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A matter of inequity

Council moves to establish its own EMS services

Wesley LeBlanc
Posted 2/21/18

ORANGE PARK – The Town of Orange Park is taking steps to provide its own rescue services to its residents, separating from a current arrangement with Clay County.

At its Feb. 20 meeting, …

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A matter of inequity

Council moves to establish its own EMS services


Posted

ORANGE PARK – The Town of Orange Park is taking steps to provide its own rescue services to its residents, separating from a current arrangement with Clay County.

At its Feb. 20 meeting, Council voted 5-0 to authorize staff to notify the Board of County Commissioners of the town’s intent to seek a Certificate of Need paving the way to operate its own rescue unit. By doing so, the town has begun a series of events that will consist of Town Manager Sarah Campbell meeting with the Board of County Commissioners and their staff to iron out details such as radio service, while Town Attorney Sam Garrison meets with County Attorney Courtney Grimm to begin the application process.

“We’ll be forging some new ground here but we are ensuring we do it correctly,” Garrison said on the next steps in this process. “There’s a lot of things to work out but this is the first step in a long journey.”

Currently, the employees of the Orange Park Fire Department and its EMS staff are paid by the town but the vehicles and supplies are owned and provided by the county. The rescue vehicles operate under the county’s Certificate of Need. Orange Park is looking to change that, and in turn, gain control over all fire and EMS assets.

This process began last year when on Oct. 30, Town Council Vice-Mayor Gary Meeks, Garrison and Campbell met with County Commissioner Diane Hutchings, County Manager Stephanie Kopelousos and Grimm to discuss fire and emergency medical services for Orange Park. The discussion focused on the town’s automatic aid agreement, the use of Engine and Ladder 19 outside of town limits and the lack of revenue sharing that comes with that, and the current dispatching issues with the relay system, offline county units and inaccurate geo-dispatching, among other things.

After the discussion, Hutchings summarized that the town was dealing with a service level issue and that Orange Park, as a municipality, had a desire to set up its own emergency medical services. Because of that, Hutchings recommended that the town apply for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, the legal application Garrison and Grimm are soon to begin working on.

The reason the town wants to break away from the county and set up its own fire and EMS standards is what Campbell believes to be unfair treatment.

“So right now, the town pays for all of the staff, which is about $450,000 a year, towards the men and women that operate the ambulance, and they are providing a lot of their service to people who live outside the town,” Campbell said. “So while it is in our budget, it’s unfair and there’s an inequity because there are people who live outside the town who pay fewer taxes and they are getting the benefit of better service, whereas the town residents are paying more in taxes and yet, personnel that they are paying for are being called out more and more outside the town limits.”

While this option will increase the town’s revenue, it won’t be much, but according to Mayor Scott Land, however, he said the move is not about revenue.

“We may make some money, not much, but that’s not the point,” Land said. “We are going to be able to increase the service level without charging citizens more and I see that as a good thing.”

The town pursued other options that didn’t involve the town taking over fire and EMS but Campbell said those options were turned down by the county. This option, though, is one of the most efficient solutions.

“If we can come to an agreement on the solution, yes [this solution will be more efficient], because that means that the men and women of the Orange Park Fire Department will stay in the town’s limits and we will pay for all of their costs and we will receive all of their revenue,” Campbell said. “So for us, it’s a very efficient solution.”

When asked about savings, Campbell said she predicts that in the first year of this proposed change, the town’s budget will benefit around $200,000, with increases in the following years as those years won’t include start-up costs.

While the motion passed at the Feb. 20 is simply an approval for the process to begin, council member Ron Raymond sees it as an extremely important vote.

“This is the most important vote I’ve given in my 12 years of public service,” Raymond said.

Moving forward, Garrison and Campbell will formally notify the county of their intent and later down the road, the town council will have an opportunity to analyze the application before anything official is sent to the county for review.