County aims to add Florence EMS unit

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN JERRY ENGLER
Accepting the city-run ambulance service at Florence into the county Emergency Medical Services system, finding an economic development director, and prioritizing road improvements were all major topics Monday at the Marion County Commission meeting.

Florence ambulance

The Florence ambulance service would come to the county with what commissioners acknowledged would be strong assets, including a new ambulance and a long history as one of the better EMS crews in the county.

But the Florence community also wants assurances that its service would be maintained.

Commissioner Randy Dallke was to go to the Florence City Council Monday night to communicate the county commission’s response.

Dallke, who has been an EMT himself, said the Florence crew has a long history of doing things right, and 20 to 30 years ago it was used as an example for other services beginning in the county.

“It’s been a class act,” he said.

EMS Director Darryl Thiesen said the idea first was discussed with Florence Director Judy Creamer several months ago, and now is the time it would be advantageous to both parties.

From discussing the possibility of becoming a county entity with the Florence crew, Thiesen said some members were for it, and others were apprehensive that it could reduce service there or to neighboring communities like Burns and Cedar Point.

Thiesen said the Florence EMTs are unpaid volunteers. Some of them said they would rather remain unpaid than have any services cut.

Commissioner Dan Holub said it would be a matter of fairness that the county commission would pay Florence volunteers just as they do any others in the county system, and the other commissioners concurred.

Commission Chairman Bob Hein said he would like to move forward with welcoming Florence into the county system.

Thiesen said it could be done as simply as the county assuming responsibility for paper work and equipment. The ambulance and jaws of life truck at Florence are very well equipped, he said.

He said Florence already has 70 percent of the funds necessary to purchase a new ambulance, and Creamer has indicated the city’s intent to do so even though it would be transferred to the county.

Dallke said the only reservation he and Thiesen had about guaranteeing service level to Florence would be in the event that the city had insufficient volunteers, but he didn’t see that as a problem in the foreseeable future.

Eco-devo director

Holub said after listening to a Chamber of Commerce speech by the Harvey County economic director, he wants to move forward on a Marion County program.

He said, “People are looking at places (to bring manufacturing plants to) every day, and we’re missing out.”

Holub said the window of opportunity to responding to an inquiring manufacturer can be very short, perhaps 24 hours.

In Marion County, he said it can take that long deciding who the inquirer should talk to-a committee or maybe somebody from Marion or Hillsboro.

“We need a person for them, a single point of contact to make things happen,” Holub said.

“We need a person with business experience, somebody who can do marketing and planning. We need somebody who has the background to be able to call on people, to speak their language, not just a grant writer.

“Their relationship with local businesses will be critical. We need somebody who can help local businesses network together.”

Holub said such a network might be organizing merchants to be able to get bigger bulk discounts for an item like grocery supplies.

“It might be that we will want to seek a recently retired businessman. I don’t picture anybody with a staff. I picture somebody with a computer, a telephone and a car who will get out there, and beat the bushes, someone who is hustling to have business contacts. Development won’t happen accidentally. It will happen on purpose.”

The commissioners agreed they might have to find office space for such a person. They agreed with County Clerk Carol Maggard that they would need to determine whether the person should be full-time, part-time, an employee or a contracting agent.

Holub said a county revitalization plan should be considered, too.

The commissioners discussed making their decision on whether to have an economic development person next week.

County roads

Dallke asked the other commissioners if their phones were “ringing off the wall” too with complaints from rural residents who all want more rock on the gravel roads they drive.

Holub acknowledged that what started as a discussion with each person about what could be done on their road had mushroomed into a huge problem.

“I hate to think about how much gravel I promised last week,” he said.

Dallke said the commissioners have to address how to spend the Federal Emergency Management Act funds received by road and bridge to best take care of the current road situation, and still meet the long-term interests of the county.

He outlined three major considerations:

— paying off lease-purchases on road graders to put the county in a better cash situation as discussed by last year’s commission;

— buying larger quantities of rock to try to further correct the road situation;

— possibly buying more rock hauling trucks to help the situation while replacing aged vehicles.

Acting Road and Bridge Director Jim Herzet verified that the department has two gravel trucks with over a half-million miles each on them-a 1992 and a 1993 Ford, that have to be repaired frequently.

Hein said graveling needs to be a foremost consideration.

“We need more rock, for sure,” he said.

