The Pitkin County Commissioners gave initial approval Tuesday (12/1) to a request from the ambulance district to pursue a new facility.
In its budget for 2016, the district has set aside 300-thousand dollars to plan and design a new ambulance barn. The current building next to the hospital is inadequate. Ambulance Director Gabe Muething says today’s ambulances are too big for the 25-year-old facility.
"The ambulance itself, when backing into our current garage - we have about two inches of space between the roof of the ambulance and the top of the garage door frames. In the winter, it doesn’t take much snow on the apron outside to make it a dangerous proposition to back in."
The district is looking for land and construction is more than a year away. A mill levy increase voters passed in 2014 will fund the project. The ambulance district’s 2016 budget also calls for a new ambulance. The county commissioners will formally approve the budget next week.