M/PICFD befuddled by county’s decision to move EMS out of Station 1
The surprise decision to move Lee County EMS out of Station 1 on Pine island was discussed at the Matlacha/Pine Island Fire Control District board meeting May 27.
The meeting was held at Station 1 at 5700 Pine Island Road in Bokeelia.
Discussion on the Lee County lease agreement was opened by M/PIFCD Attorney John Miller, who brought it to the attention of those in attendance that Lee County EMS had been utilizing space in Station 1 for years.
“They had an original agreement for a period of 10 years in exchange for assisting with the construction of the ambulance bay that expired in 2018. Most recently, the chief has been trying to get the county to enter into a new agreement, just like they have with all of the other districts for use of district space,” Miller said.
After setting up a meeting with the county, two different possibilities were offered. One was for a flat fee and the other was a price based on square footage. According to Miller, it was made clear to the county that the district wasn’t looking for anything that the county didn’t already have with any other district. He said they got to a point where they hammered out all of the terms of the agreement except for the county’s request to have 3 years termination notice.
Miller said it was at this point that it was learned, by happenstance, that the county was in the process of initiating a lease with a nearby private homeowner (on Avenue B). The county did not respond to questions regarding whether or not this was true.
Reports are that County Commissioners have since voted to approve the lease.
“As it currently stands, it appears that the county does have an approved lease with the homeowner on Avenue B,” Miller said.
In other business, the meeting was opened with a discussion about the district’s 5-year plan, which Chief Ben Mickuleit said would have to wait until the June workshop.
Mickuleit sends letter to Ruane seeking discussion on lease issue
(Editor’s note: Island Fire Chief Ben Mickuleit send the following letter to Lee County Commissioner Kevin Ruane.)
Dear Commissioner Ruane,
I am writing to request a meeting with you and my Fire Commissioner, Fire Commissioner Player, who serves as Chair of our board. We are available to meet anytime from Mid-June onwards. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the ongoing situation regarding the lease agreement between the District and Lee County EMS. As you may know, our District has not had a formal lease agreement with Lee County since 2018, and we have received no compensation from Lee County EMS for its use of our space since that time. We actively re-engaged in negotiations with the County’s team in 2023, and more recently, about six months ago, to make another effort to finalize a new agreement.
Our discussions with Lee County were, in our opinion, very productive and fruitful, and relatively quickly we reached a point where we had only one primary point of disagreement: the significant disparity in termination notification clauses. The County required a three-year termination notification from the district, while the County’s notification period was only 60 days. It is important to note that no other district in the County has a termination clause exceeding one year. It’s important to clarify that the District did not ask for anything unreasonable within the contract. The basis for our agreement was a mirror image of an already approved and signed contract between Cape Coral Fire Department and Lee County, proving its consistency with county standards.
Following these negotiations, communication unfortunately went silent. It was deeply concerning and, frankly, unprofessional, for our District to then discover by accident and without any prior transparency or communication that Lee County was in talks with a residential homeowner about potentially leasing a home for LCEMS and moving out of our fire station. This was further confirmed when it appeared on the consent agenda of the May 20th BOCC meeting, again without direct communication to our District.
When I learned this matter was on the agenda, I attended the meeting and expressed our lack of knowledge and the feeling of being blindsided. Despite subsequent email inquiries seeking transparency and clarification on the intent to move, we have received no feedback to date. This lack of communication is simply unacceptable.
I want to be clear: if relocating is an operational need for Lee County EMS and would better serve their operations, I fully understand and will support that decision. My primary concern is the significant lack of communication and openness with our District regarding these critical intentions.
Therefore, I respectfully request that you coordinate with County Staff to provide our District with a clear plan of action. We need to be formally communicated with regarding your intentions and the forward-going plan for Lee County EMS’s relocation.
I truly appreciate your attention and assistance in resolving this matter promptly
Respectfully,
Ben Mickuleit,
Fire Chief
To reach PAULETTE LeBLANC / pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com, please email