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Belpre City Council approves EMS contract

By Evan Bevins 3 min read

BELPRE - Belpre City Council on Monday unanimously approved the second and third readings of a resolution authorizing a contract with a nonprofit entity to provide emergency medical service in the city.

Council also heard a request from the police chief for funding to upgrade the city’s information technology infrastructure after a recent computer system crash.

The second reading of the EMS resolution was tabled on a 4-3 vote during a special meeting last week. On Monday, council voted 7-0 to bring the resolution off the table, amend it to address concerns previously raised by council members and approve it on second reading.

A unanimous vote to suspend council rules and go ahead with the third and final reading was followed by another 7-0 decision to approve.

“We had a lot more transparency on these three measures,” Councilman Steve Null said. “Things go a lot smoother whenever we’re given information ahead of time.”

City officials said the board of City of Belpre EMS Inc., which would provide the services, approved the changes at a meeting that afternoon.

Councilwoman Lyndsay Dennis, chairwoman of the Police and Fire Committee, said the changes dealt with requirements of in-person reporting and specifying potential future changes to the agreement would come before council.

“This was essentially in the contract to begin with but they wanted clearer verbiage,” she said via email after the meeting.

Belpre Police Chief Michael Stump asked council to reappropriate money budgeted for a new police cruiser, plus $100,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds, to upgrade technology for his department and others in the city.

After a system crash last month, Stump sought the input of Greg Brewster, president/CEO of Parkersburg data and technology company iDATP. Stump and Brewster told council members the city’s IT infrastructure is outdated and unable to make the most of the services and programs it has now, let alone newer technology.

Wiring at the city building is rated for a lower speed than what is standard now, Brewster said.

“That wouldn’t even really suffice (for) the internet that you’re currently paying for,” he said.

Different city departments have different programs, many of which are outdated, Brewster said. It would be more efficient for them to all be part of the same system, he said.

And Stump warned that if there’s another significant problem, the Police Department’s data could be lost.

“It’s not something that we want,” he said of the requested upgrades. “It’s something that we need.”

Councilman Dave Ferguson said the request would be discussed at a meeting of the Finance Committee, which he chairs, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 24, prior to the next council meeting.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.

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