NEW BERLIN – Town of New Berlin council members voted to accept a six-month ambulance service contract with the Village of New Berlin and the Town of Pittsfield on Monday night in order to keep the service operational.

At an emergency meeting held on New Year's Eve, Village of New Berlin Mayor Terry Potter said the municipalities needed to work out an agreement that would keep New Berlin’s ambulance service operational after Town of Columbus officials voted against continuing their contract with the service.

At that meeting, officials from the Village of New Berlin and from the Town of Pittsfield discussed the future of the ambulance service, and agreed that with the help of the Town of New Berlin, they could continue to keep the service operational, but with a coverage time reduction from 24 to 16 hours each day.

On Monday night, the New Berlin Town Council voted to accept the six month long agreement, but agreed as a whole that they would closely examine the progress of the service throughout the six month timespan.

According to Town of New Berlin Supervisor Bob Starr, the ambulance service received 361 billable calls from January to December, and he said based on the cost of the average call that should have grossed approximately $225,000.