Talks to house a full-time ambulance crew in the northern tier of Washington County are continuing despite Riverside dropping out of the discussion.

Kalona City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh said Monday that the cities of Kalona and Wellman are still trying to strike a deal with the newly formed Washington County Ambulance Department.

“The cities of Kalona and Wellman are continuing to collaborate with Jeremy Peck and his staff at Washington County Ambulance to help position an ambulance in northern Washington County,” Schlabaugh said. “These discussions have been ongoing and have included city staff, elected officials and members of our volunteer EMS groups.”

On June 1, the Riverside City Council voted 3-2 to break off negotiations, balking at the $125,000 price tag to station the crew in Riverside.

Although the crew would have been based in Riverside, it would still be required to respond to emergencies all over Washington County.

“I think that us paying $125,000 for that vehicle to go to Washington more than us, we’re spending $125,000 for another city to take more advantage of it than us,” Riverside Councilperson Edgar McGuire said at the June 1 meeting.

On Monday, Wellman City Administrator Kelly Litwiller said that housing an ambulance in Riverside would be about the same as the current base in Washington.

“During these discussions there was a possible proposal that Riverside might be willing to house the ambulance in Riverside and fund the monies needed,” Litwiller said. “As for Wellman, I felt that if Riverside wanted to fund the ambulance and house it in their fire station, the city of Wellman was not out anything as the response time would be no difference from Riverside as it would be from Washington, and Wellman would not be paying anything more.”

Schlabaugh said that the city of Kalona’s position is that it makes more sense to have the ambulance centrally located. Litwiller agreed.

“If the city of Wellman needs to help financially, I feel that the ambulance should be stationed centrally in the northern part of the county, and Kalona is the best fit for that,” Litwiller said.

Riverside Mayor Allen Schneider told the council that Kalona and Wellman were unwilling to split the bill because the two cities considered Kalona a better host as a more central location and thought the bill a fair trade for Riverside to disproportionately benefit from a new full-time crew.

On Monday, Litwiller clarified that it was not a case of the cities not being willing to split the bill.

“The city of Kalona nor the city of Wellman never stated they were not willing to help with funding,” she said. “We did feel that if all communities were providing, it needed to be central.”

Schlabaugh said Monday that, ultimately, the decision would be made by Peck and his department.

“They’re the ones driving this decision,” Schlabaugh said. “They’re the experts.”

The new county ambulance department goes into service on July 1.

Schlabaugh said because of that start date, there is some urgency to see a crew in northern Washington County on July 1.

“While nothing has been finalized, there is solid framework through the discussions to allow for action to be taken at the council level in the near future,” he said.