Last Thursday, the county's fiscal court opted to not renew Mercy Regional Medical Services' contract to operate the emergency service. The fiscal court will once again take control of the daily operations of the ambulance service when Mercy's current contract expires on Sept. 19.

"We've had lots of feedback from the community and I felt the people wanted us to take it back over," Judge-Executive Joe Ward said last Thursday.

Ward said the court's unanimous decision was not due to a quality of service provided under Mercy's direction, but rather following the will of the people.

"This is the best ambulance service we've ever had," he said. "We couldn't want any better service for our county."

Mercy officials were not surprised by the decision.

"I think the timing is right for the county to take over," Mercy's Jamie Locke said. "We knew 18 months ago it was a short term deal."

Early last year, Livingston County officials handed over the day-to-day operations of the ambulance to service to Mercy after struggling through the daily operations of the service. In the fall of last year, Mercy was awarded a $230,000 contract to operate the service for another year.

Last month, Locke pitched a $180,000 contract to magistrates for Mercy to continue operating the ambulance service for another year. However, last week the fiscal court rejected that offer, realizing that it may cost more than that for the county to maintain the service.

"I have no doubt it will cost more for us," Ward said.

Ward said the county is committed to maintain the level of service provided by Mercy. In fact, just a few hours after last week's meeting, the county hired a new ambulance director to guide operations.