Fallsnewspress.com - Silver Lake, Falls officials happy with fire/EMS service so far

by Lauren Krupar

Correspondent

Silver Lake -- A year after village officials approved a deal with Cuyahoga Falls to provide fire, EMS and dispatch service to Silver Lake, representatives on both sides said the new arrangement has worked well.

"We're still making some adjustments, but I'm very pleased," Silver Lake Police Chief Gary DeMoss said.

Silver Lake Mayor Bernie Hovey agreed, telling Village Councilmembers Nov. 17 that he has received "not one negative complaint" since Cuyahoga Falls began service in the village July 15.

"I was quite reluctant [about Cuyahoga Falls providing emergency service to Silver Lake]," village resident Esther Underwood said, "but I've been pleased with the service."

Council President Carol Steiner (District B) said the village made the "right decision" in choosing Cuyahoga Falls.

Silver Lake's agreement with Cuyahoga Falls, approved last November, ended a longtime relationship with Stow. At the time, village officials said cost was a determining factor.

Stow officials said the city had provided fire service to the village for 75 years, been in a contractual arrangement with Silver Lake for 50 years and provided dispatch service for 17 years. At the time of the agreement with Cuyahoga Falls, the village paid Stow $295,000 in 2007 for the services.

Stow officials offered to provide the village emergency service in 2008 for $269,866 as well as an additional reduction if the village joined in the Council of Governments' regional dispatch center.

The contract with Cuyahoga Falls was for $187,369 with a three percent increase each year beginning in 2009.

Typical response time to Silver Lake has been under five minutes with fire stations 1, 2 and 5 responding to calls, Cuyahoga Falls Fire Chief Paul Moledor told Village Council Nov. 17. In comparison, Cuyahoga Falls residents have an average response time of approximately four minutes.

"You're getting pretty quick service," Moledor said, adding area railroad crossings have not been an issue. "We've never been stopped by a train. It's not a problem."

Village solicitor Robert Heydorn agreed, adding he recently saw Cuyahoga Falls emergency responders in action.

"I heard the sirens when they started and it was only a couple minutes later that they showed up," Heydorn said. "You're holding to that time."

Since starting the service July 15, Cuyahoga Falls fire and EMS workers responded to 40 emergency calls, 17 non-emergency calls and one canceled call, Moledor said. Of the 58 calls, 39 were for EMS and 19 for service or fire related calls.

"It's been an excellent working relationship between the departments," Moledor said, crediting the men and women of the Cuyahoga Falls fire department for any praise regarding service to the village. "It's been seamless."

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