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0181AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE REGULATION OF ~BULANCES: SETTING A SCHEDULE OF FEES, AND PROVIDING FOR A PENALTY FOR VIOLATION. WHEREAS, THE CITY COUNCIL FINDS THAT THE REGULATION OF AMBULANCES USING PUBLIC STREETS AND THOROUGHFARES WITHIN THE CORPORATE LIMITS OF SOUTHLAKE, TEXAS IS NECESSARY FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROMOTING THE HEALTH, SAFETY AND GENERAL WELFARE OF THE COMMUNITY; BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF SOUTHLAKE, TEXAS: ARTICLE I. DEFINITIONS: Sec. 1.01 AMBULANCE: Any motor vehicle constructed, reconstructed, arranged, equipped or used ~r the purpose of transporting ill, sick or injured persons. Sec. 1.02 AMBULANCE CALL: The act of proceeding with an ambulance for the purpose of transporting any patient for compensation. Sec. 1.03 ATTENDANT: Any person who for compensation has the duty of performing or assisting in the performance of an ambulance call. Sec. 1.04 CERTIFICATE: A Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity. Sec. 1.05 CITY: Ail areas within the corporate limits of the City of Southlake, Texas. Sec. 1.06 CITY COUNCIL: The Southlake City Council. Sec. 1.07 CODE I CALL: A non-emergency type of call, such as slow run, sick or convalescent call. Sec. 1.08 CODE iii CALL: The emergency type call, including any call involving serious injuries which could result in loss of life or permanent injury. Sec. 1.09 DRIVER: Every individual who for compensation drives or attempts to drive any ambulance. Sec. 1.10 iIEALTH OFFICER: The City Health Officer of the City of Southlake, or his duly authorized representative. Sec. 1.11 LICENSE OFFICER: The Chief of Police of the City of Southlake or his duly authorized representative. Sec. 1.12 OPERATOR: A person engaged in business as the owner, manager, officer or proprietor of a company, firm or organization providing an~ulance service. Sec. 1.13 PE~4IT: The written authorization issued by the license officer for a designated and inspected vehicle to be operated upon the streets of the city., and drivers and attendants therein. Sec. 1.14 PERSON: Any individual, firm, association, partnership, corporation, or other group or combination of individuals. Sec. 1.15 POLICE DEPARTMENT: The Police Department of the City of Southlake. ARTICLE II. CERTIFICATE OF PUBLIC CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY: Sec. 2.01 CERTIFICATE REQUIRED. NO person shall operate an ambulance for hire on any street of the City without first having obtained from the City Council a certificate declaring that the public convenience and necessity require such an operation, except as provided in Sec.2.02 hereof. Sec. 2.02 EXCEPTIONS. NO certificate shall be required for any person operating an ambulance or other vehicle who: Renders assistance during any catastrophe or major emergency when the anfoulances authorized to operate in the City by Certificate are either insufficient in number or inadequate for any other reason; Operates from a location outside the City and transports any patient from a point of origin outside the City to a destination inside the City; C. Operating on a Code 1 call. Sec. 2.03 APPLICATION FOR CERTIFICATE OF PUBLIC CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY Applications for a Certificate of public convenience and necessity for the operation of an ambulance within the City shall be in writing, signed and sworn to by the applicant, and shall be filed with the Chief of Police of the City of his duly authorized representative, bereinafter designated as the "license officer." The application shall be on a form prescribed by the license officer and shall contain at least the following: The name and address of the applicant; the trade name under which the applicant does or proposes to do business; if the applicant is an invididual, the name, age and address of the applicant, and the length of time the applicant has resided in the City; or, if a partnership or association, the business name thereof and the name, age, and address of each partner, and the length of time each partner has resided in the City, or, if a corporation, the names and addresses of all officers and directors of such corporation. The number of vehicles the applicant desires to operate; and the class, size, design and color scheme of each vehicle. Whether or not the applicant has been finally convicted of any felony or other offense involving moral turpitude. Whether or not the applicant has any claims or judgments against him for damages resulting from the negligent operation of an a~ulance. E. The financial ability and responsibility of the applicant. F. Whether or not the applicant has a permit from the State Board of Health. -2- The applicant shall attach to such application a letter from a duly authorized agent of applicant's insurance carrier, stating that the insurance required hereunder is available to applicant and that such coverage is or will be provided prior to the issuance by the license officer of the certificate to operate hereunder. H. Such other information as may be required by the City Council. Sec. 2.04 INVESTIGATION OF APPLICANTS The license officer shall investigate the matters provided in the application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity and report to the City Conncil and the City Council shall conduct a public hearing after 10 days prior written notice to the applicant and written notice of such hearing having been posted at the City Hall at least 10 days prior to such hearing. The City Council shall grant or deny application at such hearing and shall