When the ground thaws a little bit, Metro Emergency Transport Service will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for its new station in Webb City.

METS had initially planned to expand its presence here by constructing a building at the southwest corner of the Webb City Fire Department property on South Ellis Street.

At the time, METS EMS Chief Jason Smith said that was the best available property. But then he was notified about a property for sale at 226 S. Madison Street, which is north of Walgreens.

Smith says that property will allow more space for the station than there is by the fire station.

City Administrator Carl Francis told Webb City Council members Monday that he’s just glad the station will be built in Webb City. 

Likewise, Smith says, “Our goal is that they (ambulances) stay in Webb City.”

Francis admitted that METS wouldn’t have been able to sell the new station in the future if it were built on city property.

Smith says METS has already closed on the real estate purchase and a contractor was to have begun clearing the small white building and trees from the property this week.

Increasing population and an increasing number of calls in this section of the county are two factors driving the need for METS to expand its service.

Calls are answered from a region that goes from Zora Street north to the Barton County line and west from Brooklyn Heights in the Kansas line.

Currently, one ambulance crew is stationed 24 hours at the fire station, and a second ambulance is there 12 hours during the day.

When the new station is complete in four to six months, both ambulances will be on duty 24 hours a day, and there will be a bay for a third ambulance.

The station will be a metal building with a full brick front.