HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-05-02 � � a
ORDINANCE NO. 92-5-2
AN ORDINANCE ENTITLED:
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AN ORDINANCE DECLARING THE PROVIDING OF EMERGENCY
MEDICAL SERVICES AND AMBULANCE OPERATIONS WITHIN
THE CITY OF BATESVILLE, ARKANSAS, TO BE A
NECESSARY PUBLIC SERVICE AND UTILITY, SUBJECT TO
REGULATIONS BY THE CITY OF BATESVILLE, ARKANSAS:
PROVIDING FOR THE FRANCHISING, REGULATION,
LICENSING, AND OPERATION OF SAID PUBLIC SERVICE
BUSINESS WITHIN SAID CITY: PROVIDING PENALTIES
FOR THE VIOLATION OF SAME: DECLARING AN EMERGENCY:
AND FOR OTHER RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of
Batesville, Arkansas, as follows:
SECTION 1 : That from and after the effective date of this
ordinance, the business of transporting persons within the City
of Batesville, Arkansas, by motor ambulance, whether by the
providing of emergency medical services or the providing of
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ambulance, be and the same is hereby declared to be a necessary
public utility service subject to regulations and franchising
by said city; and after said date any permit, license, or
certificate heretofore granted to any person, firm or
corporation, whether non-profit or for business, to operate an
ambulance service within said city shall be deemed revoked and
the ownership and operation thereof shall be unlawful , unless
I, all such persons, firms, or corporations shall first comply
11 with the provisions of this ordinance as hereinafter set forth.
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SECTION 2 : That Ordinance No. 738 of the City of
Batesville and any and all other ordinances which would
conflict herewith, are hereby deemed repealed and revoked.
SECTION 3 : Definitions: The following words and phrases
as used in this ordinance shall , for the purposes of this
chapter, have the following meaning:
(a) AMBULANCE means any motor vehicle that is constructed
or equipped for and intended to be used for transportation of a
person because of his or her illness, injury, or disability.
(b) AMBULANCE BUSINESS means the owning, operating,
managing, or maintaining as principal or agent of any ambulance
as defined herein, for compensation; so that the owning,
operating, managing, or maintaining as principal or agent of a
special purpose ambulance and not receiving compensation
therefor is not considered an ambulance business.
(c) OPERATION means the receiving, picking up or embarking
within the City of Batesville, of a sick or injured person for
transportation or conveyance to any point within or without the
City of Batesville and the providing of emergency medical
services to those persons.
(d) PERSON means individuals either male or female,
partnerships , firms, corporations (whether non-profit or for
profit) and association of every kind, and their agents,
servants or employees.
(e) AMBULANCE OPERATOR shall mean any person who, as
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owner, agent, or otherwise, furnishes or operates, advertises
f or otherwise professes to be engaged in the business of
furnishing or operating ambulances in providing the ancillary
and necessary emergency medical services or medical transfer
services.
SECTION 4 : No person shall engage in the ambulance
business within the City of Batesville, Arkansas, without first
obtaining a franchise therefor from the City Council as
hereinafter provided. A franchise to operate an ambulance
business shall be issued for a period not to exceed five (5)
years, and may be renewed upon review and approval by the City '
Council for additional periods not to exceed five (5) years .
Renewal of any franchise granted hereunder, upon expiration for
any reason or after revocation, shall require conformance with
all the requirements of this ordinance as upon original
licensing.
SECTION 5: The City Council of Batesville, Arkansas may
grant an exclusive franchise for the privilege, of using the
streets, alleys, public ways and public grounds of said city
for the purpose of operating an ambulance business for the
inhabitants of and all other persons within said city, which
said franchise shall require that said ambulance service,
including emergency ambulance service, must be maintained
continuously during all hours .
SECTION 6 : Said franchise shall be granted only upon
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written application therefor filed with the City Clerk of said
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city, and shall be granted only when the City Council of said
city, in its discretion, shall determine that the public
convenience and necessity requires the issuance of same; and to i
determine such public convenience and necessity, of the City
Council may hold such hearings and in such manner as
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hereinafter provided.
