Belvidere Daily Republican: Capron Rescue changes name; sees possible competition

 

Oct. 2, 2013

By Bob Balgemann

POPLAR GROVE - Capron Rescue Squad has been serving 144 square miles of northern Boone County since 1957. Now, after all that time, it has changed its name to North Boone EMS for at least two reasons.

One is because of changing times.

"The (ambulance) service is offered to everyone in north Boone County," Trustee Mike Petersen said. "There are so many new people out here - they don't know."

Another is to ward off confusion should North Boone Fire Protection District 3 decide to start its own ambulance service and hold a referendum to ask for the needed financial support.

Rescue squad district board President Owen Costanza said during Tuesday's (Oct. 15) meeting the referendum could be worded in such a way as to ask voters if they want North Boone District 3 or Capron Rescue Squad? "They could prefer North Boone 3 over a Capron service," he said.

But Trustee Barb Sager disagreed, saying Capron Rescue Squad had been around for 55 years. "They (residents) know it's their rescue system," she said.

"We're talking about all the new residents," Costanza said.

"If the referendum says North Boone 3 and North Boone EMS, that will create confusion," Sager countered. "I think it should remain the same."

Changing the name "would be a slap in the face for the people who have stood by Capron Rescue for 55 years," she added. "They have kept Capron Rescue Squad going."

Trustee Neeley Erickson didn't see it that way, saying, "We have to evolve."

Stepansky agreed there was "a huge history, a tradition. But we do have a brand identification problem that could be used against us. The influx of new residents is in Poplar Grove and Candlewick Lake, not in Capron."

"What's in play has nothing to do with the name," he added.

Petersen wondered about a marketing campaign to inform residents of what was going on? But Costanza said he didn't think the rescue squad district could compete with Fire District 3, which has zero liability and $785,000 in the bank.

Rescue squad district attorney Jim Hursh said the earliest District 3 could go to referendum would be the March 2014 primary election.

Costanza summed up the matter by saying the district was changing its name "because times are moving forward and we're growing. This is what we do."

A motion to change the name from Capron Rescue Squad to North Boone EMS passed, 4-1, with Sager dissenting.

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