New Haven Township OKs 4-year Corunna ambulance deal, 5-0

Ambulance coverage in New Haven Township is now locked in through the end of the decade. At a special meeting on Sept. 21, the township board voted 5-0 to accept the terms of a Corunna Area Ambulance Service agreement that began Oct. 1, 2026 and runs through Sept. 30, 2030, according to minutes signed by Clerk Colleen Horton and posted this month.

The motion, Resolution 2026-12, came from Treasurer Eickholt and was supported by Trustee Gray. The minutes record a roll call vote with all ayes from Supervisor DeLong, Treasurer Eickholt, Trustee Richardson, Trustee Gray and Clerk Horton — the full five-member board.

What the township will pay is not in the minutes. The record names no annual amount, no per-call charge and no total over the four years. Corunna Area Ambulance is funded through service agreements with the townships around it, New Haven among them, and the dollar figure in this one is the question the document does not answer.

Two residents spoke before the vote. The minutes list Don Jagos on the Corunna Area Ambulance Service budget and Lee Horton on the ambulance service's structure. The minutes do not summarize what either man said. Seven guests were recorded in the room: David Butcher, Lee Horton, Don Jagos, Laurie Riley, Fred Riley, Brian Matthies and Marjorie Westerlund.

Supervisor DeLong called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. at New Haven Township Hall, 2705 Easton Road, and it adjourned at 8:17 p.m. on a motion by Clerk Horton supported by Trustee Gray. That is one hour and 17 minutes for a special meeting with a single action item. For comparison, The Current reported in August that the board's June 18 special meeting — which approved a second brine application on 46.12 miles of gravel road — ran eight minutes.

This is the second time this year the township's relationship with a neighboring service provider has drawn residents to the microphone. The Current reported in September that three residents spoke about road conditions at the board's Aug. 10 meeting, where the board approved $108,295 in Shiawassee County Road Commission invoices.

What happens next: the agreement is already in effect, having started Oct. 1. The township board's regular meetings continue at the hall on Easton Road. We have asked for the agreement's cost to the township and will report it when the figure is available; a second public participation period was opened after the vote and the minutes record no one spoke.