The Port Arthur City Council has rejected an effort by Viking Enterprises Inc. to enter the ambulance service business here.

By a 5-1 vote — only Councilman Cal Jones was in favor of permitting a second ambulance company in the city — councilmembers left Acadian Ambulance as the sole ambulance provider for 911 calls and transfer calls in Port Arthur.

Councilwoman Kaprina Frank was absent from the Tuesday night council meeting.

Councilmembers also OK’d new time standards — with penalties for failing to meet them — that ambulance services here must meet in answering transfer calls. Acadian spokesman Brandon Hebert said the company would meet those.

The council followed the initial recommendation of Fire Chief Larry Richard, who oversees ambulance service in the city. From the start — the Viking Enterprise application was first discussed Sept. 25 — Richard had recommended against Viking, doing business as City Ambulance, because it had limited experience in responding to 911, emergency calls. In order to provide service in Port Arthur, companies by city ordinance must answer both 911 and transfer calls, which can be, for example, from hospital to hospital or to and from hospital and home.

Dean Harryman, director of operations for City Ambulance, was present for the vote but did not speak.

Richard suggested in addition to getting to 911 calls within 8 minutes, ambulances services must respond to transfer calls within 30 minutes. A handful of people complained at the City Council meeting in September that Acadian Ambulance sometimes took hours to respond to transfer calls. Hebert said then that the company prioritizes its calls, and must respond to life-or-death calls first before transfers such as those from hospital to home.

“Citizens deserve to be transferred in timely manner,” said Councilwoman Charlotte Moses.

Richard suggested — the majority of council members accepted — a standard that says Acadian must average a 30-minute response to its calls.

“If they don’t attain that — if they average 30 minutes and 1 second,” he said, the company must pay a penalty of $2,000. For every average minute over 30 during the three-month periods, he said, they must pay another $2,000.

Richard also told councilmembers that if local hospitals have an issue with Acadian’s services, they should contact him.

“That sounds like a winner,” Councilman Harold Doucet said before the vote.

After the meeting, Jones said he believes Port Arthur would be better served by two companies. “Why can’t we get past one ambulance service?” he asked.

Richard said that in his own review of Acadian’s record — the company has been the sole ambulance provider here since 2010 — it has a good record for response.