SECTION 7 : Said franchise may be granted upon such terms,
1 and at such rates as said City Council shall determine and such
terms and rates shall be included as a part of any franchise
granted under this ordinance.
SECTION 8 : No franchise shall be granted to any person who
• is not the actual bona fide owner, or bona fide operator,
thereof and who is not fully responsible for the operation of
said business.
�) SECTION 9 : No franchise shall be granted to any person who
does not provide a bona fide paramedic service as part of all
of its ambulance business, said paramedic service to be
licensed by the Arkansas Department of Health, so that all
emergency transportation shall be done so that a licensed
paramedic is present.
SECTION 10: No franchise shall be granted to any person
whose ambulance business or operation is not located in the
City of Batesville including its main business offices and
ambulance headquarters .
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SECTION 11 : In granting a franchise the City Council will
not only consider the price and rates charged by the person,
but shall also consider the quality of service to be provided,
the quality of the equipment to be utilized, the quantity of
equipment to be utilized, the level of service to be given, the
quality and number of licensed paramedics and any other
necessary personnel to be provided, the over all staffing to be
provided, the personnel practices in effect, the nature of the
ownership of the service so that a non-profit corporation shall
be given a preference.
SECTION 12 : No permit issued under the terms of this
ordinance shall be sold, transferred, assigned, leased or
0 otherwise disposed of without the written approval of the City
Council .
SECTION 13 : Before the City Council shall grant any
franchise hereunder, as a minimum requirement the owner or
operator of said business applying for same shall deposit with
the City Clerk of said city, and keep in effect at all times, a
policy of liability insurance issued by a responsible insurance
company or companies duly authorized and licensed to transact
such business in the State of Arkansas , insuring the owner,
operator and any and all persons driving any vehicles of said
permittees as follows: Against liability up to and including
One Million Dollars ( $1 ,000 ,000 . 00) for personal injuries or
death as to one occurrence and up to and including Two Million
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Dollars ( $2 , 000 , 000 . 00) on account of any accident resulting in
personal injuries or death on more than one occurrence.
SECTION 14 : Each person issued a franchise hereunder shall
pay to the City of Batesville, Arkansas, for the privilege of
so engaging in said business an annual license fee, the amount
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of which shall be One Hundred Dollars ($100 .00) per year, which
shall be paid at the time of the granting of said franchise and
on the same date of each succeeding year during the term for
which said franchise shall have been granted, provided,
however, that no franchise shall be terminated for failure to
pay a fee unless the City Clerk grants ten ( 10) days notice to
the franchisee, and further provided that this fee shall be
deemed waived as to any non-profit corporation that should be
granted a franchise.
SECTION 15: Any person desiring to obtain a franchise to
operate an ambulance business shall make application therefor
upon forms available from the office of the City Clerk. Each
application shall be accompanied by a policy of insurance in
the amount provided for by this ordinance.
SECTION 16 : A franchise may be revoked b the Cit Council
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upon the following grounds :
(a) The franchise holder knowingly and after written
+, notice from the city fails to operate his business in
accordance with the provisions of this ordinance and any and
all state or federal laws, regulations, requirements, or
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standards applicable to the emergency medical services or
ambulance business or operation including the lack of licensed
paramedics as required hereinabove.
(b) The franchise holder shall abandon its operation of
the ambulance business for a period of one ( 1) or more days.
Acts of God, labor disputes , and other acts beyond the control
of the franchise holder which cause abandonment or limitation
of service shall not be considered an abandonment within the
meaning of this section.
(c) The franchise holder has failed to render satisfactory
service.
(d) The City Council shall hold a hearing after ten ( 10)
days notice to the franchise holder before any suspension shall
become effective.
SECTION 17 : The ambulance business holding the franchise
shall , before such franchise is issued, guarantee the City
uninterrupted ambulance service, except that by giving ninety
(90) days notice to the city, such ambulance operator shall be
authorized to discontinue his service without penalty.
