by Matt Marquardt –
MASON CITY – The Mason City Council met Tuesday night and agreed to purchase a Type II ambulance. According to memos from City Administrator Brent Trout, the City normally buys a a Type III ambulance, which he says the City attempts to do each year but has not for a number of years. He says the main difference between a Type II and a Type III is that a Type II is a van chassis.
“When using a Type II ambulance you give up storage space and most importantly access to both sides of your patient which can be critical when working with a trauma patient,” Trout wrote. He also said the need for the larger Type III ambulance will continue on but “the Type II ambulance has its place in our fleet and is considerably less expensive.” The Type II will also be less expensive to operate especially in longer distance patient transfers.
The model is a 2012 Ford E-350 Type II ambulance, from Foster Coach Sales out of Sterling, Ill. at a cost of $55,701.
The council approved the purchase with no discussion.
The council also approved payment to Larson Contracting of Lake Mills for their work on the East Park Band Shell. The total amount the renovations cost was $62,231.90 with change orders included.
Sources tell NIT that the Band Shell has suffered more vandalism recently. Band Shell volunteer and fundraiser Janice Easley this past weekend was at the band shell to watch over and guard newly-poured concrete at the band shell. She told NIT she sat for several hours to make sure no one marked it up. She said she came back the next day, and someone had damaged the concrete.
In other business, the Council heard a presentation from North Iowa Corridor Director Brent Willet on an economic development plan, the same presentation he gave the Cerro Gordo County Supervisors that morning. The plan involves new tactics to lure business to North Iowa and the evolving expectations of business leaders when choosing a site.
Mason City Police Chief Michael Lashbrook was presented with a helmet by Pam Osgood and David Guetzko of the River City Morning Kiwanis.
Main Street Mason City’s Kara Barrett presented the organization’s quarterly report to the Council. She said in the last quarter, there has been “a net zero growth in jobs” in the Mason City downtown area, sometimes known as the “cultural crescent.”
Click here to read council agenda / packet.
Watch video of entire meeting:
I am going to agree with “Sherlock” on this one! Young Mr Willet used words and phrases that haven’t seen the “light of day” in many a year…and for what purpose, we all know he is “school” educated. I thought it was even worse when council person Kuhn asked young Mr Willet to explain another of his “strategies” for members of the audience, and could he do it in a manner that “we” could understand. Unfortunately there was another round of “what did he say” from the audience…and from the looks on several of the council members faces, he had snowed them under again as well!
A lawyer friend of mine told me a long time ago that the medical profession and lawyers everywhere wanted to make the “public” understand that “they” were special and thus decided that they would “create” their own language and thus a “shoulder blade” became a scapula and a law case became a bunch of “where as(es) and wherefores”! It would appear that young Mr Willet has decided that he needs a “special” language all his own to use and befuddle the rest of us out here in the cheap seats…I think we can all agree that he has acheived his goal!
Didnt they just get an ambulance this spring?
What a fricken joke for our city the way beermeyer and trout sit cocky and stupid
Could someone please translate all the bla, bla, bla bla bla, bla bla, bla that came out of Willet’s mouth. I got bored and stopped listening.
It doesn’t get any better here:
http://www.northiowacorridor.com/2015strategicpriorities
This, this is what we are pinning our hopes on for job growth? An educated dummy with a huge descriptive vocabulary that doesn’t communicate effectively.
Apply the KISS principle.
Take this strategic plan into WalMart and ask any person in any checkout line what it means.