Posted Mar. 29, 2016 at 2:10 PM
Updated Mar 29, 2016 at 2:45 PM
POPLAR GROVE — Defeat of a proposed property tax in the March primary sparked talks between two dueling ambulance providers, prompting both the Capron Rescue Squad and North Boone Fire Protection districts to consider a mutual aid backup agreement.
If approved, North Boone’s ambulance would provide backup on medical calls. As it stands, the district’s ambulance crew only treats firefighters.
“There has been some contact back and forth,” said Heath Morrall, secretary of North Boone’s Board of Trustees. “As of right now, there is no agreement in place but discussions have been opened up. ... It’s going to be what’s most beneficial to the community.”
The North Boone district works to protect about 13,500 people in Poplar Grove, Manchester and Caledonia townships.
Morrell has spent the past months gathering support for a proposed .05 percent property tax increase to finance future ambulance purchases and give the district legal status for Boone County’s 911 Center to dispatch its crews for patient care.
Voters turned down the proposed tax increase on March 15. It would have required owners of $100,000 homes to pay approximately $16.67 per year in additional property taxes to generate $100,000 a year for ambulance services. The district budgets about $700,000 annually for fire protection services.
After the vote, Capron’s Chief Tony Stepansky sent a letter to North Boone officials saying that the voters’ rejection allowed the departments to “take advantage of an opportunity.”
“While you and I may disagree on a number of things,” he said in the letter, “I know that we do not disagree on our desire to do what is best for providing care and protection to our community.
“Let’s get a simple mutual aid agreement signed. I will gladly use you as primary backup in your district. Let’s sit down and come up with a viable way to use your people and resources in a first response role. It is the right thing to do.”
A mutual aid backup agreement could halt litigation between the Capron and North Boone districts. In January, Capron sued North Boone, asking a 17th Judicial Circuit Court judge to remove the tax question from the ballot. That request failed, but the complaint also asked the judge to prohibit North Boone from providing ambulance service. A hearing is set for April 22.
Capron has three ambulances based out of Capron, Poplar Grove and Candlewick Lake. It has been providing ambulance service to the Poplar Grove area since 1957.
Of about 60 calls in a 30-day period, North Boone Captain Tim Davis has said the district's ambulance was closer to the incident than Capron’s ambulances for about a quarter of the incidents.
The district has several mutual aid agreements in place with emergency responders in communities such as Rockford, Roscoe, Harvard and Sharon, Wisconsin.
Stepansky said that Capron and North Boone began discussing a mutual aid agreement in late 2014. Talks stalled, he said, over how many of the calls would be shared. North Boone wanted every other call or to be the main provider.
“We found that unacceptable,” he said.
Capron officials appeared at the information sessions North Boone hosted regarding the proposed tax increase to state their opposition.
After the election, some residents complained they had received the wrong ballot and were unable to vote on the proposed property tax increase for ambulance service.
Boone County Clerk Mary Steurer has said the mistake was one of "human error" and that “there’s no recourse.”
Susan Vela: 815-987-1392; svela@rrstar.com; @susanvela
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