As of January 2009, the Millville Volunteer Fire Company will be terminating their ambulance coverage in the Bethany Beach Fire District, a decision they announced in April of 2007, well-surpassing the mandatory 90-day notice required for discontinuing fire or emergency coverage.
The move resulted from what officials with the Millville department described as a “tremendous amount of development and growth in its own service areas.”
To compensate for ambulance and emergency medical technician (EMT) services in the Bethany fire district, which includes the area from the Maryland border north to the Indian River Inlet and all points east of the Assawoman Canal, Assawoman Bay and Indian River Bay, the Bethany Beach Fire Department (BBVFD) is taking on a program that could potentially see two ambulance units covering this district by next year. But such a project is no financial walk in the park.
Representatives from the Bethany Beach Fire Department have assembled a group, including Deputy Chief Brian Martin and past president Mike Wilgus to organize the Ambulance Service Committee. Martin and Wilgus have spent the past weeks visiting town officials within the district, assessing the situation.
“Millville has always provided the ambulance service in our area,” Wilgus stated, addressing members of the South Bethany council in a presentation last week. “It’s never been a point of contention. It’s never been something we want to take from them. It’s never been something they want to give to us. But as a result of growth that has occurred in their district, as well as pressure on human resources and financial resources, they made a decision in April and put us on notice that they would no longer run emergency services in our fire district.”
The Bethany Beach Fire Department, now 60 years old, has relied heavily on Millville’s emergency dispatch for several years now.
“We’ve got a strong feeling that the Millville ambulance service is something that we will take over,” said Wilgus, “but we can’t do it in such a way that is inferior to the service that is already being provided by the Millville department. If we do this we have to do it at least as well as Millville — hopefully, better.”
Millville runs a career-based ambulance service, a quality of service that Wilgus and Martin deem essential for Bethany Beach Fire Department to establish.
“Unfortunately,” Wilgus said, “we cannot do that with the fiscal resources of the fire company. We need other sources of funding before getting involved.”
“Everyone at the Millville company knew it would take a while to find a remedy for the situation,” stated Wilgus, “and they’re willing to work with us to help find a solution. They’ve formed a separate committee from Millville, assembled to help put together the numbers. So far, they’ve helped a lot, but no solution was derived.”
The issue was brought to the Fire Prevention Commission (FPC), the lobby that addresses fire and ambulance issues in the state of Delaware, back in April 2007, concerning Millville’s discontinuance of their ambulance service as of 2009. Possible resolutions had since been discussed with Sussex County Councilmen Vance Phillips (R-5th) and George Cole (R-4th), state Rep. Gerald Hocker (R-38th) and Sen. George Bunting (D-20th), who suggested at the time that money is tight on town and county levels, and funding for a project on state level is virtually impossible right now.
Bunting took legislative action, presenting legislation for a referendum that would allow people within the fire district to speak by way of vote on assessing themselves a tax for ambulance service. The proposition made it to the floor of the legislature, but Bunting pulled it off the table once it became evident that the vote was not in his favor and would be blocked.
Since then, the Bethany Beach Fire Department has worked with lobbying-level people, the Sussex County Volunteer Firefighter Association and Delaware Volunteer Fire Association, to try to get their support and recommendations — but to no avail.
“There are no other solutions coming from any other direction for us to consider on dealing with this situation,” said Wilgus.
Who’s the focus on?
Now, meeting with leaders what they call of the “Big Four,” representing the three towns within the Bethany Beach Fire District — Bethany Beach, South Bethany and Fenwick Island, as well as Sea Colony — Wilgus and Martin are sharing the numbers that they have spent crunching hour after hour in attempt to find some sort of resolve.
Of the 10,000 or so property owners in Bethany Beach’s fire district, about 7,200 are located the “Big Four,” while 2,800 homeowners fall outside, including residents represented by roughly 50 homeowners’ associations (HOAs). Communities such as Middlesex Beach and Sussex Shores fall into these categories, and many of them have already been approached by the Bethany Ambulance Service Committee.
“So far, the proposal is being received very positively,” said Wilgus. “We already have the government and infrastructure in place where a simple decision can be made through a majority vote to be on board or not be on board with this program. In order for us to go forward, we need all of the members of the Big Four to be on board, or Bethany Beach’s option would not be a solution to the problem.”
