Commission, others argue over ambulance service
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send your username and password to you.
By Christa Jennings
Senior Staff Writer
The County Commission and other attendees spent more than 30 minutes of last Tuesday’s 2-hour meeting discussing, and at times even arguing, over the previously discussed county ambulance service.
On the agenda was to approve the county applying for an ambulance grant and approval to pay 25% matching funds for the grant. The item was indicated to be brought up by Commissioner Ronnie Joiner, with Rep. Ed Oliver also listed on the agenda for that item.
“Up until this point, nothing has officially been approved for anybody to apply for the grant for this ambulance service,” Joiner stated. “Today I’m wanting to make a motion that we apply for the ambulance service. There’s been grants applied for, but they were not on behalf of the county; they were just applied for. This grant that we want to apply for is for Coosa EMS to be located in Rockford. That’s the way we want it wrote up and the way we want it done. I’ve been working on this ever since I became a commissioner, trying to get an ambulance over here on this side of the county, which is badly needed. Our two other ambulance services do a great job, but they can’t do it all by themselves. They absolutely cannot cover the county. There have been several incidences that have happened in the last few days and weeks that prove it. I’m asking the commission to approve the matching funds to apply for a fully-funded ambulance to be located here in Rockford.”
Commissioner Unzell Kelley began discussion by asking if this was the same grant the county had previously formed a committee to look into or if it was a different grant.
Rep. Oliver explained that the first grant the county applied for and they had previously talked about was money that was “absolutely identified by the governor’s office and set aside for Rockford.”
“The grant was to apply for that money specifically for that purpose,” Oliver said. “What happened after that commission meeting we had, I can’t tell you. …I do know what the intent was. We know what the purpose was. The purpose was to establish an ambulance service in Rockford. Somehow it got into a rescue truck and an ambulance. Anything beyond that, I have no idea how we got there, and I’m counting on y’all to figure that out.”
“I’ll just say, representative, we have figured it out,” Kelley stated. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Kelley went on to explain that the previously formed committee sent recommendations to the County Commission and that the recommendation was for the commission to purchase one ambulance.
He added that what the commission approved was to purchase one ambulance, as recommended by the committee. He said then Kellyton Volunteer Fire Department had said that if the county was going to apply for the grant, it would like to also apply for an EMS rescue truck.
Kelley said based on their commitment, he asked the commission to include the rescue truck for Kellyton in the grant proposal that the county approved for the grant.
“Nothing was said in terms of where that ambulance would be located,” Kelley said. “The first phase was just to actually take advantage of that grant before it expired.”
Kelley said he worked with John Blue, CEO of East Alabama EMS, who worked with Goodwater and Kellyton. He said they got the hard estimates on vehicle costs that were needed to take advantage of the grant.
Kelley said that ultimately the county did what Blue asked it to do to approve the action and take advantage of the grant.
“On that day, I asked the commission to approve applying for that grant to purchase an ambulance and the hard estimates that we were given,” he stated. “I made a motion to this commission to approve purchasing an EMS vehicle for $225,000, in which the county would pay 25% match, which would be $56,250, and also $150,000 for the rescue truck for the Kellyton fire department and the county paying that match of 25%, which would be $37,500, which would give us a total of $93,750 that the county, once we approved my motion, would be on the hook for paying to access the funds that you [Rep. Oliver] made available through this grant with the governor’s office. There was no decision by this County Commission on where it was to be located. We all knew that initially Commissioner Joiner and you [Oliver] at the meeting had talked about this being to help improve the response time on the western side of the county.”
Joiner asked if that was in the commission minutes, and both Kelley and Vice Chair Bertha K. McElrath voiced that it was in the minutes.
“Ronnie, you were here,” Kelley said. “I mean, we approved this, and we haven’t approved anything else. We haven’t determined a location. There’s been talk about the location. …We’ve approved all of this.”
Kelley said that what was left was the next phases, adding that they need to go forward with setting up phases to get EMS coverage in Coosa County, and more specifically in the Rockford area. He said that there has been talk and discussions about where best to place the ambulance, but that no decisions have been made by the commission.
However, in terms of the action on last Tuesday’s agenda for approving the grant application and matching funds, he said that they have approved it already.
“I think everybody on this commission is committed to doing what’s best for the county and working to try and find a location for this ambulance,” Kelley added.
There was then further discussion with Rep. Oliver also asking for clarification. It was stated that the action was taken previously and that it had already gone through the commission to approve applying for the grant.
During discussion, Kelley began calling on people in the audience, including Goodwater Fire Chief Elmore Unbehant and county attorney John K. Johnson, asking if they remembered the commission taking that action. Unbehant said that he did, while Johnson said he did not.
“The administrator has checked the minutes, and according to what was determined, as I understand, the commission has never approved anyone applying for the grant,” Johnson stated.
“I stated it in my motion,” Kelley said. “How are we going to approve matching funds that we’re not even applying for?”
