Havre City Council sets ambulance service, building permit fees

Havre City Council set fees for ambulance service during its meeting Monday.

The minimum fee for ambulance services — basic and advanced life support — will be $700 and $800, respectively. $20 will be charged for each one-fourth hour or part thereof for stand-by time on an ambulance call. 

In addition to the fees for life support, an additional $13 per loaded mile will be charged for any calls which originate or conclude outside the Havre City limits.

For events requiring an ambulance to be on-site, the fee will be $130 per hour charged for stand-by time. If the ambulance is not needed, two emergency medical technicians may be requested to attend for $80 per hour. Additional attendants will cost $40 per hour for each attendant.

In May, the council approved an interlocal agreement with Hill County for ambulance services outside city limits. Mayor Tim Solomon said at that meeting there is no exact boundary line for how far service will extend outside city limits, but that this is intended to serve the east half of Hill County.

The council passed Resolution No. 3834 Monday night, adopting the Montana Department of Labor and Industry building permit fee schedule

Havre Finance Director Doug Kaercher said Monday those fees will be set based on when the state adopts the current building permit fees.

At the May meeting the council approved modifying the calculation of building permit fees, which had not been updated since roughly 1991. The ordinance allows for periodic adjustment to the building permit fee schedule by resolution.

Council member Andrew Brekke said in May the increase in fees would be minimal.

“They could actually change based off this, every time the state changes, as soon as you adopt the same building codes the permits will go with them at the same time,” Kaercher said Monday. “Like, right now, we’re on the 2018 building codes and we’ve adopted that and that’s where the state is at. The state will come along and adopt 2019 or 2020’s building codes, and in those building codes are the permit fees.”

Kaercher said the only caveat to Havre’s fees changing automatically when the state makes a change is the city could set the local fees to less than the state fees if they are generating more revenue than needed, such as to pay for inspecting the buildings.

The council also approved several board appointments.

Brekke will serve on the planning board for a two-year term. Terri Kaercher and Delores Noffsinger will have five-year terms with the Havre City-County Library Board. Christy Smith, Shawn Solomon and Jeremy Siemens will all serve on the Zoning Board of Adjustments for three years. Mark Bosch was appointed to the Police Commission for a three-year term.

The council also passed Resolution No. 3836 for the cancellation of warrants more than a year old and approved the bid by city attorney Tamara Barkus for civil and prosecutor services. Kaercher said prosecutor services went up $500 per month.