Agreement with Belden ‘not a done deal’

RANDOLPH — The Randolph City Council approved an interlocal agreement to provide Belden with emergency medical services at its regular meeting but there’s many more steps in the process before that agreement becomes official.

“This is not a done deal,” said Tony Backer, Randolph’s rescue chief. “We had been in talks with the (Belden) fire chief but we’re not looking to push anybody. We just want to recruit more members and provide quality service.”

News of the agreement took some Belden residents by surprise including Village Chairwoman Janice Wobbenhorst.

“This was the first the Village of Belden had ever heard of it,” she said.

Backer said the agreement was created by Randolph based on conversations with the Belden fire department.

The Randolph City Council discussed the matter - including the potential for a cost share with Belden - at its October meeting. The agenda and meeting minutes appeared in the Randolph Times along with a mention of the discussion in the city council news story written by Angie Steffen at that time.

The matter was again published as part of the agenda for the December meeting with Backer and Randolph Rescue President Gene Pfanstiel Jr. leading discussion. Randolph City Attorney Keelan Holloway suggested adding an annual fee of $10,000 to the agreement to help cover costs of operation.

The Randolph rescue squad receives no tax dollars with the exception of insurance which is covered by the City of Randolph.

“We completely rely on billing services and donations to operate,” Backer said.

After learning Belden was surprised by the agreement, Backer and Pfanstiel drafted a letter that was posted on the Randolph Fire Department’s Facebook page Thursday.

“It was the best way I could explain it to them and get everyone on the same page,” Backer said. “I probably was not the best at explaining it that particular night at the meeting.”

Even though the Randolph City Council approved the agreement, it’s still pending approval by the Village of Belden, Belden Rural Fire Board, Belden Fire Department, Coleridge Rescue and Laurel Rescue, as well as with the chairmen of the Big 9 Mutual Aid Agreement which the entities are all members. A public presentation may take place as well to answer questions by residents in the affected areas.

“It’s going to take a little bit yet,” Backer said with hopes to have the agreement official by summer. “It’ll be every bit of a year before we start seeing the benefits to this.”

Randolph already provides rural emergency medical services to portions of Belden, and also rural Magnet, Sholes and McLean.

Currently Belden has no EMS capabilities and must wait for a response from Laurel, Coleridge or Randolph.

A formal agreement allows volunteers in the Belden district to become Emergency Medical Technicians for the Randolph squad with the idea that having an EMT closer to an emergency could make a big difference, Backer said.

Rescue response times in Randolph average two or three minutes. Due to distance, response times to Belden take about 10 minutes, he said.

“The added personnel could arrive at an emergency in a few minutes and prepare the patient while our ambulance is on the way, potentially making more positive outcomes,” Backer said.