Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 2, 1995 TAG: 9509050049
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Medium
When the Bedford County Board of Supervisors talked about boundary disputes between volunteer rescue squads last Monday, County Administrator Bill Rolfe sounded like an angry dad about to take his unruly kids behind the woodshed for a whipping.
"This looks like it's shaping up to be a real dogfight," Rolfe told the board. "And if you want to, we can have a dogfight in public, or I can take them in the back room and say, 'work it out, guys.'''
"I asked [acting Emergency Services Coordinator] Johnny Dooley to bring the baseball bat, so I'm going to put them all in the room and shut the door and say we're not coming out until everybody's happy and we're all smiling.
"If it takes two days, we'll sit there two days. I don't care."
What had Rolfe so hot under the collar was a long-standing territory feud between the Bedford Life Saving Crew and the proposed Goode Rescue Squad.
The Goode squad plans to take over about a third of the territory now covered by the Bedford crew. It's already taken over Bedford's station in Goode. The landlord, a Goode supporter, ordered Bedford to vacate.
Also, Bedford's fund raising has been hurt by competition from Goode squad organizers over the last year, and some of Bedford's paramedics are quitting to join the Goode squad.
Last week, the Goode Rescue Squad passed its state inspection and became a licensed rescue squad, but it still needs approval and funding from the Board of Supervisors before it can answer emergency 911 calls.
There's really no question that Goode will be approved. The board already has budgeted money for the squad, and supervisors have said they will vote in favor of the squad. But that doesn't resolve the territory issue.
Generally, before a new rescue squad comes before the board, it works out boundaries with the county's volunteer rescue squad association. Then, the new squad brings the association's recommendations to the board for approval.
The association and the Bedford Life Saving Crew have refused to make any boundary recommendations for Goode, according to members of the Goode squad. Representatives from those groups could not be reached for comment.
Instead of having a public hearing, the Board of Supervisors has agreed with Rolfe's suggestion to hammer out the boundary dispute in private. Rolfe will invite the Bedford and Goode squads and the Campbell County Volunteer Rescue Squad, which has nearby territory, to gather by the end of this month to discuss Goode's boundaries.
Rolfe may or may not need the aforementioned baseball bat to get everyone to attend.
"The idea of the three [squads] sitting down is something we've been trying to get to happen for a long time, and I would welcome the opportunity," said Rob Ballagh, the Goode squad's founder. "I think that might be the best way to do it, since we haven't made any substantial headway any other way."
If all the squads don't come to the meeting, then whoever does show up will determine the squad's boundaries, Rolfe said.
Friday, Rolfe said the boundary discussions would not be held in executive session.
He also talked about his frustration with the squads, saying, "I don't see what the issue is here. They're all in the business of trying to provide better medical service to the citizens of Bedford County.
"I hope they're not so petty that they're fighting over fund raising. I think the citizens of Bedford County would be mighty disappointed if that's what we're fighting over - dollars. The name of the game is to serve our neighbors, not to make money."
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.