Talk of Coosa County – and beyond

 

Thank you to those who contacted me about my column last week. I do hope it was able to help someone through a hard day. Like I said, I may have some ideas of what I will write about when I start typing, but sometimes something more important comes out. That’s what happened last week. Let’s see what happens today.

PLEASE READ TO THE END OF THE COLUMN FOR THE MOST UP TO DATE INFO!

The front page article last week about the County Commission meeting and the ambulance service that has been proposed for Rockford has been the talk of the county – and beyond. The issue continues to change almost every day, and the hope has not been lost. I am hoping there will be a huge turnout of concerned citizens who will come to the commission meeting that is scheduled for November 23 at 6:30 p.m. Even if you are not on the agenda to speak, there is a time for public comment – and we need a LOT of that right now. And, we need it at EVERY commission meeting.

We cannot sit back and allow these five elected officials to make all the decisions for “we the people.” We have to make our needs, wants and desires heard. If we don’t do that, we deserve what we get – like no ambulance service in the south and northwest area of the county. It must be great to live in Goodwater and Kellyton where they don’t have to be so worried if they or a loved one has an emergency.

As a rural county, we depend on VOLUNTEERS to answer emergency and fire calls. Sometimes there are volunteers available, and sometimes there aren’t. Some volunteers still work full-time jobs so they are only available during the off-time. And some of the volunteers are retired citizens who may be at doctors appointments or other commitments. Every volunteer fire department in Coosa County needs trained volunteers to be first responders and firefighters. They also need people to help with traffic control, provide water, or just be a driver. The training is made available to anyone interested. How about YOU?

An ambulance service to be stationed in the Rockford area has been discussed for at least the last four years that I know of. Candidate and now Commissioner Ronnie Joiner has led this effort, and he has explored many options to make this happen. Funding is the main roadblock – as with everything else. Like I said before, Goodwater and Kellyton have ambulance service through their VFDs. But, if you live anywhere south of Highway 22 or between Highway 9 and the western border of the county, you are at the mercy of the availability of an ambulance also coming from Goodwater or Kellyton, or even Wetumpka.

If we call for an ambulance, it is an EMERGENCY. Whether it is someone with a health issue or someone in some type of wreck, the clock for recovery starts ticking IMMEDIATELY. An ambulance stationed in the center of the county could respond in any direction, pick up the patient and continue in the same direction to the nearest hospital whether that is Alexander City, Sylacauga, Clanton, or Wetumpka. Does this not make sense?

Thanks to State Representative Ed Oliver, the answer to a good bit of the funding was found. A committee was appointed by the County Commission to price out the cost of the ambulance so we would know how much county money would be needed as matching funds. They did that job with help from Goodwater and Kellyton VFDs since those departments would know what was needed. They provided that information to the commission, and their job was done. The County Commission voted to provide the matching funds that would also provide a rescue truck to Kellyton VFD to help them respond to wrecks on U.S. Highway 280 that is in their district – this was at the request of Governor Ivey. Everything was moving along.

THEN, some people on that committee decided they would continue their involvement in the process and overstepped the bounds of their authority, so they diverted the ambulance to Goodwater because the infrastructure for the service in Rockford was not in place yet. And, here please understand the word “yet.”

The entire County Commission was not aware of the efforts being made to fund and staff the infrastructure. AND, they were not aware of a contract for the purchase and delivery of the ambulance being signed by someone not authorized to do that – only the chairman of the County Commission can sign contracts on behalf of Coosa County.

Then, in my opinion, the issue took an ugly turn last week when race was brought up. I guess some people think that the only people of color in Coosa County live in the Goodwater area. What about the people of Cottage Grove, Union Square, Equality, Richville, Hanover, Weogufka, Marble Valley, or Ray? I don’t care if you are purple with pink dots, you deserve dependable reliable ambulance service that can reach you in the quickest way possible.

Regardless of what part of the county you live in, you should be very concerned about the breakdown in communication, the rule of law and the ethics that our elected officials seem to have. STAND UP AND SPEAK OUT.

P.S. Within hours of finishing this column I was informed the ambulance has now been delivered to Rockford. Stay tuned for further changes and updates.