11-23-2017 Special ambulance meeting brings Hartford Township officials up to date; supervisor advi

RACE RIGHT OVER… Biscuits & gravy, breakfast sandwiches, turkey club wraps, panini sandwiches, salads and much more are on the menu at Mike’s Pit Stop located at 330 E. St. Joseph St. in Coloma. Owners pictured here, Mike and Laura Mullins, opened to the public on Aug. 22, 2017. They invite all to stop by Monday thru Friday 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to 12 noon. Customers can call ahead at (269)468-6022 for an order to be ready for pick up when they get there.

Special ambulance meeting brings Hartford Township officials up to date; supervisor advises “Stay the course” with Medic 1 while City searches for new ambulance service

By Jon Bisnett

After well over a year of debate, recent events involving Medic 1 Ambulance service have been moving quite quickly prompting Hartford Township Supervisor Ron Sefcik to call a special meeting Friday, November 17 with just the minimal legal notice to bring his board up to speed on the latest developments.

The City of Hartford stated its intentions to opt out of Medic 1 ambulance service on their contract date of February 28, 2018. They have actively posted a Request for Proposals (RFP) to find a replacement. The ripple effect on Watervliet and Hartford townships resulted in what is now being called an ultimatum from the Medic 1 Board of Directors. Board Chairman Pete Sinclair told the two townships they could either talk Hartford into reversing their decision to leave, or come up with $114,000 annually to offset the loss of the city business. The date of July 31, 2018 was the date on which service would be terminated to the two townships.

Watervliet held a special meeting November 15 during which Supervisor Dan Hutchins was authorized to attend the Medic 1 Board meeting to make the township position clear in the fact they were not willing to pay any additional offset for the City of Hartford’s exit. Should Medic 1 stand firm on the terms Sinclair had stated, Hutchins was further authorized to begin talks with Pride Care ambulance who currently services Watervliet City, Four Winds Casino, Bangor, Sister Lakes and North Berrien including Coloma, Coloma Charter Township and Hagar Township.

Sefcik went on to say the Medic 1 deadline for service cutoff has now been moved up to February 28 as a result of the most recent action taken by Watervliet Township.

Faced with a charge of $114,000 to stay, Sefcik told his township board that Hartford City has done all the legwork by posting RFPs in both the Tri-City Record and the Herald Palladium. To Sefcik’s knowledge, the City has seen response from five service providers including VBEMS, Pride Care, Life EMS of Grand Rapids, AMR and Medic 1.

Sefcik recommended the board “Stay the course,” and allow the City to get back proposals in mid-December before taking any further action. The board will review the City’s findings.

In closing the meeting Sefcik was quoted as saying, “I personally can look at this whole Medic 1 deal and understand the dollars and sense of it all, but I still don’t have to like it.”

Death Cafe comes to Van Buren County

 Death is a normal part of the life cycle; it’s time to talk about it. Death Cafe is a “lively” conversation over coffee and cakes with no agenda, except to change the conversation around death so that people can make the most of their lives.

Funerals, fears, body farms or family issues… talk about it! The objective of Death Cafe is to ‘increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives.’

Death Cafes began in England and have now moved to the United States. This is not a grief group, nor does it support any religious views on the afterlife.

The public is invited to Death Cafe this Sunday, Nov. 26, 3-5 p.m. It meets at Artes & Craft store, 67103 Red Arrow Hwy, Hartford.

For more information, visit deathcafe.com or email Teresa at teresa.smithers@ymail.com.