County Discusses Fire/Rescue Issues
The Jasper County Commissioners spent considerable time at their regular meeting Monday night discussing three separate issues for the fire/rescue/EMS budget.
The first item was EMS billing. Chief Chris Finch recommended the county change from in-house billing to allowing a service to do it. He sought bids, and recommended a company by the name of Emergency Billing. After discussion, commissioners voted 4-1 to outsource the EMS billing and see if collections will improve. It will take about four to six months to get the paperwork done to complete the transaction, so they are shooting for April 1. Chairman Carl Pennamon cast the dissenting vote.
The next item took little time. A new mandate requires the county to carry cancer and long-term disability insurance on the firefighters. The total cost is just under $8,000 and will be covered by the fire/rescue budget.
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Commissioners spent a good bit of time discussing the next item for fire/rescue. Mr. Finch said that 46 new Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) sets are needed. The total cost, including a 10-year “bumper to bumper” warranty comes to $336,367. After considerable debate and discussion, commissioners agreed for Chief Finch to order the sets, and agreed they would determine the best way to pay for them by next month. They did vote to “assign” the ambulance that was recently bought to the 2017 budget, freeing up some funds in the Fiscal Year 2018 budget to help pay for the apparatus.
The request for the SCBA was brought forth during Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) discussions last spring, but ended up being scratched as SPLOST would not generate enough income to satisfy all the needs.
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In other financial discussions, commissioners approved 11 budget amendments which were needed to complete the Fiscal Year 2017 audit. Chief Financial Officer Rhonda Blissett presented the commissioners with each of the amendments, which were easily understood.
Commissioners agreed to move forward with the county’s application for Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG) and agreed to submit the Post Road project for the money. The county can change projects down the road, but must submit at least one. Management provided
commissioners with costs for other scenarios they had considered, and felt like it was best to stick with the Post Road option. Other options would be to pave several smaller county roads instead of putting on the money on Post Road.
The commissioners learned that striping of the part of Post Road recently completed should be done this month, and the shoulders will be finished next spring. County Manager Mike Benton was going to meet with Public Works Director Preston Campbell about bridge maintenance. The county has 50 bridges, he said, and some of the maintenance can be done in-house. Mr. Benton said he was getting positive feedback on the “No Thru Trucks” sign recently erected on numerous county roads.
The commissioners also renewed alcohol licenses for the following establishments: Sac-O-Suds, Tyson’s Country Store, Lakeview Marina, Lakeview Restaurant, Convenience Stores d/b/a Larry’s 4-Way, Turtle Cove Property Owners Association, and Frank’s Restaurant. They tabled taking action on a new alcohol license for Hillsboro Station Market, as it does not yet have a certificate of occupancy. Apparently more work must be done on the building before it can open.
In other action at Monday’s meeting, commissioners approved the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee Appointments of Commissioner Bruce Henry, County Manager Mike Benton, Planning & Zoning Director Shane Sealy, Economic Development Director David Dyer, Chamber of Commerce President Pam Mayer and citizens Ken McMichael, Mary Patrick, Tracy Norton, Andrew Boyd, Bud Cowan, Ross Hays, Adam McGinnis, Gerald Stunkel and Sue Patterson. The city of Monticello will add two members to the group, as will the city of Shady Dale.
They also named members to the Jasper County Water & Sewer Authority, and re-appointed others. Re-appointed members are Bill Whitten, Elvis Singleton, Ken McMichael, and Mary Alice Carter. New members are Eileen Ott, Joseph Hinton and Bobby Sutton. Research will have to be done to see the actual terms of each individual as those members are to serve staggered three year terms.
Commissioners also appointed Norma J. Trammell to serve on the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Adult Treatment Court Collaborative Advisory Board.
Commissioners agreed to give all employees a Christmas turkey, and announced the employee Christmas dinner will be held December 14. Commissioner Pennamon thanked all those who supported SPLOST which passed last month.
During citizen comments, Ken McMichael asked the commission to work with the water authority to stop the city from developing the megasite it recently purchased for water and more. He says the terrific water source should belong to the whole county, not be restricted to the city of Monticello.
