Chapel Hill resident Jim Groves was chosen Monday to lead Orange County’s Emergency Services department.

Groves will replace retiring Director Frank Montes de Oca. He starts his new job Jan. 22.

County Manager Frank Clifton said in a news release that more than a hundred people applied for the job.

“Jim brings many years of boots-on-the-ground experience, along with a connection and true understanding of the community, which will be an added benefit for our residents,” Clifton said.

As Emergency Services director, Groves will lead the Fire Marshal’s Office and a 119-member staff that meets the county’s emergency medical, communication and management needs, while working with other local, state and federal agencies.

He also will oversee a major expansion and upgrade to EMS and 911 Center services.

Groves has worked since 2006 as senior manager with ICF International in Durham. The consulting firm specializes in emergency service response programs and inter-agency collaboration. He also served three years as Lee County’s emergency services director, 10 years as the emergency management coordinator for Durham County and was a member and assistant chief of Durham’s Parkwood Volunteer Fire Department from 1984 to 2004.

Contrary to a consultant’s report, Orange County’s fire chiefs say there is room for Emergency Services ambulances at rural fire departments.

Chapel Hill Fire Chief Dan Jones said several valid points came out of a $28,000, two-part draft study of EMS and 911 Center capabilities and needs. But there are other points with which he, as an experienced firefighter and chief, takes serious issue, he said.

A major problem in the past has been stationing ambulances at fire departments based on a “gentleman’s agreement,” he said. There were no expectations and no contracts, so there also was no agreement about who pays when something breaks.

“I think it’s completely unreasonable for this county to build nine EMS stations across the county when you could easily add bays to stations,” Jones said. “The key is to set expectations early and put it all in writing.”

Consultant Steve Allen, of Solutions for Local Government, told the commissioners in August that it could cost the county more than $15.6 million over the next 10 years to modernize EMS operations and the 911 Call Center, from adding more employees to buying more ambulances and building dedicated EMS stations.

Allen and an EMS workgroup are receiving public comment and will make revisions before the commissioners consider the final report.

It will take years, money and people to modernize Orange County’s emergency services.

A two-part, $28,000 study says implementing the draft EMS/911 assessment over the next 10 years could cost more than $15.6 million in capital, one-time and operating costs.

“This has festered for number of years. It didn’t happen overnight,” consultant Steve Allen, of Solutions for Local Government, told the county commissioners Thursday.

The county system is 20 years old, and the population is aging and growing; 911 calls could number about 15,000 by 2032, he said.

Allen and the county’s EMS services workgroup identified 19 short- and long-term steps to improve response times, technology, staffing, data, training and planning.

The study identifies four main issues: ambulance availability, response times, and EMS and 911 facilities and staffing.

Public comment will be included in the revised report.

Look for a story in Sunday’s Chapel Hill News. The study can be found online at www.co.orange.nc.us/OCCLERKS/agenmenu.asp. Click on the Aug. 30 meeting link.

If you have questions or comments, contact Assistant County Manager Michael Talbert at 919-245-2308; mtalbert@co.orange.nc.us; or at 200 S. Cameron St., Hillsborough, NC 27278.