Upgrades to two city ambulances, and the purchase of a new one, will help keep vehicle repair costs down while providing optimal services to the public, city officials said.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen on Friday accepted bids from two ambulance dealers for the re-mounting, or re-trucking, of two Type III ambulances and for the purchase with a trade-in value of a new Type III ambulance. Re-mounting is placing the square patient compartment atop of a new chassis of a van or truck.

Type III ambulances are light duty vans that have a square patient compartment mounted on the chassis of the van and are equipped with advance life support.

Other classes of ambulances include Type I, which is similar to a Type III but instead is mounted on the chassis of a truck, Type II, which is a van, and Type IV, also called a mini ambulance.

“When it gets to the point where it costs too much in the repairs, that’s when we start thinking about a new ambulance or to re-truck,” Vicksburg Fire Chief Charles Atkins said. “In this situation, a re-truck would fit us fine because of the finances of it all. We can handle that right about now.”

This typically could save around $30,000 off the purchase of a new ambulance.

To re-mount, Taylor Made Ambulance of Newport, Ark., submitted a bid of $76,445 and Peach State Ambulance of Tyrone, Ga., submitted a bid of $65,262.

While re-mounting will save the city some money, the board decided to purchase a new ambulance because the one being traded in does not have the capacity to be re-mounted. In bidding on the new ambulance, Taylor Made bid $92,305, which included an $8,000 offer for the used ambulance, and Peach State bid $110,116, which included a $7,625 offer on the used vehicle.