include in it's consideration thereof whether public convenience and necessity requires the licensing of the proposed ambulance service; whether the public is at the time adequately served; the financial responsibility of the applicant; the nu~er, kind and type of equipment to be used; the effect of the traffic congestion upon the streets of the city; and such other facts as the City Council shall consider relevant. If the City Council finds that the public convenience and necessity requires the issuance of such certificate and the applicant meets the required ~ualifications, the City Council shall direct the license officer to · ssue a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to such applicant. Sec. 2.05 FORM AND CONTENT OF CERTIFICATE. Every Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity issued hereunder shall be signed by the Mayor, attested by the City Secretary and shall contain the name and address of the applicant and the date of the granting of such certificate to the applicant. Sec. 2.06 REVOCATION, ALTERATION OR SUSPENSION OF CERTIFICATE-CAUSES FOR Every certificate issued hereunder shall be subject to revocation, alteration or suspension by the Council where it shall appear that one or more of the following conditions exist: A. The public convenience and necessity no longer warrant such operation~ The operator has refused to render the full service authorized by his certificate; The operator has been finally convicted of a felony or other offense involving moral turpitude; The certificate was obtained by an application in which any material fact was intentionally omitted or falsely stated; The operator has persisted in permitting his motor vehicles to be operated in violation of any law; F. The operator has willfully and knowingly violated or failed to comply with any of the provisions hereof; -3- The operator or his agent has in bad faith induced or sought to induce a change of destination to or from a hospital or other place specified by the person hiring the ambulance; H. The operator or his agent has been guilty of willfully operating his service in a negligent manner; The operator has allowed his insurance, as required herein, to be cancelled, withdrawn or terminated; The operator has allowed any of his vehicles or equipment to become damaged, deteriorated or unclean to the extent that it is unsatisfactory for public use; or The operator fails to show financial ability to maintain services in compliance with the terms hereof. Sec. 2.07 REVOCATION, ALTERATION OR SUSPENSION OF CERTIFICATE The City Council may revoke, alter or suspend any certificate issued hereafter on the grounds heretofore specified upon ten days notice and after hearing before such council. The holder of the certificate shall be given 10 days notice prior to such hearing. Notice of revocation, alteration or suspension of a certificate shall be given in writing to the name of the holder of such certificate at the address shown on the certificate as originally issued. Sec. 2.08 ANNUAL CERTIFICATE FEE No Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, or vehicle permit, or driver or attendant registration card shall be issued until the annual fee of $25.00 for the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity and $1.00 per vehicle permit or driver or attendant registration card is paid. Sec. 2.09 LIABILITY INSURANCE REQUIRED Each operator shall purchase and keep in full force and effect public liability insurance in the amount of not less than One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) for each person, Three Hundred Thousand Dollars ($300,000.00) for each accident, and Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) for property damage to secure payment of all lawful and proper claims arising out of the operations of the ambulance service authorized hereunder. A written statement from an authorized agent of the operator's insurance carrier verifying the issuance of such insurance shall be filed with the license officer before any certificate or permit may be issued. All such verifications of insurance shall provide for a ten (10) day cancellation notice to the license officer. ARTICLE III. PERMITS Sec. 3.01 PERMIT REQUIRED FOR EACH VEHICLE After the operator shall have secured a certificate hereunder, no vehicle shall be opera%ed under authority of such certificate until the operator has made application to the license officer for and has been issued a permit for each motor vehicle to be operated under said certificate. Every application for a permit -4- shall be in writing, verified by the operator, and shall show the number of the certificate and the make, type, year or manufacture, motor number, serial number, passenger capacity and exterior color(s) for each motor vehicle for which a permit is desired. In the event the license officer finds that each vehicle fulfills and complies with the minimum requirements as specified by the Chief of Police and the City Health Officer, that each vehicle is in satisfactory and safe mechanical condition, that each vehicle is properly identified with the operator's name, he shall then issue to the operator a permit for each vehicle upon the payment of an annual permit fee for each vehicle authorized. Sec. 3.02 REVOCATION, ALTERATION OR SUSPENSION OF PERMIT NO permit shall be issued for the operation of any ambulance which is unsafe or unfit for the transportation of patients, and the license officer shall have the power to suspend, alter or revoke the permit for any ambulance which has become unsafe or which has become so damaged, deteriorated or unclean as to render such ambulance unfit for public use. The