News

Collier extends paramedic services agreement with North Collier Fire, removes taxi rules

Greg Stanley

12/09/2015

Dec. 09--North Collier Fire Rescue and Control District will have another month to work out a deal with Collier County to provide paramedic services.

Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to extend the fire district's license to train and supervise its own medics for another 30 days. The license, which was set to expire at the end of the year, now expires at midnight January 30.

The move could give the two sides enough time to negotiate an out-of-court settlement, said Commissioner Tom Henning.

"Let's try to work out an agreement," Henning said.

The extension keeps the status-quo on how care has been provided in the North Collier district, which serves about half of the county's population, for the last five years.

It's still going to be tough to get a deal done in that time, but any extension is helpful, said Jorge Aguilera, North Collier deputy chief of emergency medical services.

"It's still a tight timeline," Aguilera said. "But this will give us enough time to go through a conflict resolution process. We serve 110,000 residents and more than 300,000 people who come into the district every day. So anything that extends our ability to serve them is good."

For each of the last five years, commissioners have granted the district an annual certificate to train and provide its own medics and hire its own medical director. But in September, the commission voted 3-2 not to renew the license this year, saying it fragments care by providing different standards for patient care and medic training in different parts of the county.

Fire officials sued the county in October, saying commissioners never gave them a fair hearing, and asked a judge to order commissioners to renew their medic certificate.

If the license expires before a deal is reached or a decision comes from the courts, the 85 paramedics with North Collier fire would no longer be able to practice the full gamut of medic procedures. The fire district medics would be replaced by nine county medics, working on overtime, under a county contingency plan that will cost taxpayers about $1 million more a year to keep medic response times close to where they are today, according to county estimates.

The district, which includes North Naples, Big Corkscrew Island and about half of Golden Gate Estates, would also go from having a medic on board between seven and 11 quick response vehicles to having a medic on board three vehicles.

The two sides both admit they are still far from a deal.

The fire district's latest settlement offer demanded that commissioners issue them the same license that was denied in September. The fire district reapplied for the license, but commissioners again voted, 4-1, Tuesday to not consider or process the application.

Commissioners will meet behind closed doors in January to discuss options to settle the lawsuit.

Commissioners also voted, 4-1, to formally remove all county regulations on the taxi, limousine and vehicle-for-hire industries. Commissioners first voted in October to throw out the regulations in response to Uber and the fast-growing ride-sharing business, becoming the second county in Florida to do so behind Sarasota County.

More than a dozen taxi drivers and owners of limo and other transportation services made a last pitch to try to change commissioners minds.

The regulations, which include requirements for criminal background checks and proof of commercial insurance and vehicle inspections, are needed to protect the safety of passengers, said Randy Smith, owner of Naples Transportation and Tours.

"To say that county staff cannot enforce the rules is just wrong, as the rules have been enforced for decades," Smith said. "This is not doing any good for Collier County citizens. If you don't think that a lot of people and a lot of companies will start cutting costs now, you're not in reality."

Commissioners voted along the same lines, with Commissioner Penny Taylor dissenting, as they did in October.

The move gives taxi companies an even playing field with companies like Uber, who can more easily skirt the county rules, said Commissioner Tim Nance.

"If everyone is on an equal playing field, then the professionals will distinguish themselves as a higher service and they can present themselves as higher level of service," Nance said.

In other business, commissioners also helped negotiate a settlement between developers who hoped to build a 26-slip dock on Haldeman Creek and the dozens of homeowners who have been fighting the proposal for more than a year.

The proposal had called for boats to stick about 38 feet into the narrow waterway -- 18 feet more than what is typically allowed. The docks would serve a town house development called Haldeman's Landing, which is planned to open immediately next to the Windstar properties off Bayshore Drive.

The creek is between 90 and 120 feet wide at the proposed site. Developer Standard Pacific of Florida said it needed the extension to make it past a line of mangroves that take up nearly the entire shoreline.

At the behest of commissioners, the developer agreed to build the 26-slip dock parallel with the shoreline, rather than angled, which means it will take up less of the waterway.

"It's a win-win," said Maurice Gutierrez, who has lived on the creek since 1979. "This eliminates the obstruction, increases the navigatability and makes it look like less of a marina."