The Charleston City Council will vote on an agreement with Mattoon for an automatic response from both fire departments for calls on Route 16 between Charleston and Mattoon.

Mayor John Inyart said this agreement will mean both departments will send half of their staff and trucks to a call between Charleston and Mattoon on Route 16.

“If there is an emergency out there, we’re not going to empty the stations in both towns,” Inyart said.

Inyart said this agreement will help both communities will benefit from the agreement.

“That way both communities, at least for the initial response, will have some coverage for any other emergencies that might arise during that time,” Inyart said.

If the resolution is agreed on it will be effective starting on Oct. 1.

Inyart said there is currently an agreement with Mattoon Fire Department to send a Rapid Intervention Team if there is a structure fire within city limits, and visa versa.

The RIT agreement will stay in effect whether the joint response proposal is passed or denied.

The RIT team is a group of about three or four firefighters and an engine to the fire.

The purpose of the team is to ensure safety of the other firefighters on the scene.

“The sole purpose is to standby, fully geared, ready to do a rescue if one of the Mattoon firefighters were to have a problem,” Inyart said.

Inyart said if there was not a RIT team and there was a problem, the firefighters who have been putting the fire out would have to stage the rescue.

“Your guys that are fighting the fire could be tired, and in the fire service, you don’t want to compound a situation by having people that are exhausted do a rescue,” Inyart said.

The council will also vote on phase two on a plan to expand the intersection on Lincoln Drive and Ninth Street next to Joey’s.

Inyart said there has been some ingestion coming out of the campus that they want to try to fix.

Inyart said they plan to add another left turn lane to allow more traffic to pass through the light.

This plan is similar to one that was done on Seventh Street when Doudna Fine Arts Center was built.

This is the second phase of the plan, Inyart said.

The first phrase of the plan was planning of different options for the area.

The third phrase will be implementation of the area.

The council will also vote to add a no parking zone on the west side of Thirtieth Street between Taylor and Buchanan.

Samantha McDaniel can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].