Milton area will get paramedic station
The Milton area will soon have its own Sussex County paramedic station. At its Aug. 20 meeting, Sussex County Council approved a contract with Milton CHEER Center on Route 16 east of the town to establish Medic Station 111. The agreement permits the county to rent part of the center for $100 a month.
Robert Schoonover, Sussex Emergency Services manager of logistics, said the Milton area is served by units in Long Neck, Rehoboth Beach and Lincoln. “The average response time is 16 minutes in the Milton area, which is two times longer than other locations,” he said.
He said paramedic calls in the Milton area have increased 28 percent over the past six years.
The unit will be manned 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week. Schoonover said it’s anticipated the station will be in operation on or before Jan. 1, 2020.
“This is a good deal for us,” Schnoonover said.
He said during weather emergencies, the station would be manned 24 hours a day, and the county will provide snow removal for the CHEER center.
Bids rejected for Seaford station
At the request of county engineer Hans Medlarz, council voted 5-0 to reject all bids for the new EMS 200/Medic 110 Station in Seaford. Medlarz said new state regulations requiring a sprinkler system in the building and additional costs for work on the entrance to Route 13 drove bids over the $2 million mark. “We are trying to spend less than $2 million,” he told council.
In addition, council gave Medlarz approval to negotiate with Seaford officials to reach an agreement to hook into the city's central water system.
The engineer said it's possible to eventually connect to the new Western Sussex sewer district line that will be in place along Route 13 from Bridgeville to the Seaford wastewater treatment plant.
The new station, using the same design as the station on Plantation Road between Lewes and Rehoboth Beach, will be located on Route 13 north of Seaford near Tractor Supply Co. The existing station is on Route 13 south of Seaford.