If efforts were to fail, the committee is not sure what would happen, according to Wilgus.
“There’s no plan B that we’re aware of,” he said.
The FPC has not identified a solution if Bethany is not successful with their project, and Sussex County does not have plans to open up an ambulance service anywhere else in the county.
“If Bethany Beach is not part of the solution,” Wilgus warned, “the thought of ambulances coming to service this area would involve fire companies in Roxana, Rehoboth, maybe some in Millville. It would be other areas, and as a result, response times would go up quite a bit and service is going to diminish greatly. Bethany is a good option to be involved in this program.”
“It seems to me that the county has the obligation to be involved more with the community,” said South Bethany Councilman Richard Ronan. “If you have to wait 45 minutes for an ambulance, you don’t have an ambulance. The county or state should have some legal responsibility.”
There are guidelines at the state level stating that an ambulance has a specific amount of time to respond to an alarm — although there are no regulations to ensure that, Wilgus clarified, inviting the council to find any loophole his committee may have overlooked.
“We’ve tried and tried to find other mechanisms to get through this,” he said.
“If we are able to get the Big Four on line,” Ronan added, “we should make it worthwhile to the others who are not part of the 7,200 to come on board, too.”
The numbers
Martin presented the financial aspect of the proposed project, starting with the estimated operation expenses in 2009.
“We’re looking at a 24/7 operation,” he said. “We figure we needed six salary-paid EMT’s and one supervisor. As for the units themselves, we need two ambulances, a primary and backup unit. One would run consistently in off-season, and we’d use both in the summer as needed.”
Servicing the vehicles would require replacement on alternating intervals to avoid drastic financial spike. The ambulances would use one of the 10 bays at Bethany Beach Fire Hall’s current location, requiring no additional construction. The units themselves, however, carry an average shelf life of five years — a situation that Martin hopes can be alleviated through rotation of the ambulance’s use.
“There’s a long travel time to Beebe Hospital, Atlantic General or Nanticoke,” he said. “A lot of the other departments are much closer, so much less wear and tear for them than it is for us, comparative to surrounding ambulance services.”
Personnel estimates make up a majority of yearly financial burden. The administrator, who would be brought on before the six proposed personnel, would be hired on a salary. Payroll, workman’s compensation, medical, retirement, uniforms, annual physical and continuing education within the program all contribute to the personnel aspect of the project, estimated at roughly $398,000.
Operating expenses, including repairs, radio, insurance, maintenance, sit right around $66,000. Maintenance of the vehicles is likely to come in at $56,000, while the equipment loan is projected at about $48,000, totaling $568,000 for annual expenses.
These annual expenses, however, don’t include the one-time start-up cost, which consists of the ambulances themselves, at $150,000 each. Ambulances are available in light, moderate and heavy duty (Millville’s are heavy-duty).
“Two moderate models will suffice for now in our district,” said Martin, “but we may potentially need to move up.”
As for the income to compensate a percentage of this annual cost, Martin presented numbers provided by the Millville Company. Patient billings will likely account for $80,000.
“There is funding that goes to Millville on state and county levels now,” said Martin, “that, if Bethany Beach gets involved with Millville’s current district, will come back to us.”
Of this aforementioned funding, BBFVD could see $102,000 from state insurance and medical premiums. Some $91,000 would likely be coming in from the county, including a $23,000 annual rate that BBVFD would no longer be mandated to pay to Millville for their service.
The total income, budgeted around $274,000, leaves an overhang expense of $294,000, which breaks down to an estimated $40.83 from the 7,200 homeowners in the Big Four. “Those outside of Big Four are a priority,” noted Martin, “but we can’t wait for those 2,800 homeowners to come on board, due to limited time frame. The more we get on board from other homeowners, the more the cost would go down.”
The Ambulance Service Committee stated that they were comfortable reaching 8,000 to 8,500 participants within the area.
BBVFD looking for 10-year loan
Currently, the fire department is running at a $205,000 deficit, proving tight on income as it is. Their annual fund drive is netting only $150,000, or an average of only $15 for each home.
