Niles appears unwilling to sign off on the new articles of incorporation for the Southwestern Michigan Community Ambulance Service until a few things have been added to it.

City Administrator Ric Huff told the Niles City Council in a committee of the whol emeeting Monday that he wants to see language added to the articles that would allow other municipalities to buy in to SMCAS or contract with SMCAS. He also wants to see language added that would make it more difficult for owner municipalities to leave the ambulance service.

Currently, any of the six owner municipalities only need to give six months notice before leaving. There is also no financial penalty for getting out.

“It doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Huff said.

Most municipalities in similar situations require a five-year notice and make the owner who is leaving pay its share of the liability.

This is important, Huff said, because SMCAS has two municipal owners accounting for 65 percent of the ambulance service — Niles and Niles Township. If one leaves, it would put a huge strain on SMCAS and leave the other owners hanging.

“If you pull 30 plus percent of the funding, SMCAS is done,” he said.

Mayor Mike McCauslin said the additions would benefit all owner communities by creating a path for new membership, strengthening SMCAS’ base and reducing owner liability.

“I think we are asking for very simple, fiduciary responsible things,” he said. “It’s not like we are asking for the moon.”

The council agreed that the additions are needed.

The articles were last amended in 2006 to allow SMCAS to contract its services with other municipalities, namely Pokagon and Milton townships. While the SMCAS board approved the amendment, the owner municipalities never ratified it due to an oversight occurring from a change in management at the time, Huff said.

This detail went unnoticed until last year.

The articles were recently rewritten to address the problem and are currently going before each owner municipality for ratification. All six owner municipalities must sign off on the articles.

Milton Township Supervisor Robert Benjamin said his board would like to see language added allowing others to buy in.