SECTION 18: Upon making application for a franchise, each
ambulance operator shall submit a list of equipment to be
carried in each vehicle. This list shall be subject to
approval of the City Council at the time that the applicant's
license is before the Council for consideration. The list
shall be subject to review and approval annually and at the
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time of the renewal of the franchise; and shall be filed with
the City Clerk. Each ambulance operated by the emergency
medical services or ambulance business or operation must be
equipped according to the regulations and requirements of the
Arkansas Department of Health concerning a paramedic service.
SECTION 19 : Any ambulance carrying a patient afflicted with
contagious or infectious disease and the services therefor
shall operate in accordance with the Federal OSHA requirements
and Center for Disease Control standards in handling patients
with contagious or infectious diseases .
SECTION 20 : The emergency medical services or ambulance
business or operation shall also have and maintain a written
policies and procedures manual which will include personnel ,
operational , and medical policies and procedures, and a copy of
this manual shall be included in the written application. The
emergency medical services or ambulance business shall
thereafter operate in accordance with its policies and
procedures manual .
SECTION 21 : Any person who shall fail to comply with any or
all of , or who shall violate, the provisions of this ordinance
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction
shall be fined not less than One Hundred Dollars ( $100 .00) nor
more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500 . 00) , and/or imprisonment
of up to ten ( 10) days, and these penalties shall occur per
violation, a violation to be considered per unauthorized
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ambulance run or operation.
SECTION 22 : The provisions of this ordinance shall not
apply to any person engaged in rendering emergency medical
services or an ambulance business or operation whose place of
business and vehicles are located in another municipality and
whose ambulances transport persons or patients in or through
i the City of Batesville, Arkansas so long as this transportation
or business originates in a location outside the limits of
Batesville, Arkansas; nor shall the provisions of this
i ordinance apply to any person engaged in rendering an ambulance
business or operation in the process of transferring patients
between hospitals , nursing homes, or patients' homes on a
• non-emergency transfer basis, so long as that ambulance
business, operation and ambulances are located and
headquartered in another municipality; and, furthermore, the
provisions of this ordinance shall not apply to any ambulance
business or operation whose place of business and vehicles are
located in another municipality even if engaged in rendering
emergency medical services if the franchisee has waived the
rights granted under its franchise and authorized any such
other ambulance business or operation to render such emergency
services.
i SECTION 23 : The standards, rules , regulations, and
requirements established by the State of Arkansas concerning
emergency medical services, emergency medical technicians,
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paramedics, emergency and non-emergency ambulances , and
ambulance companies as set forth by the State of Arkansas are
hereby incorporated within this ordinance by reference.
SECTION 24 : The City Council of the City of Batesville,
Arkansas, shall have, possess, and exercise all of those powers
that could be granted to an emergency medical services board
and may operate in that capacity.
SECTION 25: The City of Batesville is to provide "911"
calls or referrals direct access to the franchisee or emergency
medical services or ambulance business or operations so that a
person calling "911" will have their telephone calls
transferred directly to said franchisee, emergency medical
Qservices or ambulance business or operator.
SECTION 26 : The various provisions and parts of this
ordinance are hereby declared to be severable, and, if any
section or part of a section, or any provision or part of a
Pprovision herein is declared unconstitutional inappropriate,
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or invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, such holding
shall not invalidate or affect the remainder of this ordinance.
SECTION 27: It having been found and determined that
inadequate emergency ambulance service within the City of
Batesville, Arkansas, will result in a condition menacing to
the public peace, health and safety and, therefore, an
emergency exists and this ordinance being necessary for the
immediate preservation of said public peace, health and safety,
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same shall be in full force and effect from and after its
passage and approval.
PASSED AND APPROVED this 26th day of May 1992.
M BARNETT, MAYOR
AT0/d
EST:
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DENISE JOHNSTON, tITY CLERK
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