Talks are underway for Mutual Aid EMS to once again house an ambulance and crew at Latrobe’s city hall after the service has been without a station in the city for nearly two years.

Mutual Aid moved its equipment and personnel out of bays at the city building in April 2023, after the two parties were unable to agree on an update of a longstanding lease.

Now, according to police Chief Richard Bosco, the city and Mutual Aid are close to reaching a new lease agreement under which Latrobe would provide an ambulance bay and space for an office and crew facilities at city hall. The city would waive rent for the space, counting it as a donation toward the ambulance service.

“I think we are one step away from getting this finalized,” said Bosco, who was involved in initial talks with Mutual Aid representatives. “I think it’s highly doable at a minimal expense for (the city), and it would be extremely beneficial for the residents.”

“We need Mutual Aid back in town,” said council member Dawn Vavick, who also has been involved in the discussion. “I do feel I have a duty to our citizens to keep them safe.”

Ken Bacha, director of community outreach for Mutual Aid, said the service at one time housed three ambulance units at the city building.

“We never wanted to leave (city hall) in the beginning,” said Bacha. “It was just over rent that we couldn’t come to terms.”

Bacha noted Mutual Aid for years had been paying the city monthly rent of $525 and a share of utility costs under an agreement that dated to the 1980s. At some point, he said, the city stopped sending utility bills, but Mutual Aid continued to pay the rent.

When city manager Terry Carcella looked at updating the lease agreement, he proposed a new monthly payment of $2,200.

That hike of more than 400% was too much for the ambulance service, Bacha said.

“That was going to hurt us,” he said.

Bacha said the ambulance stations Mutual Aid maintains that are closest for serving city residents are housed at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport — at a distance of about 4 miles or nine minutes from city hall, according to figures gleaned from Google Maps — and in Derry Township, 11 minutes and slightly more than 6 miles away.

Bosco suggested talks for restoring an ambulance presence at city hall could proceed upon the return of Carcella, who was on leave and was absent from the council meeting.

Bosco said ambulance staff would have access only to needed areas of city hall, including rest rooms.

If a new agreement comes to fruition, Bacha said, Mutual Aid could return to the city building one of the ambulance units it moved to the airport when the lease with the city came to an end.

Then, he said, Latrobe police and firefighters likely won’t have to wait for an ambulance crew to provide medical support for an emergency in the city.

“It will give us a place to respond from,” said Bacha. “The likelihood of us being out of (city hall) is far more likely and faster than from one of these outlying stations.”

He pointed out Mutual Aid often is transporting patients to and from Independence Health Latrobe Hospital in the city.

Latrobe public works manager Scott Wajdic expressed concern the ambulance might displace one of his department’s vehicles that has camera equipment.

Fire Chief John Brasile offered the use of a bay at the Latrobe Fire Department’s No. 6 station, which is along Lloyd Avenue in the city.

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