LAKE OZARK, Mo. — News last week that the Community Bridge of Lake of the Ozarks was charging tolls for emergency responders, except in cases of an emergency, put many around the Lake in a furor. Since then, the Community Bridge board has changed that policy: now all emergency vehicles will receive a free pass, regardless of whether or not they are headed to an emergency.

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The board sent a notice to emergency entities a few weeks ago, stating emergency responders were required to pay the bridge tolls for crossing unless it is during an emergency and they have their lights flashing. Last week Community Bridge Board Treasurer and Vice President Joe Roeger said a firefighter was also required to pay the toll on his trip back after a fire because he was not on “emergency” business.

In the notice, bridge officials quoted the portion of the state code that deals with emergency vehicles and bridge tolls; (3) (B) Tolls shall not be required of corporation officers and employees while in corporation business, department vehicles, state highway patrol vehicles, or of public police, public fire or public ambulance vehicles when on emergency business or duty necessitating the use of the project, and when the vehicle is readily identifiable as such.

According to Roeger, this was not new: he says it had been the protocol since May 1998. “This is the interpretation of the attorneys and those who wrote the United States Department of Agriculture bond covenants. I would say since we have new personnel, the occasion was presented to reiterate this long-standing policy,” Roeger said of the prior policy.

After the board became aware that management sent out the notice and there was an issue, it contacted USDA. On Friday, Oct. 31, the board received a letter from USDA approving its request to loosen the provisions of the trust indenture eliminating emergency vs non-emergency in the code verbiage. “We assured the bond holders we weren’t talking about much revenue,” Roeger said.

Some in the community had wondered whether the “emergency-only” policy would incentivize emergency responders to turn on their emergency lights, just to save money on the toll. However, Lake West Ambulance District Office Manager Gayle Webb said the ambulance district’s policy is to only turn on the lights and sirens in the case of life or death situations.

“Turning on the lights and sirens is dangerous,” she said. “It causes people to panic. Their reaction is to immediately pull off to the side of the road, sometimes without thought.”

Going forward, emergency entities will not be required to pay a bridge toll during emergencies or while on official duty, if they are readily identifiable—even if their lights or sirens are not on. The board plans to meet with representatives from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, police, fire and ambulance to discuss how to determine what constitutes “readily identifiable.”

“We are happy to be able to assist local fire and law enforcement authorities in any way we can, they provide a public service and we don’t want to stand in their way,” Roeger ended.


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