AUBURN -- Mayor Michael Quill spent some of his first official council meeting to review projects and aspects of the city.

The Auburn City Council, with two new members -- Quill and Councilor Gilda Brower, agreed to continue the process to gain control over the city's ambulance service. Even if Auburn gets this certificate from a regional government group, TLC Emergency Medical Services, Inc. will continue to operate the service, Fire Chief Mike Hammon clarified during the Thursday meeting.

Private enterprises can do business less expensively than a municipality, TLC Operations Director Lon Fricano said.

Hammon and Fricano explained the process of applying for an ambulance operating certificate for the city, including a future Web broadcasted public hearing. The men said a series of events in 2005 sparked the city's interest in gaining control over emergency response services. At the time, Rural Metro was the provider.

"The EMS service was not meeting the needs of the community," Hammon said. "Not all calls were answered (timely), ambulances sometimes weren't available."

The Central New York Regional Emergency Medical Service Council has not rejected other applying municipals, which Hammon says isn't a guarantee, but makes it hopeful Auburn will receive a certificate by the spring. It's current document expires in April. Fricano said there are extensions and other ways it can work around this.

For more, read Friday's Citizen