He then called on EMA Director Sheldon Hutcherson as a member of the EMS committee that had been formed and someone who attended the meeting.
“I want to say something,” Hutcherson said to the commission. “I’ve been in this job for 11 months. For 10 of those 11 months we’ve been talking about this ambulance. I’ve tried my best to stay out of it, but now I think EMA and EMS is going to have to come together because I think what we have now is not a disagreement between the commission and Goodwater and Kellyton and the county – we have a health emergency. Just last week in Hanover there was a call that needed an ambulance. Sylacauga had none available. Kellyton was on another call. Goodwater was either on another call or not available. That man died. What we need to do is forget what’s happened in the past. Start today and get this ambulance service.”
Kelley responded, “You can’t forget action that this commission took. I don’t know what y’all have gotten together, but this commission approved this.”
Joiner asked why the action was not in the commission minutes if it had been approved.
Unbehant spoke up and said that after the commission approved providing matching funds and applying for the grant in June that Blue contacted him and asked him if Goodwater would “spec out the truck” and get the application since it holds a license in Coosa County. Unbehant said he agreed to do that.
“I have been completely committed to locate that truck and run it in this side of the county once the commission figures out how to pay for personnel,” he said. “Just like I said in my last email, not having an ambulance has never been the issue. Not having the people is the issue. So if we had paid paramedics today, I could have an ambulance here today, but we don’t have the people.”
He added that he did specifications for the ambulance and ordered it, stating that he has a contract signed with Blue through the EMS committee.
“When it arrives here, if it needs to be located here at Rockford, I’m committed to do that,” Unbehant said.
However, Oliver said that was on hold “right now.” He said that East Alabama EMS is going to take the liberty of the ambulance, based on his understanding.
“I don’t know what game y’all are playing,” Kelley said.
Joiner responded that nobody was playing a game.
Oliver went on to say that what Hutcherson had said was “absolutely right.”
“No, we approved this, representative, after you came here and admonished us about not missing a date,” Kelley said.
He added that they spent a great deal of time to “get the ball moving” and that they applied for the grant for the ambulance and rescue truck.
During ongoing discussion, Oliver asked Kelley, “What are you trying to accomplish?”
“Nobody is trying to accomplish anything,” Kelley answered. “We’re trying to do what you came here with a grant and asked us to do.”
“No, I don’t think so,” Oliver stated.
Kelley responded, “Man, go on somewhere.”
Oliver went on to ask if the rest of the commission “agreed with that.” Kelley and McElrath said that the commission voted on it at the June 8 commission meeting.
Oliver then asked if the commissioners had understood what the vote was for.
“I can’t speak for individual commissioners, but we voted on it and approved it,” Kelley said.
District 5 Commissioner Lamar Daugherty spoke up saying that was his first commission meeting and that he remembered voting on matching funds, but did not know what took place prior to that.
“In my motion I said we wanted to apply for the grant that was provided by you [Oliver] through the governor’s office, through East Alabama EMS and John Blue, and we wanted to purchase an ambulance and a rescue truck based on the hard estimates that were given to us so that we could have a true number,” Kelley said.
In further discussion, Oliver said that they “somehow got lost on the intent.”
He went on to say, “We’re still in a position of where we’re talking about what to do with this money. I do remember we applied to meet the deadline; however…”
Kelley interrupted to say, “No what we need to do right now, representative, if you don’t mind, basically the matching funds need… and I talked to Elmore; I said this was talked about in terms of providing service based here in Rockford.”
Oliver said that they had asked Unbehant to use his license to accept delivery of the ambulance. Kelley said that all came through Blue and East Alabama EMS, adding that in order to make the grant work they have to have licensed providers who can apply.
Kelley said that he served on the EMS committee and that every commissioner had the opportunity to come to those meetings. He said that Joiner did and that he expressed his concerns about that EMS coverage being in Rockford.
“Everybody on the committee understood that,” Kelley said. “When it was brought before the commission, that’s your time to ask questions. Everything was explained, and it was approved. I’m with you, we need to move forward.”
Kelley and Oliver had further discussion about moving forward and Unbehant’s intent, as well as the reason the county involved Goodwater Volunteer Fire Department and EMS in the process.
“I haven’t changed my position on trying to help because I know the need of EMS here,” Kelley said. “The only thing I’ve said is that going forward we need to also fund having full-time employees, but also we need to also support Kellyton and Goodwater for the service that they’ve provided for years.”
Joiner stated, “Nobody has ever for one minute thought about not helping them, but the whole premise of this whole thing is this: Coosa EMS is an independent ambulance service from the other two. We want to set it up here and stand it up where it will be governed by the commission. They will be county employees, and they will have benefits through the state just like any other county employee has. That’s the whole thing we’re trying to do.”
During ongoing discussion of the grant application, Commission Chair Randall Dunham said that they were “just spinning tires.” Oliver asked how they move forward.