Hein asked Herzet to look into state surplus book listings to see if trucks are available.

Holub said commissioners and Herzet will need to look at each road because “the gravel is sinking fast everywhere. We want to look at whether building a base is needed instead of just pouring gravel on to lose it.”

Holub wondered if contracting with private haulers to increase the flow of rock would help.

Herzet recommended using other haulers to bring in outside materials needed for hard-surface roads while reserving local trucks to keep hauling gravel.

The commissioners reiterated their commitment to reserve FEMA funds for roads. They also said they wanted road improvements to begin as soon as the weather breaks without any wait until optimum summer weather.

Herzet said that road and bridge may want to make more use of salt and sand spreaders for clearing roads next year because steel prices for new grader blades are going higher. He said that with ice like in the last storm, a new grader blade can be worn out in a day.

Hard-surface material

Herzet said he will use much of the millings received from the top four inches of U.S. Highway 77 during reconstruction of the highway for hard-surface blade patching mix.

He said his department used 6,000 tons of blade patching material last year, and this year he is aiming for 10,000 tons.

Roads mentioned as priorities included west of Goessel, west of Indigo to the county line, Peabody area south of U.S. Highway 50, Menno Road, Aulne and Elk Roads and Moundridge Road.

Hein said the Roxbury Road needs to be included as priority because it is in “bad shape.”

Herzet said north of Ramona may be put off for major reconstruction for a year, but added a caution, “It is Ramona’s only way out.”

Dallke said he wanted to see major progress on roads before wheat harvest.

The commissioners agreed that paying off grader leases was down to a low enough expense that gravel might take priority.

Herzet verified for Dallke that it is department policy that if a report from the public is received at night of gravel left piled in a road, then a road grader worker will go out that very night to smooth it out no matter what the hour.

Other Road & Bridge issues

Herzet said the bridge just below Marion Reservoir was selected by engineers for replacement with federal funding.

He said that a $3,000 purchase of computer system, software and maintenance for the department will save paperwork time.

The commissioners directed Herzet to continue looking into pricing uniforms for road and bridge workers, perhaps to include orange shirts and jeans. They said such uniforms would help identify workers for public security.

Other business

The commissioners decided to take two weeks to consider a proposal from the county employees sick leave pool committee that would allow employees to donate sick leave hours for use of employees with a need who have exhausted their hours.

Norma Cline of the appraiser’s office, speaking on behalf of the committee, said donating employees would have to have no less than 480 hous accumulation of sick leave to donate, and they would do so in from eight- to 40-hour increments. She said department heads would regulate who donates, and who receives time.

Dallke said he might favor the program, but he would like to see recipients of the benefit decided by a board according to non-preferential criteria to avoid any preference given employees because of their own popularity.

He also wanted to see definitions of what would be allowed, such as separating use of time for a catastrophic illness like cancer from use for a routine healthy baby delivery.

David Brazil, transfer station, planning and zoning and environmental health director, told commissioners a 1-inch-by-3-inch hole has developed in the tipping floor at the transfer station.

He said a consulting engineer who examined the problem determined there was no structural damage.

Brazil said running a steel blade over the concrete to clear solid waste for several years grinds the surface away. He said two measures for consideration would be adding a rubber piece on the blade so it would act more like a “giant squeegee,” and putting down a “sacrificial” overlay layer of concrete.

Hein asked Brazil, and the other commissioners concurred, to get engineering estimates immediately for repair before the floor further degraded.

The commissioners met with Brazil 15 minutes in executive session after which it was announced that a health department employee was granted 30 days family leave.

The commissioners decided to invite an administering attorney to give a presentation before granting a requested increase from $2,000 to $3,000 in support of Kansas Legal Services. KLS provides legal services for persons who can’t afford them in cases such as domestic dispute and child endangerment.

The commissioners said they would take a letter from Scot Lloyd, consulting auditing accountant, on progress made under contract with updating ambulance department billing instead of going to the expense of having him in.

The commissioners said they would consider Loyd coming in to go over budgeting with department heads in advance of writing the annual budget as a move that might increase efficiency.

The commissioners voted to sign a letter of support for a Kansas Department of Transportation grant to the elderly department for vehicles in the transportation program.

Noreen Weems, director of the elderly department, said Howard Collett, former county commissioner, is a candidate for the Silver-Haired Legislature.

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