County, EMS discuss upcoming contract
Jackson County’s contract with Jackson County EMS for emergency services is up for renewal at the end of 2015, and the commissioners and EMS representatives recently began discussions about a new contract.
Brent Teter and Jay Watkins, owners of with Jackson County EMS, recently met with the commissioners to outline some additional needs for the ambulance service, which operates four ambulances for the county out of Holton.
Teter explained that the primary ambulance used for the county is fully staffed with at least an EMT and a paramedic at all times. These are on-duty employees receiving full wages.
The second unit is staffed with just on-call employees or volunteers that are certified with a variety of training, including EMS, AEMT, paramedic, RN or MD.
“We have a growing concern with this,” Teter said. “When you compare Jackson County to other counties our size, most have multiple units with full-time staff to cover that call load. Our second truck has always been a volunteer or on-call truck. It’s becoming more difficult to operate that way.”
Teter said that staffing a truck with just volunteers is becoming more and more difficult to do across the state.
“Those are the issues we’re facing,” Teter said.
To get more people involved, Teter said that Jackson County EMS holds multiple training classes and seeks grants to help people become certified.
“We’re at a point where we need to move forward in some way so that we’re not caught in a situation where we don’t have that second truck to rely on,” he said.
A callback system of volunteers and employees is used to staff the third and four ambulances.
“We really want consistent staffing for that second truck,” he said. “Any time we have a car wreck involving more than one vehicle, we always send two ambulances.”
Commissioner Janet Zwonitzer asked how much would be needed to fully staff the second truck, and the men estimated that it would be an additional $350,000.
“We want to be the most fiscally responsible EMS out there, but we need some help with that second truck,” Teter said.
The commissioners are currently in a three-year contract with Jackson County EMS and allocates the company $187,000 per year for emergency services. That contract expires at the end of the year.
From 2010 through 2013, the commissioners budgeted $159,500 a year to Jackson County EMS.
Watkins and Teter presented a listed of tax subsidies area EMS organizations received in 2013. Atchison County EMS received more than $600,000 in county funding, Franklin County received $800,000, Osage County received a little more than $400,000 and Pottawatomie County EMS received almost $1,400,000 from its county contract.
(Note: Additional information about the contracts of the other ambulance services, including the length of the contracts or a list of total services provided, was not included with the tax subsidiary totals.)
After some discussion, the commissioners asked for additional figures on how often and when the second truck is being called out.
Teter and Watkins thanked the commissioners for their time and noted that they will report back with the requested information.
In other business, according to the approved minutes from May 11, the commission:
* Heard a weekly report from Eric Fritz and Earl Bahret, road and bridge department co-supervisors. The men reported that crews are putting rock on the roads and repairing some bad spots that resulted from the recent rains.
Bahret reported E Road is being rolled and packed in preparation for chip-and-seal.
* Discussed areas in the county where people are “mudding” the roads with vehicles. It was noted that 270th Road, College Road and 286th Road off of the old highway are frequently used for “mudding.”
Fritz inquired if the county could impose a fine when individuals are caught “mudding.” He said that the long-term damage of vehicles driving off of the roads has made minimum maintenance roads very difficult to fix, specifically the ditches and drain pipes. The grass isn’t holding the ditch anymore, he said.
County Counselor Alex Morrissey said that, if caught “mudding,” the county would want restitution for the damage done to the roadway.
* Met with Dennis Foster with NEK Environmental Services and John Hesston with Jefferson County Environmental Health to discuss their activities for the past year. Foster noted that Jackson County is the only county to inspect the sewage systems of any houses being sold. Hesston conducts those inspections.
* Met with LeRoy Koehn, area engineer for the Kansas Department of Transportation, and Terry Smith, KDOT representative, to discuss the “mixing strip” north of Hoyt that is owned by the state. The property is used to store highway materials.
Koehn said, however, that the state no longer plans to use that strip and asked the commissioners if they were interested in purchasing it. The commissioners said they were, and Koehn said he would determine a price for the county.
Koehn also stated that KDOT has gone through some restructuring of the districts in Kansas and that they have eliminated an area office in Osage City. The sub-area office in Holton is now under the first district, along with the rest of Jackson County. Horton is now the headquarters of KDOT for Jackson County instead of Topeka.
* Heard a weekly report from John Kennedy, Banner Creek Reservoir director, who reported that Life Care Fitness Center and the reservoir are teaming up to host a 5K/1K walk at the reservoir on June 21.
* Learned from Kennedy that rock is needed for the parking areas, roads and RV hook-ups, as well as sand at the swim beaches. The commissioners advised him to discuss the issue with the road and bridge department.
Kennedy and the commissioners also discussed options to purchase tents for the Rock-It-Fest and other community events.
* Received two lighting quotes to install florescent lighting at the shop building at the reservoir. The commissioners accepted the lower bid of $1,737 submitted by Riley Electric. The other bid was $1,860 submitted by Montgomery Electric.
* Learned that Kennedy is interested in holding a mountain bike tournament on the trails. He plans to contact Kansas City Mountain Bike Club to see if they would be interested in coming to the reservoir.
* Met with representatives from Jackson County Communities that Care Coalition who reported on how the alcohol prevention funds have been spent at the three local schools.
Those present were Adrianne Walsh (USD 335 superintendent), Rod Wittmer (Holton High School principal), Sheri Dibbern (USD 335 board clerk), Michelle Finnegan (Royal Valley High School guidance counselor) and Nancy Nelson (Meadowlark Extension District #7 agent). Deanne Armstrong, prevention specialist for DCCCA, Inc. Regional Prevention Center, was also present.
Local students Kassidy Dahl, Jenna Thurman, Blake Harris, Maggie Pruitt and Lyndie Copeland reported on training they received, as well as meetings and activities they held at school to promote drug/alcohol-free students.
Some of their activities included SAFE (Seatbelts Are For Everyone), the “Sticker Shock” campaign, Red Ribbon Week and a grim reaper demonstration.
Armstrong presented a scrapbook for the commissioners and some of the posters used in the campaigns. Wittmer commented that the program brings the county’s students together under one umbrella and, without the county’s support, this wouldn’t be possible.
* Signed a Courthouse lawn use request for the Jackson County Community Band for performances on June 27, July 11 and July 19.
* Met in executive session with County Attorney Shawna Miller for 15 minutes to discuss a matter of client/attorney privilege. No action was taken back in open session.
* Met in executive session with Jackson County Sheriff Tim Morse and Miller for 30 minutes to discuss a matter of client/attorney privilege. No action was taken back in open session.
* Approved a motion to appropriate $500 in parks and recreation funds to Hoyt Fire for the city’s Fourth of July Festival.
* Accepted the resignation of Debbie Bedigrew as a full-time dispatcher. The commissioners also approved the temporary hire of Ryann Bowser as an employee for the senior services department.
* Adjourned the meeting.
