A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
2
June 15, 2017
N
ORTHVILLE
- P
LYMOUTH
A plan to re-open a long-
closed fire station in Plymouth
Township using a joint govern-
mental agreement may be hin-
dered by unanswered questions
andunclear guidelines.
Amid growing tensions
regarding the details of a pend-
ing
Intergovernmental
Agreement (IGA), members of
thePlymouthTownshipBoard of
Trustees have continued to scru-
tinize the proposed plan and
voice their concerns. Trustees
have strongly suggested during
recent meetings that implemen-
tation of the agreement be post-
poned until problematic and
critical fire department ele-
ments are discussed and clari-
fied.
Plymouth trustees recently
approved the hiring of three new
full-time firefighters. Those new
hires and the implementation of
the IGA will increase total daily
staffing from six to seven for the
three fire stations in the town-
ship. Lake Pointe Station No. 2
would operate with two firefight-
ers. Northville Township would
staff the Lake Pointe stationwith
two firefighters to respond to
NorthvilleTownship calls.
One of the other major issues
trustees have questioned is
patient transport by a private
ambulance company rather than
fire department personnel.
Trustees have been dis-
cussing the unsigned formal
agreement titled, “Operation of
Fire Station #2 in the Charter
Township of Plymouth,” crafted
by Plymouth Township attorney
Kevin Bennett and edited by
Northville Township officials. A
prior review meeting attended
byNorthville TownshipManager
Chip Snider, Northville
Township Public Safety Director
Todd Mutchler, Plymouth
TownshipSupervisorKurt Heise
and Plymouth Township Fire
Chief Dan Phillips took place
before the agreement was pre-
sented to Plymouth Township
trustees at a recent study ses-
sion.
Trustees have been reviewing
and analyzing the proposed
agreement during the past few
weeks as concerns have escalat-
ed.
Most board members have
said they agree that it is time to
revisit a decades-long agreement
with Huron Valley Ambulance
Company (HVA), an Ann Arbor
non-profit. According to public
discussion, HVA is permitted to
field all medical dispatch calls,
respond to EMS scenes and
transport patients, “without any
type of contract, performance
standard or accountability.”
Plymouth Township and the City
of Plymouth utilize HVA as the
designated provider of ambu-
lance transport service, in place
of the Plymouth Township Fire
Department and Northville Fire
Department in the city. HVA is
allowed to bill and collect ambu-
lance transport fees directly
from patients and/or insurance
carriers for transport services in
the both the city and township of
Plymouth.
Plymouth Township fire fight-
ers have claimed for years that
this could be a profit center for
the township, helping to fund the
fire department costs.
Heise claims HVA controls a
four-county market for patient-
moving hospital services. They
are licensed to operate in
Washtenaw, Wayne, Oakland and
Livingston counties. Ann Arbor
based HVA employs more than
400 Emergency Medical
Technicians and paramedics
and operates a garage facility in
Plymouth. Heise said he's
already asked HVA CEO Dale
Berry to draft a contract propos-
al.
“I think we should have some
type of HVA agreement if we are
going to use them.”Heise recent-
ly toldboardmembers.
According to people familiar
with the Northville Township
Fire Department operations, an
unwritten policy dictates that
they not to use a supplemental
ambulance service model like
the one in Plymouth and
Plymouth Township. They cur-
rently use Community EMS, an
Advanced Life Support service,
only when their ambulance rigs
are not available.
Plymouth Township Trustee
Bob Doroshewitz has raised con-
cerns and criticism about the
IGA proposal at the public meet-
ings. He said he also wants to
examine the HVA arrangements.
Doroshewitz said he believes
problems with the current HVA
arrangement have to do with the
absence of a Service Level
Agreement.
“We as a board have to make
a series of strategic decisions.
Right now there is no guaran-
teed level of service. “We must
define what the service level is,
have vendors calculate their
compliance and response times
and then compare those levels.”
Doroshewitz has openly criti-
cized the proposed agreement
withNorthvilleTownship.
“With the pending arrange-
ment the bulk of the expenses
will be borne by Plymouth
Township,” Doroshewitz said.
“We're carrying all the expense.”
Plymouth Township Trustee
Jack Dempsey said it's not that
the enthusiasm for opening the
Lake Pointe fire station has
waned with board members, but
concern over whether it will
work safely and efficiently that is
causing the controversy.
Patient transport is a known
profit center for many area fire
departments. Dempsey said he
wants HVA to address the town-
ship board to answer questions
and he wants to consider at
viable options.
“I'm not sure what obligations
they have,” Dempsey said of
HVA. “I think there are ques-
tions that deserve to be
answered. Let's talk about the
entire issue-lets talk about
patient transport. I'm glad it's on
the table-I think it's great.
However, I don't think we should
postpone the IGA for these
items.”
Dempsey suggested the
potential revenue derived from
transport could be used to cor-
rect equipment deficiencies in
the fire department like outdat-
ed equipment and fire engines.
Heise said it's possible
Northville Township may want
to expand the township fire sta-
tion building located at Wilcox
andSchoolcraft roads.
The IGA agreement was
scheduled for township board
approval this week before going
to Northville Township officials
for approval.
Trustees have been reviewing and analyzing
the proposed agreement during the past
few weeks as concerns have escalated.
”
Joint fire agreement troubles trustees
Free Camp 911 offered
Plymouth city fire services Emergency
Medical Service partners at Huron Valley
Ambulance are once again offering a free
Camp 9-1-1 this summer at the Plymouth
Cultural Center. This event is open to any
resident of Plymouth or Plymouth
Township and will take place from 9 a.m.
until 4:30 p.m. July 10 and 11. While the
day camp is free, it is necessary to prereg-
ister and space is limited and fills on a
first-come, first-servedbasis.
This is a free, interactive, two-day
camp for children ages 8-12.
Camp 9-1-1 activities include: Learning
CPR and first-aid with paramedics;
Exploring emergency vehicles; Touring
local emergency departments and fire
departments; Engaging in interactive pre-
sentations from local police and specialty
teams. Pre-registration is required.
Register online at
For more information, contact Camp
Coordinator
Jason
Trojan
at
.
Don Howard
Staff Writer
