Commission discusses new ambulance, other business
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By Christa Jennings
Senior Staff Writer
During the first portion of its two-part meeting of the County Commission this month, the commission approved just four items, tabled two and discussed some business, later approving another item after reconvening.
At its initial meeting held July 11, the commission, with Commissioner Lamar Daugherty absent, and county attorney John K. Johnson discussed the ZOLL Data Systems agreement for the Coosa County Ambulance service.
During discussion it was mentioned that two corrections needed to be made to the contract, including changing it from a 60-month contract to a 36-month contract to be in line with other county contracts.
Following discussion, the commission decided to recess its meeting rather than adjourn and table the matter until it reconvened. The commission also approved recessing its regular meeting until 4:30 p.m. July 20, at which time it would vote on the matter once the necessary corrections had been made.
Upon reconvening last Thursday afternoon, the commission unanimously approved the ZOLL Data Systems agreement, which is the software used for billing by the Coosa County Ambulance. Commissioners Daugherty and John Forbus were not present for the reconvened meeting.
Related to the new ambulance service, during the regularly scheduled meeting July 11, the commission also heard updates from EMS Director Hollie Osbourn regarding the service.
Osbourn stated that they started the first shift that Saturday prior to the meeting, with the first crew members being Jeffrey Painter and Brandon Jackson. She stated that they ran two calls the first day, but that they were both significant calls.
“It’s coming together,” she told the commission. “Just be patient with us until we can get all the little kinks ironed out.”
When asked about the total number of calls run since the ambulance went into service, Osbourn said they’d had 10 calls of service since that Saturday, which was a three-day period.
Following Osbourn’s update that morning, attorney Johnson addressed her and asked, “Have there been any dispatches into the eastern part of the county to assist or take a call in lieu of the Kellyton and Goodwater service at this point?”
“Yes, sir,” Osbourn stated. “We were actually dispatched this morning to U.S. Highway 280 and County Road 111 on a MVA [motor vehicle accident]. They paged out Kellyton, but there was no response, so our crew picked it up. I think Kellyton eventually went in route and canceled us off. There was a call that I ran over in the Ray community that I was under the impression that Kellyton had been running that, but there was no response. So we were able to pick that up. At this point I’m trying to figure out the boundaries, but for us it doesn’t matter. If it’s Coosa County we’re going to run. I don’t care where it’s at.”
County Administrator Amy Gilliland asked Osbourn, “They do call and give them the opportunity first though, right?”
Osbourn stated that yes, dispatch had been doing that.
“They have been paging them out, and either they don’t answer or they decline it. It’s mostly been a no answer, and then they page us out,” she further stated. “Regardless, we’re going to go. It doesn’t matter to us where it’s at in the county, we’re going to run the call. All of my crews have been very excited about it and ready to run calls. These guys are really excited about being down here and running calls with Coosa County.”
During discussion, Johnson also asked Osbourn about putting together a fact sheet for the newspaper to inform citizens how the service is operating out of Rockford.
“We need to let the whole county be aware of just what this system is providing,” he said.
Osbourn voiced agreement and said that they are also utilizing word of mouth to help inform Coosa citizens.
“While I was on the call in the Ray community I let them know that they’re going to get an ambulance no matter what,” she said. “We’re coming, and we’re going to do it as quickly as we possibly can. Coosa County is vast and rural. Some places it might take us a minute to get to, but you’re not waiting 45 minutes to an hour on an ambulance.”
She said that she and the crew members alike are all talking to people when they go on calls and letting them know that Coosa County Ambulance is now in service and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. She said they do not take holidays, adding, “We’re here.”
She further stated, “With the calls that we have ran, we have not been overwhelmed in any stretch of the imagination. The calls that we have ran – we’re not stretched to the limit, for it to take us forever to get to a call. We’re on top of it.”
Following discussion, Commission Chair Bertha K. McElrath thanked Osbourn, adding “It’s made a difference.”
In other business, during its initial July 11 meeting, the commission unanimously approved for Commissioner Daugherty to be appointed to the 2023-2024 ACCA Legislative Committee, for Chair McElrath to sign detention contracts through Lee County Youth Development Center and rebidding the inmate telephone system agreement with bids to be opened at 10 a.m. August 8.
During the meeting the commission also went into executive session for 11 minutes to discuss security at the jail. Upon reconvening in open session the commission unanimously approved structural changes to the jail security system.
In other business, the commission unanimously approved tabling a resolution for the Talladega National Forest Service to expand its boundary into Coosa County, with that being tabled until its next regular monthly meeting.
The commission also heard a presentation from Chad Jones, president and CEO of First Bank of Alabama, concerning services the bank could provide to the county. He also mentioned the bank having already secured one acre of land in Rockford, where it will install an ATM for convenience.
He reviewed their information, history, customer service, and online banking availability, stating that he thinks it could be a good bank for Coosa County.
Administrator Gilliland mentioned that when the credit union took over the local First Bank, she was approached and knew the county cannot use a credit union since it handles federal and state funds.
She added that the county has been approached by numerous banks, so the commission has a great deal to review and discuss before making any decisions. She further stated that they “want to find the best fit for the county.”
In other business during the meeting, while giving staff reports Gilliland also mentioned having to tighten up the budgets for the next fiscal year. She informed the commission that they cannot increase budgets for the upcoming year and cannot give across-the-board raises like it has in the past.
During the engineer’s report, County Engineer Tad Eason mentioned now having an assistant engineer, who had just started the day prior to the meeting.
Eason hired Chad Rankin to begin work on July 10 as assistant engineer with a starting salary of $105,000 annually. However, 50% of his salary will be reimbursable by the state.
During his report Eason also stated that they should be starting on the County Road 27 project the following week and that the County Road 2 project was started the week prior to the July 11 meeting.
Chair McElrath asked about County Road 117 after receiving concerns from a citizen and asked Eason to please look into it.
Eason stated that the road was in Stewartville in McElrath’s district, adding that he is “very aware of the problem.”
McElrath asked Eason to check into it so that she can get in touch with the resident and make sure she is taken care of.
Following Eason’s report, McElrath commended Eason and his road crews for “doing an outstanding job in District 2.”
“I really appreciate it,” she said. “You can’t work miracles, but you’ve been there, and I appreciate you.”
District 4 County Commissioner Ronnie Joiner added, “We all appreciate the engineer.”
Following last week’s reconvened and then adjourned meeting of the commission, the next regularly scheduled monthly meeting of the County Commission will be held at 9 a.m. August 8.
