By Tina Alvey for The Register-Herald of Beckley, W.Va.
MONROE, W.Va. — Monroe County resident Gary Campbell has filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction that will prohibit county commissioners from continuing to assess and collect fees to pay for emergency ambulance service.
Commissioners enacted an ordinance in 2017 imposing an annual fee of $100 on each residential household in the county to ensure the continuation of reliable emergency ambulance service in the wake of the dissolution of the Union Rescue Service. Union Rescue had previously provided emergency medical service to the northern portion of the county, while Peterstown Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad continues to serve the southern part of the county.
According to public information shared by the commission earlier this month, contracts have already been approved and signed for ambulance service providers for the new fiscal year. The document shows that Peterstown Fire and Rescue and Greenbrier Emergency Ambulance Service (which now serves the Union area) will each receive $265,000 this year from ambulance fees collected in the county, while Alderson Fire and Rescue will receive $35,000 to provide ambulance service to people on the Monroe County side of Alderson, and Paint Bank (Virginia) Fire and Rescue will receive $5,000 to respond to calls in the Waiteville area of Monroe County. …