West Newsmagazine 6/3/15

16 I NEWS I
June 3, 2015
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
Dads and
Grads
Say it with
Cookies!
A216
Tee-rific Dad
By JIM ERICKSON
ericksonjim@att.net
The Monarch Fire Protection District
Board has raised the cost of emergency
medical service calls charged to non-residents
of the district.
On a unanimous 3-0 vote, the board
increased the district’s rates 15 percent at
its May 27 meeting after hearing a presentation
from the company it uses to bill and
collect for emergency medical services.
Tammy Campbell, senior vice president
with Mediclaims, Inc., of Tonkawa, Oklahoma,
said Monarch’s EMS billing rates
are well below both the state average and
those charged in the St. Louis area, and
much less than what Medicare and Medicaid
allow for such services.
The district’s three-tier billing system
is based on the level of service provided.
Effective June 1, rates increased from the
former charge of $650 to $750 for basic
life support calls. New costs for advanced
life support and more advanced life support
calls (ALS 2) will be $975 and $1,150,
respectively, compared with rates of $850
and $1,000 under the old billing schedule.
Charges for transportation to hospital
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Monarch FPD boosts non-resident
emergency medical charges
emergency care facilities also will increase
from $10 per mile to $12.
Monarch will continue its long-held
practice of not charging district residents
for EMS calls.
Based on a projected collection rate of
85 percent, Campbell said the new charges
will mean a $41,000 revenue increase for
the district during the remainder of the year.
Most of the 911 calls to which Monarch
and other fire protection districts respond
are for medical emergencies, including
motor vehicle injuries.
The board deferred action on rate increases
for medical responses requiring little or no
care and which often are the result of 911
calls made by persons witnessing an incident
and concluding an emergency exists.
Collection rates on these so-called “treat and
release” cases are low for a number of reasons,
Campbell said, including the tendency
to put off paying medical bills because
doing so doesn’t adversely affect a person’s
credit rating and people’s unwillingness to
pay for services they didn’t request.
Monarch directors will consider the
issue later after more data on such incidents
is gathered.
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314-997-6161
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GRAVEL PLANT, from page 14
project,” Sanders said. “They are all directly
affected by noise, light and the view of a valley
destroyed by a sand and gravel mine. This will
be a project lasting more than 50 years, and it
will be a big mud hole the entire time.”
The main intersection used by everyone in
the area is Hwy. 109 and I-44, Sanders added.
“Winter Brothers proposes adding up to
20 to 25 trucks per hour to this intersection,”
he said. “Included in the traffic are
the school buses for seven schools, twice
daily. This presents a major traffic danger.”
Sanders said his understanding of the
Winter Brothers proposal to MoDOT shortens
the median at the left turn from westbound
I-44 onto southbound Hwy. 109.
“This makes the turn easier but shortens the
distance to the next left turn to get back on
to 44 going eastbound,” Sanders said. “This
area on southbound 109 under Hwy. 44 is
the area that is so tight and the traffic stacks
there too easily. Increasing the length of the
entrance of Williams Road onto eastbound
44 is a reasonable change. We still worry
about acceleration of the trucks uphill from
109 on to eastbound 44 and, just after that,
decelerating onto the Williams Road exit.”
On May 26, Wildwood’s City Council
voted unanimously to have a city representative
attend the public hearing and oppose
the conditional use request.
“We need to oppose the granting of this
permit at least until the issue can be further
studied,” Wildwood Councilmember Jim
Bowlin (Ward 6) told the council.
Wildwood Councilmember David Sewell
(Ward 6) said he feared that if silica extraction
becomes part of the Winter Brothers operation
there could be health concerns from putting
the fine-grained material into the air.
“They’re saying this could add maybe
five jobs – big whoop,” Sewell said.
Wildwood Mayor Tim Woerther suggested
city officials reach out to County Councilman
Mark Harder (R-Dist. 7) and County Executive
Steve Stenger to voice their concerns.
“But it’s imperative we be on the record
at that public hearing as being against this
until further study is done,” Bowlin said.
During public comment that night, Bill
Kennedy, of Rockwood Forest Ridge near
southern Eureka, asked whether Wildwood
officials “are going to ignore the question
or stay silent or do some detailed research
on a threat that could impact residents.
“It’s important for you to reassure and
advise residents who are becoming increasingly
more concerned about this plan,” Kennedy
told the council.
Additional information on the St. Louis
County proposal is on the county’s website
under Winter Brothers Company CUP request
(www.stlouisco.com/PropertyandRoads/PlanningZoningandSubdivisionInformation).