The LifeStar helicopter may be calling Effingham County home soon.

County officials are working on a contract with Memorial Health University Medical Center to allow the emergency air ambulance to be moved near the Effingham Hospital. LifeStar is currently operating out of the Savannah Airport after it was dislodged from its original base at Memorial.

Commissioners Jeff Utley and Reggie Loper have been working on the deal for a permanent LifeStar home in Effingham County for four or five months.

“What we want to know is will the county commissioners back us on that,” Commissioner Reggie Loper said.

The county could have to spend $50,000-$60,000 to get a landing site ready and to get the building and equipment ready for the LifeStar and its crew. Utley said the Effingham Industrial Development Authority and private industries have offered to help with the costs.

“There’s a whole lot more that needs to come together before we approve (this),” Commissioner Hubert Sapp said.

Utley said the county had the funds available to do the work.

To house and support the helicopter, a maintenance shed, crew quarters, a helipad and a fuel system. A fuel system can be obtained through a lease/purchase arrangement, Utley said. Crew quarters could be a single-wide or double-wide trailer.

Also, under the proposal, the county would charge LifeStar $1,200 a month in rent.

“We get paid back in five years,” Utley said.

The county would have to sign a contract with Memorial to house LifeStar for five years. LifeStar covers a 150-mile radius in southeast Georgia and South Carolina. Effingham County is centrally located in LifeStar’s range of operation.

“I think we do have a public purpose, because it provides emergency medical services, but we do have to have a formal contract to put together,” Assistant County Attorney Eric Gotwalt said.

LifeStar has flown since 1985.