BOARDMAN Township, company close to settling ambulance suit

Trustees are expected to consider a proposed settlement Monday.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Officials from the township and Pellin Emergency Medical Services said they are close to resolving a $1 million lawsuit in which the ambulance company accuses the township of wrongfully removing the company from the community's service call list.
The two groups met Tuesday with U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster in Akron to discuss a possible settlement.
Township Administrator Curt B. Seditz said that no settlement had been reached but added, "We are very close." He said attorneys would go over the language of a proposed settlement agreement this week.
"There is no deal yet. We're working on it," said Richard P. McLaughlin of Youngstown, an attorney representing Pellin. "We're hoping."
Both McLaughlin and Seditz said they expected the Boardman Township trustees to consider a proposal at their meeting Monday.
Pellin is one of three ambulance companies the township uses on a rotating basis to answer emergency medical calls.
Lawsuit: The company sued the township in February after township officials last year removed the company from the rotation list. The suit seeks $1 million in compensatory damages and unspecified punitive damages.
Township officials suspended Pellin from the rotation list for five days last November due to concerns and complaints over care in four instances involving ambulance services. Officials sought to remove the company from the rotation list permanently last December, but an early May court order mandated that the company be placed back on the list.