The Wayland Area Emergency Services Board for the second time in a year is dealing with and calming rumors that some municipalites are abandoning ship.
WAEMS, a non-profit supported by 12 area municipalities and the City of Wayland faced some talk Wednesday night at a board meeting, with this time Leighton Township was said to be thinking about exploring other options. But Leighton Thursday night insisted it isn’t so.
When asked if it was pulling out, Leighton Supervisor Steve Wolbrink flatly denied it, saying that though he has some issues, “I want The Wayland Area Ambulance Service to be wildly successful.”
He said he has some issues with the increased cost of the $36,000 subsidy Leighton has paid this year and prospects that figure will continue to rise significantly because the township is one of the fastest growing in Michigan. He also said he is a member of the service and the Leighton Fire Department.
Township Clerk Rachel Fennema said Leighton paid its $36,000 bill last April, adding, “as a board, we have to look at all our options,” but said there are no plans now to look into contracting elsewhere.
There are user fees, as well as Medicare and Medicaid to fund WAEMS. Some private services don’t insist on a subsidy, but they often pass along those costs to customers.
Fire Chief Matt Weston said his department has had positive and productive meetings with the new co-directors, Brenda Mays and Kathy Veldhouse. They took over earlier this year when longtime director Bob Hess retired.
WAEMS officials said Leighton had posted 40% increase in population from the last census and its emergency calls have increased, particularly from the Hunter’s Glen mobile home park, so the share of its contribution accordingly increased.
Watson Township Supervisor Kevin Travis, a member of the WAEMS Board, suggested, “The Leighton board seems to think a private agency can do it better and less expensive. They may pull WAEMS Board Chairman Steve Deer in the next couple of months…
“This move could also affect how Leighton firefighters are medically licensed and could affect call waiting times.”
When presented with possibility of splitting Leighton into two geographical service areas, Wolbrink said there are no plans for such a move and if it took place it would creat a lot of confusion.
There has been talk about letting the Green Lake and Paris Ridge areas go under the umbrella of Life EMS or EMR in Kent County because the largest concentration of Leighton residences are north of 142nd Avenue.
Fennema said Leighton’s population in the 2020 census was 7,001, but that is expected to continue to increase significantly.
Steve Shoemaker, a member of the Planning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals, then pointed out that the $36,000 subsidy amounts to a little more than $5 per resident.
There was only discussion, no action was taken. The issue has been brought up earlier this year in Martin Township and Dorr Township, mostly because of the subsidy increases this year.
WAEMS now serves Yankee Springs, the Townships of Dorr, Hopkins, Wayland, Leighton, Martin, Monterey, Orangeville, Salem, Watson, the City of Wayland and the Gun Lake Casino..
In other business at Thursday night’s meeting, the Leighton Township Board:
- Learned that there were five more building permits granted in August in the township, bringing the annual amount to 33 with average house value of $368,509.
- Was told by Fire Chief Matt Weston that the department remains busy, with 309 call responses, 58 more than this time last year. Weston added that the department welcomes veteran Tim Newton from Traverse City as a new firefighter and Andrea Pringle as a paramedic. The force now is back up to 30.
- Learned that almost 15,000 people attended the third annual Wayland Balloon Festival held last weekend ay Calkins Field north of the city.
- Learned the Planning Commission has begun the process of updating the master plan.
- Was told by Library Board representative Faith Miedema that attendance was the highest ever for the summer reading program and the library has been averaging 113 patrons visiting per day.