“When looking at the apparatus replacement budget,” said Martin, “we’re trying to set aside $100,000 each year for equipment in 25-year intervals. In the next 50 to 75 years, we need to gross $300,000 per year to cover replacing trucks in the future [while compensating for the deficit].”
The impact of the ambulance fees on fire side could be detrimental. Martin is worried that fire fundraisers in the mail may become neglected thanks to what Martin described as “donor fatigue.”
“If people are shelling out money for the ambulance service, they might be inclined to bypass funding for the fire department,” he said. Last year, towns contributed $12,500, though he added that that number will likely diminish.
“We’re not look at any great development within the Bethany Fire District,” said Martin. “We’re pretty much all built up.”
Seeing as the numbers don’t have much potential fluctuation, Bethany’s Ambulance Service Committee is stressing the importance of educating the community of funding both fire and ambulance.
“We’re trying to examine every area that we can save cost,” said Martin. The department recently launched a $3 million campaign to improve funding, and is looking for equipment-related grants.
“We have $575,000 pledged over the next five years,” he added, “which is something that seems to be headed in the right direction.”
The BBVFD has also considered renting parking spaces in their lot. They also recently held a poker tournament. Duty crews and live-ins for firefighters and EMTs in the Bethany Beach and Fenwick stations are other alternative sources of revenue.
“We’re reaching out to the community in every way we can,” said Martin. “We’re exploring every avenue.”
“What we need right now is a 10-year commitments from the four entities,” said Wilgus. “The projected fee for homeowners in the district is $35 to $41 in 2009. So far, most people have been receptive to get on board. For every 200 additional homeowners who comply, it will reduce the cost annual cost $1 [per person]. Millville’s termination is only 11 months away. We have a lot to do.”
Several issues from Big Four
Among the top concerns voiced from homeowners within the Bethany Fire District is the billing policy. Currently, Millville sends out subscriptions offers to homeowners for $50 each year. Those homeowners then write down the names of four or five others in their household to be covered by the ambulance service subscription.
“Bethany’s a little different,” Wilgus stated. “The owner of the property is subject to a fee, and his immediate family is subject to coverage under the subscription fee. You need not to reside within the fire district to be covered. Business owners and any employee who leases from that owner are covered. People coming into the business, i.e., consumers, would not be covered. The more people we’re able to bill, the greater the income and the less cost could potentially be the following year.”
“If you’re a subscriber and need ambulance service, we get all your information and submit that to our billing company,” explained Wilgus, “who will in turn, bill your health insurance company for the service. The average service for an ambulance transport is $500. The average cost the insurance company pays is $350, resulting in a gap. The subscriber and his family would not then be billed for that gap. Someone who is not a subscriber would be billed for the remaining cost.
“Our service, at $41, is cheaper than the $50 commitment that Millville sends out,” he noted. Some health insurance companies, as noted by several South Bethany Council members, already provide emergency coverage.
Renters, at this point, are not covered, although due to high influx of renters in summer months, it is an issue that is currently being examined by the committee and a notable concern of South Bethany Councilman Jay Headman.
Managing and controlling the costs after the initial 10 years is another aspect that the Ambulance Service Committee plans to explore.
“We want this to last for decades and decades to come,” said Wilgus. “We can’t afford something like this to flake off after three years.”
Last month, the committee made their presentation to fire company membership and they presented to the Sea Colony Recreation Council on Feb. 9. They are following up last week’s presentation with one before the Bethany Beach Town Council on Friday, Feb. 15, at 6:45 p.m. in the Bethany Beach Town Hall and one addressed to Fenwick Island on Feb. 29 at 3:30 p.m.
Timeline
“By April 1, we would like commitment from Big Four,” said Wilgus. “Once we do, we’ll secure loans, begin the application processes and order the ambulances [which require a four- to six-month prior notice for delivery]. Beginning in May, we’ll hire a supervisory EMT and continue the process of verification as the program is internally in order. By the first of June, we’ll be hiring firefighters and EMTs. And on Sept. 1, we would like to start receiving funding from the Big Four.”
By November, the committee hopes to have all personnel reporting to duty with training to bring everyone together, “on the same page,” through Nov. and Dec.
Stay tuned to Coastal Point as continuing coverage of the BBVFD’s ambulance project develops.