Treutlen Board of Commissioners Approve New Term for Ambulance Rental

The Treutlen County Board of Commissioners reapproved its yearly contract with Atrium Health Navicent EMS to rent ambulance services for the county during their regular meeting on July 1 in Soperton.

Navicent currently provides Treutlen County with rented ambulance services through a yearly contract. According to Board Chair Phil Jennings, the previous contract with Naviscent would expire a few days after the board’s meeting.

In addition, the contract’s terms are set to expire in 2027 and will require renegotiation if the county wishes to continue to use Naviscent’s services.

“We’re on the last term for Naviscent,” said Jennings.

Commissioner Rodney Meeks offered a motion to reapprove the contract with Naviscent, which passed unanimously.

The reapproval came following a proposal by County Manager Joseph Glenn on June 1 to add a second ambulance to Treutlen County. Under the contract with Naviscent, Treutlen County only rents one ambulance.

According to Glenn, the lack of two ambulances in the county results in “major risks” for residents, such as longer response times and an increased strain on local first responders. Glenn also said the issue has caused the county to overuse mutual aid from other counties, resulting in some mutual aid calls being denied.

“The one that bothered me the most is there was one call that was actually denied for mutual aid, until one person on the scene made a personal phone call,” said Glenn. “It took a personal phone call from somebody that was on the scene to get out to that call.”

Glenn presented the board with three options to raise the number of ambulances in the county up to two: the first seeing the county rent a second ambulance from Naviscent, while the second and third see the county purchase a new ambulance and either hire or contract out operators.

While Glenn said he would provide the board with more concrete numbers on each option during the July meeting, he could not attend the meeting in person. Rather, he attended via telephone, and no discussion on the ambulance issue took place.

The county also reviewed a singular bid for pipe work on roads damaged by Hurricane Helene and its aftermath. According to Jennings, the roads in need of repair were divided up based on funding applicability, and only four of the 16 roads were eligible for FEMA funds due to damage from debris trucks.

“We had asked, ‘Damaged roads because of the debris removal trucks: would they be covering that too?’” said Jennings. “And they have come back and said, ‘No, they will not be.’”

FEMA’s current extension for funds also has a deadline for road work to be completed by Sept. 30, 2026.

The bidder, Hooks Construction, submitted a quote for five roads, including the four roads qualifying for FEMA funds and one not qualified. However, because the bidder’s quote included the fifth road, the board could not approve the bid.

The board called Treutlen County EMA Director Justin McNure and asked him to clarify the bid and FEMA’s requirements, so the board could make a decision on the matter at a later date.

Jennings also suggested the county could pursue bonds for contractors in the future to protect county roads from heavy equipment.

“If we bring contractors into the county to do work, and they’re going to be working heavy equipment stuff, we do need to make sure that we can get them bonded if they destroy roads or something,” said Jennings. “Then we can go back in and deal with that.”

Commissioner Hollis offered a motion to approve the county’s sole bid for a CBDG project, which passed unanimously. The approval did not commit any funds, but instead allowed the bidder to move forward with architecture planning.

“We’re still well out in front before the county’s got to spend any money on anything,” said Jennings.

She also offered a motion to approve a new business license, which passed unanimously.