Wrenshall refuses ambulance contribution

In a letter last month to the neighboring city of Carlton, the city of Wrenshall declined to support the Carlton ambulance service as it moves toward adding two full-time positions to a historically volunteer staff.

“After much thought and deliberation, we have come to the conclusion that it would not be fiscally responsible for us to burden our residents with a levy increase of 10 percent to cover your requested contribution of $9,537.13,” said the letter, signed by Wrenshall Mayor Gary Butala.

To date, Wrenshall is the only jurisdiction in the service area to outright decline a contribution. Carlton city officials have worked for more than a year to build support for the $250,000 increase in contributions necessary to add a full-time ambulance manager and a full-time emergency medical technician.

An analysis earlier this year by OakPoint Inc., based in Warren, Minnesota, reported call volumes increasing to a point that would exceed the capacity of a volunteer service. OakPoint recommended the hiring of an ambulance manager and full-time EMT to both work the ambulance during weekday, daytime hours — the most difficult shifts to fill with volunteers. The full-time manager would also coordinate scheduling for the roughly 60-member volunteer service and conduct general business of the service, including grant-writing and fundraising.

A response letter penned to Wrenshall by Carlton city clerk Carol Conway dated Oct. 7 said the city of Carlton understood the importance of making fiscally responsible decisions. To make the point, the letter then noted how Carlton allowed Wrenshall to piggyback onto a recently completed sewer lining project for the purpose of saving Wrenshall money.

“Allowing the city of Wrenshall to join our project realized a savings of $20,000 compared to the August 2022 lowest bid you received,” the Carlton letter said, as a way of comparing money saved against the roughly $9,500 request.

“The whole point was to work together,” said Carlton fire chief Derek Wolf following Wednesday’s Carlton city council meeting.

Wolf was disappointed Wrenshall wasn’t cooperating now. In its letter to Wrenshall, the city of Carlton asked “for even a small portion to be approved for ambulance funding.”

Wrenshall said in its letter that in the future it may “reconsider a financial support contribution to Carlton ambulance, at a more affordable amount.”

Per its state license to provide ambulance service, Carlton is required to service its designated area, but jurisdictions are not required to pay in to fund the ambulance service.

Wolf and Carlton city clerk Carol Conway have secured commitments totaling $219,232 for 2024, and the plan is to first hire the manager to start as soon as possible into the new year. The EMT would follow.

An advisory committee made up of representatives from communities served by the Carlton ambulance service is working to finalize language that would commit jurisdictions to making contributions for three years.

Contributions to the ambulance service are formula-based, taking into account net tax capacity and number of ambulance calls to a jurisdiction. So far, most jurisdictions have agreed to meet the full funding requests. Contributions from jurisdictions served by Carlton ambulance include:

• City of Carlton, $54,023.

• Atkinson Township $5,228

(partial of $9,216 requested).

• Blackhoof Township

$17,096.

• Mahtowa Township $5,001.

• Silver Brook Township

$30,795.

• Thomson Township $19,782.

• Twin Lakes Township

$76,395.

• Sawyer Township $10,909.

As of the end of August, Carlton fire and ambulance was on pace to exceed last year’s record volume of 917 calls. Eighty-five percent of those calls were ambulance-related.

Wrenshall Township is awaiting to learn about state reimbursement for last year’s snow emergencies before it commits to an ambulance contribution. Black Bear Casino Resort is also served by the ambulance service and it’s unknown, at this time, if the casino will contribute to the expansion of the ambulance service.

In April, Wrenshall city councilor Melvin Martindale forecast Wrenshall’s refusal to contribute when he wondered aloud “Why does Carlton have to be in the ambulance business?”

Wolf has said throughout the past year that Carlton doesn’t want to give up its service, and that its volunteers like helping their neighbors.

Its service times to Wrenshall are roughly 10 minutes. Supporters have argued throughout the process that if Carlton ambulance service were dissolved, the Duluth, Cloquet or Moose Lake-based ambulance services that would replace Carlton could not match its response times.

“Ambulance contributions to maintain reliable ambulance coverage is extremely important,” Carlton’s letter to

Wrenshall said. “We hope you reconsider.”