The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

PORT PERRY "WEEKEND STAR" FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 2000-3 Victoria councillors ask for deadline extension County wrestling with ambulance service By Clifford Eige Weekend Star The question of how to deliver ambulance ser- vices has created another challenge for Victoria County councillors, who are struggling with a num- ber of issues related to municipal restructuring. Although 'downloading of ambulance services to municipalities has been anticipated for a few years, county and local councils have avoided discussing the issue until the last moment, and have had to ask for an extension to January 2001 to finalize their plan of action. Some councillors are in favour of a public system similar to that in Durham Region, while others feel residents would be better served by the private ser- vice that currently exists. Three private compa- nies provide emergency services from bases locat- ed in Fenelon Falls, Bobcaygeon and Lindsay. Linda Kehoe has been hired by. the county to investigate the issue and collect public submissions on the type and quality of service needed. At a public meeting held on March 22 Jim McCullough, a resident of Mariposa and communica- tion officer with the Toronto ambulance ser- vice, said that most life- threatening situations require a response time of less than 10 minutes. Response time to Mariposa Township is cur- rently 25 minutes mini- mum, with other parts of the county being worse, he said. Ms Kehoe said the province will cover only 50 per cent of an approved cost, but if a municipality decides to exceed this and increase the level of ser- vice from the 1996 response times, it will have to pay all the addi- tional cost. Robert DeShane, CEO of a Lindsay-based private _ambulance service, said that the operational cost of an ambulance is $500,000 per year, and to train a paramedic from level one to level two costs $30,000 and takes eight months. "My gross profit margin is only 5 per cent to 8 per cent, or $10,000 per year for a three vehicle service," he said. There are two levels of paramedic training guide- lines as set out by the provincial government. Lindsay's six-man service has five employees at level two, and one in train- ing. = Several paramedics spoke in favour of a pub- licly-operated service. By John B. McClelland Port Perry Star It's going to cost more this year for services such as rezoning appli- cations or minor vari- ances in Scugog Township. Scugog's finance com- mittee agreed Monday to a new rate structure that brings Scugog more in line with what is charged in other munici- palities. For example, the cost of a rezoning application in Scugog will double from $500 to $1,000; sub- division administration will double from $250 to $500; and filing for a minor variance will go up to $300 from the cur- rent $225. The committee also hiked the fee for a major site - plan agreement from the present $250 to $500, but the cost for a minor agreement " remains at $250. Information collected by municipal staff shows that Scugog has been charging less than neigh- bouring municipalities for most of these func- tions. Uxbridge, for exam- ple, charges $2,500 fora, Scugog hikes costs for administrative services major rezoning applica- tion, while Scugog has been charging $500. And it is going to cost more to rent two town- ship-owned halls in Scugog, the Latcham Centre and the Community Centre at the Scugog Arena. The finance commit- tee approved a new schedule Monday morn- ing that calls for a $5 per hour hike at the Latcham Centre, and an increase from $250 to $300 for an event booking at Latcham. ~ Rates charged for renting the Community Centre at the arena are going up by $50 for a weekend reception or dance, and by $5 an hour for functions through the week. According to the new structure endorsed by the committee on Monday, it will now cost $600 to rent the full hall for a Saturday evening event. The committee stipu- lated that groups or indi- viduals that have already booked the hall will be Shargéd under the old 2 rate s uc ly Prive (FIRES LN Residents . who spoke praised the existing pri- vate service, and ques- tioned why council is try- ing to fix something that is not broken. Firefighters present pointed out that in Victoria County they are; the first response to most emer- gencies, and should be upgraded in paramedic training. Of 39 communities, - Victoria County is one of the 22 that have not been able to finalize a plan. The deadline for doing so is Dec. 31, 2000, when all pri- vate sector contracts expire. Somerville Reeve Diane Austin summed up the meeting as a process for county council- lors, who are not experi- enced or knowledgeable with this issue but will be learning . responsible for making a final decision. 'Meanwhile; municipal | realignment has been deferred due to an injunc- | tion hearing that has been | rescheduled to April 10 and 11. Commissioner Harry | | Kitchen is continuing with | his findings and recom- | mendations that will be | sealed pending the deci- | | sion of the injunction.