The Randall Town Board Monday approved a memo of understanding to work toward developing an emergency medical services collaborative with four other Western Kenosha County municipalities.
The vote was 4-0 with all current members present.
The memo of understanding is to develop an intergovernmental agreement between Paddock Lakes, Salem Lakes, Twin Lakes, Wheatland and Randall governing an entity operated by Salem Lakes that would provide EMS to all five municipalities starting on Jan. 1, 2026. The entity is called the Westside Emergency Medical Services Collaborative.
“This should of been done 20 years ago,” said Supervisor George Bailitz
The board also approved a new contract with Twin Lakes Rescue, its current emergency medical services provider, for 2025 to cover the time before the collaborative kicks in. The cost for 2025 will be $225,000, a significant increase from 2024 but TL Rescue officials are committed to increasing station staffing to 24-7 in 2025. The contract was approved unanimously.
Salem Lakes village administrator Cassandra Hiller gave a presentation on the WEMS collaborative and answered questions from the board and public.
The memo of understanding says the initial cost of participating in the collaborative for the municipalities will be $255,150. In addition, Salem Lakes will pay for all staffing for Salem Lakes Fire/Rescue Station 1 in Trevor and 12 hours of staffing at Station 2 in Salem, which serves Paddock Lake. Twin Lakes also has committed to pay additional funds to support Twin Lakes Rescue, Twin Lakes Fire and Rescue Chief Ron Redlin said at Monday’s meeting
Funds received for billing patients for service would be pooled and used for capital needs, such as new ambulances and equipment.
Randall Fire Chief Matt Gronke at the meeting endorsed both the collaborative and contracting with TLR for 2025.
“It’s right in front of us,” Gronke said. “We have a chance to do this right.”
Current plans for the collaborative call for staffing three ambulances in the covered region 24/7 and another 12-hours at first working toward 24/7, Hiller said. One of those ambulances would be stationed at Randall Fire Station 2 in Bassett.
The collaborative is just for EMS and does not affect the operations of fire departments such as those in Randall, Wheatland and Twin Lakes. However, fire chiefs from those departments have been involved in the planning, Hiller said.
Twin Lakes, Randall and Wheatland had been studying the future of their emergency medical services since summer 2023, when Twin Lakes Rescue — which serves those municipalities — announced an initiative to fund 24/7 staffing for their station. In April, Randall and Wheatland passed referendums to provide the extra funding, while Twin Lakes’ referendum failed. Twin Lakes will try again with a lower referendum amount on Nov. 5.
