With more than 35 volunteers, the Lisbon-Mount Vernon Ambulance Services covers 150 square miles of eastern Iowa and is hoping to further expand its coverage.
Service director Jake Lindauer highlighted many milestones in his 2025 Annual Report to the Lisbon City Council Feb. 23. He also answered questions from the council and gave updates for the future.
Notably, the LMVAS received its new ambulance in 2025 after ordering it two years prior. The $250,000 vehicle was paid for through grants and local fundraising. The service also purchased ten portable radios at a cost of $56,000, funded by “generous community support.”
These new additions go toward the ambulance service’s goal of improving emergency care in rural areas of Iowa.
LMVAS is pursuing long-term funding for high-level Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for Lisbon, Mount Vernon, and neighboring communities, Lindauer said. The process started with obtaining and submitting signatures from the aforementioned cities, Linn County, and Johnson County, with a special election to create an EMS district set for later this year.
The ambulance services is hosting sessions over the next month to educate the community about emergency care and to answer any questions they may have.
Lisbon city administrator and fire chief Brandon Siggins revealed changes in these departments and suggestions for the future, including the addition of new personnel in the fire department.
“We had some recent retirements that I mentioned in the last meeting and some people that stepped down just because of time constraints so I’d recommend, and the fire department recommends, adding these four as probationary members,” Siggins said.
The council unanimously approved the measure to add Evan Coleman, Ted Harapat, Jamien Moore and Nikki Sporrer to the department. Moore graduated from Lisbon High School in 2022, and Coleman did so in 2025. Harapat just moved to Lisbon recently. Sporrer is joining as an EMS representative.
The council also decided unanimously to move Lisbon’s legal services to a new law firm.
Siggins’ reasoning behind this came after two city attorneys, Mark Parameter and Jim Craig, retired in the past year. His solution is to switch to Lynch Dallas Legal, a Cedar Rapids firm that represents the Lisbon Police Department and a majority of towns in eastern Iowa, including Mount Vernon.
“It’d be nice to have a one stop shop with this where we can reach out and save some money,” Siggins said in reference to legal issues occurring close to the Mount Vernon border. “It would also make things more seamless with the police department.”
He added that Lynch Dallas Legal would remain on standby and not require a retainer fee.
“They are willing to bring us on and I think it’d be a great opportunity for the city,” Siggins said.
The meeting concluded with council members thanking the city for their quick response to last Friday’s snowfall and to welcome the four new fire volunteers to the department.
“It’s pretty much a thankless job sometimes, but we appreciate it,” O’Connor said.