operator who holds any such permit which has been revoked, altered or suspended by the license officer shall have the same right to appeal such decision to the City Council as other appeals provided herein. ARTICLE IV. RECORDS Sec. 4.01 CENTRAL PLACE OF BUSINESS Each operator shall maintain a central place of business with at least one properly ~sted telephone for receiving all calls for ambulance service and where all business records and daily mainfests herein required shall be maintained and available for inspection or audit at all times. Each operator shall have a person available at all times to answer promptly all calls for service, to dispatch promptly all ambulances, and to be generally responsible for its conduct of such ambulance operations. Each operator shall,in writing, immediately notify the Health Officer and the Chief of Police of the City of any change of the business address or of the telephone number where said operator may be reached at all times. ARTICLE V. STANDARDS FOR OPERATION AND EQUIPMENT Sec. 5.01 OPERATING REGULATIONS Ail license holders, operators, attendants and drivers shall comply with the following regulations: A. Every operator shall be required to provide i~Lmediate service, 24 hours daily, each and every day. Every call for an~ulance service shall be answered promptly. Patients shall be loaded and transported without being subjected to unreasonable delays. Clean and sanitary bed linens shall be provided for each patient carried and shall be changed as soon as practicable after the discharge of a patient. -5- D. Each ambulance shall have, in addition to its driver, an attendant who holds a current certificate of Advanced Red Cross First Aid and who shall remain in attendance to the patient being conveyed. E. Every operator shall comply with the provisions of Article 4590 B of Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes. Sec. 5.02 STANDARDS FOR VEHICLES Ail motor vehicles used for the purpose of providing ambulance service hereunder shall be designed and constructed to transport ill, sick, or injured persons in comfort and safety, and shall be maintained in clean, sanitary and in first-class mechanical condition at all times. Every ambulance used as an emergency vehicle shall have a roof mounted rotating beacon of an approved design that is visible from the front of the vehicle for a distance of five hundred (500) feet. Co Every ambulance intended for use on Code III calls shall be equipped with a siren of a type approved by the Chief of Police. Also all operators shall comply with the provisions of Article 4590 B Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes. Sec. 5.03 ~,~BULANCE EQUIPMENT Each ambulance shall be equipped with oxygen equipment and the minimum equipment required by Article 4590 B Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes and all amendments thereto and rules and regulations promulgated in connection therewith by the State Board of Health of the State of Texas. Also, all equipment required by the Health Officer within sixty (60) days from the date such additional equipment requirements are designated in writing to the operator. Sec. 5.04 INSPECTION OF EQUIPMENT Ail mechanical, safety and special equipment, shall be subject to inspection at any time by authorized officials. No ambulance that has been substantially damaged or altered shall be again placed in service until it has been reinspected. It shall be the duty of the License Officer to inspect vehicles in all respects except equipment made the subject of Sec. 5.03 which equipment shall be inspected by the Health Officer. ARTICLE VI. DRIVERS AND ATTENDANTS Sec. 6.01 REGISTRATION REQUIRED No person shall drive, manage or control any ambulance on any public street or thoroughfare in the City for compensation without having been examined and registered by the license officer of the city as a driveK, nor shall any person attend or render first-aid to any passenger in any such a~ulance for compensation without having been examined and registered by the license officer of the city as an attendant. The license officer shall issue to any such person so registered as a driver or attendant a registration card certifying the same. -6- Sec. 6.02 QUALIFICATIONS OF APPLICANTS FOR DRIVERS' AND ATTENDANTS'REGISTRATION. Applicants for registration shall meet the following requirements: A. Each applicant for an ambulance driver's registration must be the holder of a current chauffeur's license issued by the Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas. B. Each applicant must furnish a written certificate from a licensed physician that he is of good health including eyesight and hearing and is not addicted to the use of drugs or intoxicating liquors so as to render him unfit to perform the duties of a driver or attendant. Each applicant must furnish satisfactory proof that he is a person of good moral character. Each applicant must furnish proof that he holds a valid certificate in advanced Red Cross First Aid. Each applicant shall be not less than~neteen (19) years of age. Sec. 6.03 APPLICATIONS FOR DRIVERS' AND ATTENDANTS' REGISTRATIONS Ail applications for drivers and attendants regiatrations shall be made in writing and contain such information prescribed by the license officer and shall include two recent photographs of the applicant, one of which shall be attached by the license officer to the registration card, if issued. Sec. 6.04 DISPLAY OF REGISTRATION CARD It shall be the duty and responsibility of each driver and atfendant registered hereunder to display his registration card upon demand to the Chief of Police or the City Health