Left, John Griffith, county emergency services director, discussing the certificate of need for the new certified ambulance service with the Chautauqua County Legislature Public Safety Committee in Mayville Wednesday. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

MAYVILLE — The Chautauqua County Legislature needs to approve an administrative change to have a certified ambulance service at the start of next year.

On Wednesday, the Chautauqua County Legislature Public Safety Committee was told by John Griffith, county emergency services director, that an administrative change needs to be made to a resolution passed last month dealing with the certificate of need for the ambulance service. The resolution passed had a date of Jan. 1, 2019. Griffith said the legislature needs to change the resolution to state “take effect immediately” in order to start the 90-day certification process with the state. He said otherwise county officials will have to wait until the beginning of the new year to start the 90-day certification process with the state.

The committee approved the amendment, which will be voted on by the full legislature during its voting session meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Gerace Office Building in Mayville.

Last month, Griffith discussed the certified ambulance service with the Public Safety Committee. He said by adding an ambulance to the system, county emergency services officials will be able to start billing Medicaid for calls. Currently, without the certificate of need that accompanies being a certified ambulance service, county officials cannot bill Medicaid.

In other committee business, Patrick Swanson, county district attorney, discussed a resolution to use $4,267 in forfeiture funding to buy two crime scene cameras. He said the funding is a 25 percent match needed to acquire the cameras through the Violence Against Women grant. He added the cameras take a 360 degree shot of the crime scene, which then can be used by law enforcement to study a crime scene from all angles.

“It’s actually a pretty useful tool,” Swanson said.