PHOTO BY JOHN FRYMAN / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
WILLIAMS COUNTY EMS … Chief Kyle Brigle (above) spoke at the Williams County Mayors Association meeting on Wednesday, September 17, at Sam’s Place in Blakeslee.
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
The Williams County Mayors Association held its monthly meeting on Wednesday, September 17, at Sam’s Place in Blakeslee.
A roll call of mayors opened the meeting with Bob Day (Edgerton), Steve Yagelski (Montpelier), Pamela Clark (Holiday City), Duane Thiel (Edon), Joey Beck (Stryker), and Eric Jenkins (Blakeslee). Absent were Carrie Schlade (Bryan), Don Leu (West Unity), and Ed Kidston (Pioneer).
Also in attendance were Courtny Osborn – Blakeslee Fiscal Officer, Terry Rummel – Williams County Commissioner, and Kyle Brigle – Williams County EMS Chief.
Jenkins then called the meeting to order. The minutes from the May 21, 2025, meeting and the financial report were both approved. In new business, the annual dues for the association will be $400 this year.
Also, the date for the December meeting was discussed, but due to the holidays, the mayors decided not to have a meeting that month. It was then approved.
Brigle updated the mayors on what is going on with the Williams County EMS. “I appreciate you guys for having us out,” said Brigle. “When I came out and talked the last time, we were trying to sell a levy. We’re not doing that this year.”
He noted there have been several changes since last November, including a decrease in staffing on the weekends and usage of EMS vehicles throughout the county.
“We’re down on staffing a little bit on the weekends, but during the week we keep as many EMS vehicles in service as we can.”
Brigle commented that the county EMS is averaging about 411 runs per month, an increase of seven runs from where they were last year.
“Oddly enough, we’re doing less out-of-county transfers to Toledo and Fort Wayne this year than what we were doing last year,” said Brigle. “We have been significantly busier on 911 calls.”
He also pointed out that the County EMS has been completely self-sufficient in the past.
“We operate on what we collected from billing, and obviously that wasn’t working for us anymore,” said Brigle. “So that’s why we had to go out for the levy. The commissioners have stepped up and gave us some money to buy a truck.”
It enabled the County EMS to purchase a used truck from the Oregon, Ohio, Fire Department. This vehicle will be going to Pioneer once it’s lettered, stocked, and ready.
Brigle also mentioned that the current EMS billing practices have changed. Before, the billing was all done in-house.
“We’ve moved to a third-party billing service, Ohio Billing, Inc.,” said Brigle. “By doing that, it takes one person out of the office. We had two people working in the office doing billing.
“We’re down to one person, which it worked out well. One lady who was doing billing got another job within the county. So, it was a happy trade, I guess.”
It was a good move for the County EMS because going to a third-party billing service, they understand all the Medicaid and medicare laws.
“We’re only two months in the new system,” said Brigle. “I think in the long run, that’s going to be a positive thing for us.”
He added that the County EMS is trying to decrease its expenses as much as it can. “Obviously, in our industry we can’t necessarily increase revenue, but we got to find ways to decrease expenses,” commented Brigle. “We have some equipment that is kind of getting old, that is broken, and we haven’t replaced.”
Another expense brought up was the use of the County EMS at area football games and the Williams County Fair, for which they were paid for their time.
“It cost us about $11,000 to staff the county fair last year,” said Brigle.” This year, we had all volunteer staff except for one event, and that was phenomenal.
He also mentioned the County EMS is putting on a first responder class at no charge. There will be 17 people within the county who will be taking the class.