UNION — Efforts by county officials to solve financial problems threatening the existence of Union Rescue and Monroe Transport Ambulance Service Inc. appear to have stalled, leading to loud complaints about the process at a recent county commission meeting.
Union Rescue approached the county for help several months ago, saying the company was on the verge of closing, largely due to reductions and delays in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.
In response, Monroe County commissioners assembled a committee of around 20 people to study the issues and offer solutions. They also tasked the county Planning Commission with researching options for rescuing the rescue squad.
Planning Commission member Melvin Young asked county commissioners on Wednesday for a status report on the committee’s search for a solution. He said the planning commission “did an extremely large amount of work” but has seen no result.
Now, Young said, it appears the Union Volunteer Fire Department is also in dire straits.
“It’s time to stop tip-toeing through the tulips,” Young said, asking, “Is anybody working toward a goal?”
Commissioner Shane Ashley, who has spearheaded the effort to find a solution to the EMS problem, said his aim all along has been to find a way to offer adequate, but affordable, emergency medical service to everyone, but the stakeholders have not been able to agree on a comprehensive solution.
“I don’t think the problem’s going to go away,” Ashley said. “We still need to look at this whole plan.”
He opined that it might be necessary to reduce the size of the committee in order to achieve that goal.
“It’s an immediate concern for the county,” Young said, admonishing, “You don’t need to always listen to the person with the biggest microphone.”
County commission President Clyde Gum Jr. flatly said that the committee doesn’t need to meet again at this point, noting that figures on how much it takes to run the imperiled rescue squad have not been provided to the county or the committee.
Union Rescue is a nonprofit corporation overseen by a board of directors, not a public entity, leaving the county with little recourse if that board chooses not to open the company’s books. The same holds true for the Union VFD, which has not even asked for the county’s assistance.
Young said an underlying issue in trying to arrive at a comprehensive solution to Union Rescue’s situation is Peterstown Rescue's opposition to a countywide ambulance service, which probably would be financed through a fee on each residence.
He suggested the failure to find a consensus has its roots in historic friction between the county’s northern and southern districts. Union Rescue serves the more populous northern section of the county, while Peterstown Rescue is responsible for the southern portion.
“We’ve got to start pulling together,” Young said. “Make a time; set a date (for a meeting).”
But when he suggested the commission hold a “work session in private” with representatives of the two EMS units and, perhaps, the Union VFD, a member of the audience objected vehemently.
Bill Shiflet, who both resides and owns a business in Monroe County, said, “You cannot have a secret meeting and put on a tax based on figures you looked at in that meeting.”
Shiflet said that such a meeting would be a clear violation of the state’s Open Governmental Proceedings Act, commonly known as the Sunshine Law.
He also accused Ashley of nefarious motives in protecting the interests of the VFD. Ashley once served on the VFD’s board and was a longtime volunteer firefighter with the unit.
Ashley countered that the commission does not have a plan in the works to impose any new taxes, and objected to Shiflet’s characterization of his relationship with the Fire Department, saying, “I haven’t worked there for two years.”
The two men shouted out their differences for several minutes before subsiding.
“We need to see all the books,” Ashley stated when order was restored. “We can’t work it out because everybody chooses a side and starts screaming at each other.”
Gum concluded the discussion with the promise, “We’ll get it worked out.”
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