Officer, or to their duly authorized representatives. The registration card of each driver and attendant shall be carried on the person of such driver or attendant at all times while on duty. Sec. 6.05 SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF DRIVER'S OR ATTENDANT'S REGISTRATION The Chief of Police shall have the authority to suspend or revoke the registratiDn of any driver or attendant for cause. Any driver or attendant whose registration has been suspended or revoked hereunder shall have the right to appeal to the City Council. Sec. 6.06 SPECIAL TRAFFIC REGULATIONS No driver shall operate any ambulance vehicle: In violation of any traffic law of the State of Texas or ordinance of City unless exception is provided herein; Use a siren or flashing red light, unless on an ermergency call authorized by the Police Dispatcher. Disobey the lawful orders of a policeman at the scene of an accident, or other similar emergency. -7- Exceed the legally posted speed limit by more than ten (10) miles per hour when on an authorized Code III emergency call as defined herein, and only when on such emergency call. Fail to slow to 10 mph, or less, at any red traffic signal or ~ any stop or yield sign while on an authorized Code III emergency call, as defined herein, and only when on such emergency call. If while on ambulance emergency call as defined herein, the driver exceeds the posted speed limit as provided in "D" above, or fails to stop at a red traffic signal, etc. as provided in "E" abo~e, such operation of the arabulance vehicle shall only be done with the siren and flashing rotating light in operation. ARTICLE VII. GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS Sec. 7.01 RADIO DISPATCI{ER PROCEDURE. When the Police Department Dispatcher receives an emergency call for an an~ulance, he shall authorize and dispatch an ambulance to make the call, pursuant to procedure herein- after prescribed. In the event an operator receives a private call for ambulance service which is of an emergency nature and desires to answer such call as an emergency call under Code III, as defined herein, said operator shall report to the Police Dispatcher such call, giving the location and proposed route of travel and the nature of the call, if known. The Police Dispatcher shall then clear such ambulance service to answer call, provided that other a~ulance service has not already been dispatched. It shall be unlawful for an ambulance driver or operator to make an emergency ambulance call on the public streets of the City after being advised that another ambulance is already in the process of making an emergency call to a particular location or address. Sec. 7.02 PROHIBITED ACTS Following Police Vehicle: It shall be unlawful for any person, owner, operator, or solicitor of an~ulance service to follow any police car which is traveling in response to a report of a motor vehicle collision or a traffic accident on the streets of the city or to follow any an~ulance to or near the scene of a traffic accident or motor vehicle collision on the streets of the City. Soliciting Business: No person, owner, operator or solicitor of an an~ulance shall in any manner solicit on the streets of the City the business of transporting injured persons from the scene of a motor vehicle collision or traffic accident on the sfreets of the City. -8- Use of Radio Message: No solicitor, owner, operator or person in the business of furnishing ambulance service in the City, not being authorized by the sender of any radio message over the City Police Radio Station shall intercept any communication concerning traffic accidents on the streets of the City and divulge or puJ~lish the existence, contents, substance, purpose, effect, or meaning of such intercepted communication and no such solicitor, owner or person, not being entitled thereto, shall receive or assist in receiving any such message emanating through the radio medium of the Police Department for his own benefit or for the benefit of another solicitor, owner, operator or person in the business of furnishing an%bulance service. Sec. 7.03 USE OF EMERGENCY WARNING DEVICES ON DIRECT CALL An ambulance may respond, after receiving a call from a private citizen, or from the City, State or County Dispatcher, to a call using red lights and siren; provided, the Police Dispatcher must first be notified by the operator of the call and the intent to use the above emergency warning equipment on the City streets and the Police Dispatcher must first have authorized said operator to operate under Code III conditions. ARTICLE VIII. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS Sec. 8.01 PENALTY Any person, firm, corporation or any agent or employee thereof who violates any of the provisions of this ordinance shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not to exceed TWO Hundred Dollars ($200.00) for each offense. Each day that a violation is permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense. Sec. 8.02 SAVINGS If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance is for any reason held to be unconstitutional, such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance, and the remainder thereof not so held to be unconstitutional shall continue to be in full force and effect. Sec. 8.03 EFFECTIVE DATE This ordinance shall be in full force and effect thirty (30) days from and after its passage and publication as provided by law. Sec. 8.04 PUBLICATION Tl~e caption and penalty clause of this ordinance shall be published according to law in the official newspaper of the City. 197/ APPROVED: YTTEST: Clty Secretary APPROVED AS TO FORM: City Attorfiey Mayor -9-