Saratoga and the Village of Port Edwards with ambulance services. The council would approve the contract that will go into effect January 1st.
Mayor of Wisconsin Rapids, Zach Vruwink, believes that this will be a win-win for all involved.
He said, “It’s a dual benefit, mutual benefit. I think it’s a great step for the city to be providing a great level of service to those municipalities, I believe they were provided a great service before, but now it’s at a more competitive rate it sounds like.”
Mayor Vruwink says this will even save the residents of Wisconsin Rapids some money.
“Somewhere in the ballpark of 10 dollars per capita,” Vruwink said. “So, it actually took it from 21 dollars roughly to about 11 dollars per capita, so (it’s) a pretty sustainable savings. We had the capacity to be able to provide the service so it’s not going to result in any additional hiring. So, we’re going to use the existing staff and resources that we have, existing ambulances, and continue to provide that service to the other municipalities.”
The new contract is for 3 years with an option to extend services for up to an additional 4 years.
