STEUBENVILLE — City Council approved emergency legislation Tuesday for the purchase of a new ambulance — in 2028.

Fire Chief Carlo Capaldi said to take possession of the new ambulance three years from now, the department needs to place its order as soon as possible to get on the production list.

He said they currently have five ambulances. Adding a new one in 2028 will give them six, but three of them will be eight-years-old.

“We’ll probably retire one,” he said.

That prompted Councilman Royal Mayo to lobby council, albeit unsuccessfully, to hold off on placing the order until they’ve looked into potential grant funding. Capaldi, though, pointed out he’d done as council asked and consulted the city’s grant writer at ASPIRE as well as Ohio Mid-Eastern Government Association and was told that, “due to the lead time involved in ordering an ambulance and having to sign something to place an order, they basically said it didn’t meet the qualifications for any of those grants.”

“It’s needed,” Capaldi added. “And the longer you wait, the longer it takes to get it. Every three years you’re going to need a (new) ambulance, you can’t ‘grant’ your way out of EMS forever. EMS revenue should be spent on EMS stuff, so going forward I think we need an EMS capital equipment fund in the general fund so you know how much of that money is EMS revenue.”

Mayo, though, took exception to deciding ahead of time to retire an ambulance without knowing “what condition it’s in, does it need to be retired.”

“And No. 2, what happens with EMS money is going to be decided by this group here,” Mayo added. “All the money belongs to the city of Steubenville, no matter where it comes from, so there’s no particular money that anybody in any department gets to laim as theirs. It doesn’t work like that. I don’t know what we’re going to decide but I don’t know that we need to rush in and order (it) when we already have five … we’re not going to get it for three years so it’s not an emergency.”

Councilwoman Heather Hoover, however, told Mayo that, since Capaldi had done what they’d asked and consulted grant writers, she saw no reason to delay. “Yes, we’re not going to get that ambulance for three years, but I don’t want to wait three-and-a-half years because we (held off placing our order) and then we’re down an ambulance.”

Mayo’s motion to table the legislation died for lack of a second.

Council then amended the legislation to reflect a $330,000 purchase price–$30,000 less than originally planned to give them time to decide if they want to purchase a new cot lift or simply transfer the lift in the to-be-retired ambulance into it. Once the language was cleaned up they voted 6-1, with only Mayo dissenting, to order the new ambulance.

Prior to the vote City Manager Jim Mavromatis said he understands Mayo’s concerns, “but the issue is when you order an ambulance only so many are made and it takes two or three years to get it.”

“There is EMS money coming in, the question is how much,” he added. “By (that time) there should be sufficient money to cover it.”

Councilman Mike Hernon suggested segregating EMS revenue in an EMS account so council can more easily track what’s coming in.

“I know it goes into the general fund, I know we’re not segregating it on advice from the state to keep it that way, but it’d be good for us just to kind of keep that in mind when this comes forward again,” Hernon said.

In other business:

• Hernon sunshined legislation that would authorize Mavromatis to apply for Ohio Public Works Commission state capital and local capital improvement programs for the city’s hot mix program as well as legislation that would authorize him also to seek bids for Steubenville’s 2026 hot mix resurfacing project.

• Councilman Ted Gorman told council opening day for the city’s 2025 Little League program is Thursday. He said 330 kids are signed up for Little League teams and they’ve also invited 100 youth softball players to join the festivities, which include floats, and cars.

Kids will be walking from Harding Middle School to Belleview Park starting at 5 p.m., he said.

• Mayo complained that department heads are applying for grants on their own without consulting council. “I think when we’re talking about money were going to apply for…they should bounce it off us first,” he said.

• City Engineer Mike Dolak advised council he’s preparing a presentation on the downtown safety study, including removing traffic signals at 12 intersections and addressing interest in a bike trail.

“That’s going to come to you pretty soon,” he said. “We’ve got the final drawings, there are just some minor alterations that need to be done.”

• Municipal Court will be closed Friday and Monday, due to construction. The court was closed earlier this month so the flooring could be done but that contractor didn’t show. This time, the general contractor found a local flooring specialist to apply the epoxy.

• Gorman was congratulated for being named the new JVS superintendent. He currently serves as Steubenville High School principal.

• Dolak also was congratulated for his work on the Lovers Lane widening and Beatty Park upgrades.