He went on to say, “I know what [John Blue’s] recommendation is today, which is that we get prepared to accept delivery of an ambulance in the next few days, and we start looking hard for somebody to operate that ambulance. …I agree with most of the other commissioners, the intent was to bring that ambulance right here…”
However, Kelley cut Oliver off and said, “I’m going to ask the other commissioners, do y’all agree with him using y’all basically to try and justify what he’s coming down here and trying to do? I don’t know what that is, because we’ve been basically working at Rep. Oliver’s bequest, who brought John Blue down here, who said hey I’ve got some money; I’ve got a grant, and y’all need to take advantage of this.”
During further discussion, Kelley told them to ask Terry Mitchell what the recommendation of the committee was. He added that the commission approved the grant application and matching funds previously and that “those monies need to be paid.”
After further discussion and dissension, Kelley said, “What we need to do is we need to provide the matching funds for this and move on. Mr. Chairman, you can move on to the next agenda item.”
County attorney Johnson asked to speak. He stated that he was contacted by County Administrator Amy Gilliland and asked if the grant application could go in if it was not in the minutes where it had been approved.
He added that Gilliland searched the minutes and that there was no approval to make the application for the ambulance. Kelley reiterated that it had been done.
“Your primary thing is that for the commission to do any type of business, you must motion, you second, and you vote on it, and that has to appear in your minutes,” Johnson said. “Most of the time you do not read your minutes out loud after you approve it, but if you approve minutes of a prior meeting… Amy could not find that in her minutes.”
Vice Chair McElrath shared her notes from her June 8 meeting agenda, which reflected that the commission had approved it.
Johnson stated, “Again, with all due respect, your administrator prepares the minutes, and each of you has to make certain those minutes are correct when you approve them.”
“John, John, just stop, just stop,” Kelley said. “Just stop, John. Just stop. Just stop.”
Kelley went on to say, “We just need to move forward, and you need to make that a part of the minutes to verify what we’ve already approved, and those funds need to be purchased for these vehicles – ambulance and the rescue truck – and we need to move on to the next item.”
The commission continued discussion and reviewing McElrath’s June 8 agenda and notes where she had notated that the matter was approved.
After further discussion, Johnson stated, “Right now you’ve got a motion on the table made by Commissioner Joiner…”
Kelley interrupted to say, “I didn’t hear it. Let him repeat it. He just got up talking.”
Johnson continued, “..It stands for a second. If there is no second, the motion dies. If there is a second, then you vote on it. But you’ve got to correct your minutes for it to be official county business.”
Johnson added that the commission could add to the agenda to correct the minutes from a certain date if that motion fails. Kelley said that they would.
“I don’t hear a second, so this motion dies for lack of a second,” Kelley said.
Johnson stated, “I don’t think the chairman has called for a second on the motion. He has to do that.”
After brief discussion, Chair Dunham asked Joiner to make his motion again. Joiner then made a motion to apply for the grant for the Coosa County EMS ambulance, adding, “That was my original motion.”
Rep. Oliver asked if he could say something, and Kelley responded no, that they were in the middle of business.
However, Oliver went on to say, “Here’s the thing, we’ve got a bunch of money to get an ambulance service right here in the middle of Coosa County. I am thoroughly excited about it. I know that these are things we can work through. Everybody’s got a wish list, and everybody’s got things they want to accomplish. I want to see an ambulance operating here and picking up folks that I care about in the middle of this county. I appreciate the work Elmore has done. I appreciate the work other folks have done. A lot of folks have different ideas about how we move forward. The commission has got to make those decisions, and one person on the commission is not going to make them; it’s going to be the commission as a group.”
Oliver also suggested that the commission might need to go into executive session to “figure out what to do.”
“Look, you need to go down to the state house and take care of your business down there,” Kelley said.
Dunham stated that they had a motion and called for a second. With no one seconding the motion, it died for lack of a second.
Kelley then went on to make a motion to add to the agenda to approve the corrected minutes for the June 8 meeting. That was unanimously approved to be added to the agenda.
Later in the meeting, when that item came up, the commission reviewed the information, minutes and notes. It was explained that the matter came up at the June 8 meeting, but that it was tabled until the June 15 special meeting. The minutes reflected that the matter was also tabled at the June 15 meeting.
After discussion, Kelley made a motion to amend the June 15 minutes to reflect that the commission approved the grant application and matching funds. McElrath seconded the motion, and it was unanimously approved.
Unbehant had left the meeting during the ambulance discussion, and Oliver left later in the commission meeting.
However, at the end of the meeting during discussion items by the commission, Kelley stated, “I just want to say, I’m man enough; I got a little passionate so if I offended anyone, I would be man enough to apologize for my behavior and my actions. We should always try and use decorum that is appropriate, but I just tell you, sometimes you get a little passionate about issues. So I just want to offer a formal apology to the citizens of Coosa County and my colleagues.”
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Coosa County Commission will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, November 23.