By Stefanie Chiguluri
Lexington city officials said they will begin charging for the calls its emergency services crews cover in Buena Vista.
Officials told Buena Vista City Manager Jason Tyree that his city will get billed for the cost of each response Lexington covers. The bills will start in January if Buena Vista doesn’t come up with a plan to fill its emergency services vacancies, said Lexington City Manager Jim Halasz.“We’re not trying to find a way to make extra money. My fear is that we have two ambulances, and there have been numerous times when they have both been in Buena Vista,” Halasz said.
Buena Vista will be charged each time an ambulance crew is dispatched, but Halasz didn’t disclose the exact fee.
Tyree told Buena Vista’s City Council in October that Lexington’s crews covered up to 25 calls in one month.
The two cities have always backed each other up as needed, but the “concern is that when we’re over there more and more, we could miss calls for our own citizens,” said Lexington Fire Chief Ty Dickerson.
The Lexington fire department and emergency management services (EMS) are supported by city taxes. The fire department has five full-time staff members and are paid to respond to calls in Lexington and parts of Rockbridge County.
The Buena Vista Rescue Squad Inc. (BVRS) only has two full-time paid crew members, along with some volunteers. The rescue squad is missing emergency calls, primarily during late nights and weekends, due to its lack of full-time staff.
BVRS board member Keith Holland and Nathan Ramsey, Rockbridge County’s director of fire and EMS, proposed a plan to Buena Vista City Council in March that would have added more paid employees to BVRS.
Buena Vista, the county and the BVRS would have entered a three-way contract to recruit and hire 12 full-time paid crew members who would be cross trained in fire and rescue services. A divided Buena Vista City Council rejected the proposal.
County Administrator Spencer Suter and Buena Vista City Manager Tyree did not respond to multiple phone calls requesting comment.