Ledyard — With the end of the fiscal year fast approaching, the town’s search for its future ambulance service provider is picking up steam.

On Wednesday, town officials tasked with vetting the bids of ambulance companies met for the first time since bid proposals were opened earlier this week, and were left with some interesting options.

In the end, three groups responded to the request for proposal that was issued last month, American Medical Response, American Ambulance, and, somewhat surprisingly, the Ledyard Volunteer Emergency Squad or LVES, which had been providing services before an alternative was sought.

American Medical Response, who town officials eliminated as an option by the end of the meeting, came in with the highest bid proposing a guaranteed maximum price of $380,000 for the first year of providing basic life support ambulance services, the type of ambulance service the town was soliciting. That price would then grow every following year by more than $15,000.

Comparatively, American Ambulance proposed a guaranteed maximum price of $75,000 that would seemingly stay constant, while LVES proposed a guaranteed maximum price of $50,000, to grow by a little over $1,200 in each of the following years through the fifth year of the contract. LVES did not offer a price for any year after year five.

“We’re in a situation where you look at the price across the board, LVES came in with probably the lowest per year cost for the first five years, however they didn’t count out to year 15 and we have concerns about their ability,” said Emergency Management Director Russ Shaw during the meeting, adding that officials also had some questions for American Ambulance as well.

Shaw, along with Finance Director Marcia Hancock and Town Council Chairwoman Linda Davis, are responsible for examining those proposals, and making a recommendation to the Town Council.

Although not technically a municipal agency, since 1972 LVES, a volunteer group, has been responsible for providing ambulance services in town. However, in March town officials began to express concerns about the organization’s unincorporated status and recent struggles responding to calls.

This culminated with town councilors deciding to explore the town’s other options. At the time, Mayor Fred Allyn III said the intention was to shift to having an in-town paid ambulance crew stationed in the emergency services building around the clock.

Despite dwindling the choice down to LVES or American Ambulance, both organizations left town officials with some significant lingering questions.

Aside from not forecasting the cost past year five of the deal, town officials also wondered about what the actual business plan of LVES was in order to provide the around-the-clock service the organization was proposing, namely if it would be switching to full-time paid crews or maintaining volunteers. The group is proposing incorporating as a 501(C)(3) organization, which would allow it to use both employees and volunteers.

Officials also noted that the LVES proposal suggested the town sell its two ambulances to LVES for $1 each and that LVES receive a significant amount of money from the EMS Capital Fund account, which the town owns and LVES has contributed to. If the town were to sell the ambulances it owns in the general market — which it would if it chose American Ambulance — Allyn estimated it could receive about $100,000 to return to town coffers.

LVES also proposed paying some rent to be situated in the emergency services building.

Meanwhile, officials also had questions regarding American Ambulance’s proposal, in particular the group’s approach for providing ambulance standby service. Currently, an ambulance in town is on standby in attendance at several high school athletic events and the Ledyard Fair. Currently this is done at no additional cost.

However, in its proposal American Ambulance stated “no additional costs will be added for standby events” on the condition the ambulance "does not need to be dedicated to the location."

Ultimately, town officials ended the meeting sending additional questions to the two remaining bidders, with plans to reconvene on Monday for further deliberation. Officials hope to have a suggestion ready for next Wednesday’s Town Council Finance Committee meeting.

c.clark@theday.com