Paramedics could respond much quicker to life-threatening emergencies in northern Pasquotank and Camden counties with an ambulance substation in South Mills, officials said this week.

On Wednesday, the South Mills Fire Commission determined it can pay $850,000 for a joint station for fire and emergency medical services.

If approved by the Camden Board of Commissioners, the station would be built at the intersection of Keeter Barn Road and U.S. Highway 17.

Phil Faison, the fire commission's chairman as well as a Camden commissioner, said the group could also seek a federal grant to help fund the project.

"We're hoping by next fiscal year to be breaking ground ... I'm encouraging them to move along to next stage of project," Faison said.

The outlook for the project is a lot brighter than just a year ago, when plans were shelved temporarily because of insufficient funds.

South Mills Fire Chief Tommy Banks said Wednesday that Camden property values have increased since last May to the point that there is now enough revenue to pay for the joint fire-EMS station without increasing property taxes.

"It (the station) is something we need," Banks said. "Everyone is on the same page behind the project."

The layout of the new 10,000-12,000-foot station includes an ambulance bay, as well as office space for paramedics.

Currently, all of the five ambulances that respond to EMS calls in Pasquotank and Camden counties are dispatched from a building behind Albemarle Hospital.

That's a long ambulance ride to some emergency calls in northern Camden, Faison said. He noted that an ambulance stationed at Keeter Barn Road might be able to respond to some calls as much as 15 minutes quicker.

"It's a great idea," Faison said of the substation proposal. "EMS could lease space in there and help satisfy the loan for building."

Jerry Newell, director of Emergency Medical Services for Pasquotank and Camden counties, said data shows his department is handling a steady progression of EMS calls, many in the fast-growing areas of northern Pasquotank and Camden. Calls have increased from 3,779 a year in 1998 to 5,151 in 2007.

Newell said EMS service needs another ambulance to handle the rising demand. Instead of buying a new ambulance for $140,000, the department will gain an additional one by not trading one in when a new one is purchased this year, he said. Although that will result in a $30,000 to $40,000 loss in trade-in value, it will give the department a sixth ambulance that could be used at the new substation in South Mills.

"Whether we get a substation or not (in South Mills), we need that sixth ambulance," Newell said.

Newell said several new paramedics would have to be hired to staff the new substation, and two are needed now even before the station is built.

"There is a need for a couple of additional people at nighttime, and that need is there now," he said.

With benefits and anticipated overtime, the two paramedics would cost about $100,000 a year, Newell said.

Newell emphasized that the Camden Board of Commissioners still needs to approve plans for the new joint fire-EMS station in South Mills.

Chief Banks said commissioners will be presented the plans in the next couple of months. He is hopeful that they will sign off on the project because his department has outgrown its existing station. A new building could help improve volunteer firefighters' morale as well as help attract new ones, he said.

Banks also envisions the station being used for voting and community gatherings.

"In addition to EMS, it will be a community building," he said. "I'm hoping that in the next year and half we'll see it done."