By T. Scott Boatright
Moving to begin the process of constructing a new cell for the Lincoln Parish Landfill and receiving an Ambulance Service Report were primary orders of business as the Lincoln Parish Police Jury held its March meeting inside the Lincoln Parish Courthouse.
Ambulance service throughout Lincoln Parish is provided by the Ruston Fire Department through an agreement between the city of Ruston and the LPPJ.
Interim Ruston First Chief Joe Dan Martin and RFD Director of Emergency Services David Wells presented its report for 2025, including a plan to upgrade RFD medical vehicles in economic fashion.
Wells said there were 65 RFD personnel with one resignation in 2026 that cut that number to 64.
“That’s 19 members per shift,so, that’s a 10% increase in workstaff since last year’s report to the Jury,” Wells said. “We have 41 paramedics now.
“We had 4,498 calls that were EMS related, and that’s the bulk of calls we receive. That’s over 84.5% of total calls we respond to. That’s a slight increase over last year. Rescue calls were pretty much equal to last year with an increase of a few percent. We had 230 total (rescue) calls with 104 in the city of Ruston and 126 in the parish. The percentage went down mainly in the city of and I don’t know the reason for that, but there was an 11% reduction.”
Wells said there were 3,131 transports, a yearly increase of 3.7%, and a refusal rate of 25%, a number he said is in line with most EMS transport calls.
“We had two ambulance remounts,” Wells said. “One is almost completed and once that one gets back we’ll be sending the other. When you look at the numbers, that is a considerable discount and what we spend on purchasing new ambulances.
“So, we’ve finally gotten to the point where our fleet is somewhat uniform and we can do a rebound process instead of purchasing new ambulances. We’ll do that as long as we can — until we have to buy a new ambulance — because it takes up to two or three years to get a new ambulance at this point.”
Ambulance remounting is a cost-effective, sustainable process of removing an existing, intact patient module (box) from a worn-out truck chassis and installing it onto a new chassis. This practice extends the vehicle’s life, typically saving 25–50% in costs compared to buying new, while allowing for upgrades to electrical systems, cabinetry, and safety features.
Remounting saves significant budget (up to 40-45%) compared to buying a new one and provides a faster turnaround, reusing the the aluminum module, reducing waste and raw material consumption, allowing for layout reconfiguration, electrical updates, and new technology integration while also providing a brand-new drivetrain and chassis warranty while keeping a familiar, proven patient module.
As far as the new construction and demolition cell at the landfill, the LPPJ approved a deal with the lowest bidder — Lemoine Construction Group of Plaquemine at a cost of $895,195.80
Construction will likely begin by the start of summer and conclude by the end of the year, the time the Cell A is expected to reach its limit of use
Hopes are that the new cell will give at least 30 if not up to 40 years of continued use to the landfill.
The LPPJ also approved authorization to Parish Administrator Courtney Hall to negotiate and purchase property at 201 S. Vienna Street — housing Fishing Stitches and Gifts — contingent on not exceeding appraisal value.
Also approved was a resolution authorizing LPPJ President Glenn Scriber to execute an agreement with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development’s regarding bridge replacement on Spring Creek Road, and adoption of a new speed limit for Water Tank Road, which was 55 mph in its entirety..
The new Water Tank Road speed limit will be 35 mph from 4th Street northward and 35 mph from 4th Street southward to Tennessee Avenue.
Those new limits were derived from a road use speed traffic study.
The LPPJ also approved a resolution of support of the Mt. Zion Water System’s application for emergency funding through the state’s Community Water Enrichment Fund for the Big Creek Bottom water system, which was damaged by the recent ice storm.
Also approved was appointment of Robin “Pete” Jackson to an open position on Waterworks District 3 and reappointment of Bill Jones and Sandra Dupree to the Lincoln Parish Library Board of Control.
In its final business of the meeting, the LPPJ authorized travel for highway department employees for diesel technician training in early May and began the process of authorizing travel for LPPJ members to the National Association of County Offices Conference to be held in New Orleans from July 17-20.
