The Salem Town Board effectively accomplished a merger of its Town of Salem Fire/Rescue with the Silver Lake Fire Department and kept the Silver Lake Rescue Squad in place as an emergency medical services responder in Silver Lake with the approval of a pair of agreements Tuesday night.
The Town Board board, in a unanimous vote with all present, approved an agreement between the Village of Silver Lake and the Town of
Salem to provide firefighting, fire inspection and rescue services to the Village of Silver Lake by the Town of Salem.
The board, also in a unanimous vote with all present, approved an agreement between Silver Lake Rescue Squad and the Town of Salem to provide emergency medical services for the Town of Salem. Under the agreement, SLRS will respond to all medical calls in Silver Lake. A paramedic from 
Salem Fire/Rescue also will respond to these calls, explained Salem F/R Chief David Slover. If the paramedic is needed for the patient, the paramedic will join the crew manning the SLRS ambulance for transport to the hospital. If not needed, that paramedic will return to quarters.
SLRS providing transportation of patients is a change from how the agreements were presented to the public as recently as September, when the Silver Lake Village Board approved the agreement with Salem. It is a key point because a major source of revenue for an EMS provider is billing insurance companies for transport.
SLRS Chief Robert Johnson said his organization was pleased with the self-renewing agreement and his organization’s role within it.
Silver Lake Village President Bruce Nopenz also expressed satisfaction with the agreements, including the role of SLRS. He said the arrangement should give SLRS time to figure out where it is going as a company.
“This will be of benefit to our whole community,” Nopenz said.
On the fire department side, Slover said SLFD members will be able to apply for positions within Salem F/R. Plans call for the Silver Lake Fire Station to be modified to accommodate overnight stays, with the cost of the modifications to be split between the village and the town.
Silver Lake firefighters will continue to respond with Silver Lake equipment to medical calls within Silver Lake, Slover said, and now will be available to respond to calls elsewhere in Salem’s coverage area when needed,
The Salem Town Board had no discussion on either motion.
The service will cost Silver Lake $160,000 per year, with a provision for a consumer price index based annual increase. The contract includes credits for purchasing the SLFD equipment and rental of the SLFD fire station that will reduce that fee by $43,000 a year.
Financial terms of the contract with SLRS were not immediately available to westofthei.com.
The agreements will take effect on Jan. 1, 2016.
These 2 agreements are a “win-win” for EVERYONE!! Salem residents will not be forced to pay for building another fire station on Highway 50 & B. Silver Lake residents get upgraded fire protection ALONG with PARAMEDIC level care. Silver Lake Rescue Squad retains it’s identity in the village and plays a key role in this
agreement, to the satisfaction of their president. So follow me on this…SLFD , SLRS, Salem Fire/Rescue, and BOTH village and town boards are in favor of this agreement. What do the “naysayers” know that they don’t? This was an historic event for both communities…there will be some “growing pains” for sure, but the citizens of both communities will ultimately benefit.
Yes there is going to be some growing pains. Nothing will be perfect to start with. Work together to get passed the bumps in the road. I will be rooting from the side lines. I gave my notice to the village board three weeks ago. 60 years old is to old to be doing that job. The naysayers have no clue how to run emergency services. Full speed ahead and do not look back.
Why do taxpayers have pay for improvements to the Silver Lake Firehouse ?is it that important that VOLUNTEERS have sleep overs ?
This agreement has been years in the making and has creating a winning situation for everyone.
Silver Lake residents benefit with paramedic response on every call (a big plus). Town of Salem residents have more money pumped into their emergency services and along with the Village of Paddock lake will see economies of scale at work. SLRS now becomes a part of the solution as well. Silver Lake could not sustain or improve services with the current economy and dynamics, and it would only get worse as time elapsed.
Regionalism of emergency services is the wave of the future and is occurring all over the state and nation as small communities realize that an all volunteer service cannot sustain itself and still serve the community with any certainty.
Now budgeting is set and residents will enjoy the best of all worlds – first class, dependable services and at a very reasonable rate.
More importantly is that we will all be safer.
Full time staffing of our fire house in Silver Lake in the near future means shortened response time for the entire Silver Lake/Northern Salem, and even Paddock Lake, area. That is thrilling news that we should all embrace.
Kudos to the boards of the Town of Salem and Village of Silver Lake who worked together in their residents behalf and for having the wisdom and foresight to put this agreement in force.
To why. This is simple math. If you responded from the fire house you can be out the door in less than a minute. Some folks live out of town and need a place to stay on their shifts. Firefighters should also be paramedics so they can do both jobs. Cost effective government.
Finnallllly Greg and jeffey show there faces!!! Greg your family has made a living off govt $$$ from day one! The best part is SLFD couoldnt even sucessfully do a controlled burn in town! Remember your roots Greg
@”Oh greggy”……sounds to me like you are doing a “slowwwwwwwwww burn” right now!
Oh greggy sounds to me that you have much to learn. Do not worry. We help everyone. It does not matter how smart you are.