Minutes, April 9, 2012
ELLSWORTH COUNTY COMMISSION MEETING
MINUTES
April 9, 2012
The Board of Ellsworth County Commissioners convened this 9th day of April 2012 at the Ellsworth County Courthouse.
Members Present:
Albert W. Oller, 1st District Commissioner
Kermit Rush, 2nd District Commissioner
Terry L. Kueser, 3rd District Commissioner
CANVASS OF BALLOTS:
At 8:00 a.m. the Canvass of the Wilson City General Election was convened. There was one Provisional Ballot and it met the criteria for being counted. After being counted there was no change to the election outcome as previously reported.
OPENING BUSINESS:
Chairman Oller called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m.
Commissioner Rush moved to approve the Agenda as printed. Commissioner Kueser seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0.
Commissioner Rush moved to approve the Minutes of April 2, 2012 with a date change. Commissioner Kueser seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0.
Peggy Svaty, Clerk of the District Court, informed the Commissioners that District Court personnel were being furloughed five Fridays beginning April 14 through June 2. Therefore, the courts would be closed on those days. The legislature will be in session again the 25th of April and if there are any changes, she will get back to them.
APPOINTMENTS:
Roderic Rees, EMT Director and Gaye Woods, Assistant Director, reviewed with the Commissioner the industry guideline for calling EagleMed or any medical helicopter service. In a recent call out, a medical helicopter was called out when the accident was called in as a truck rollover with extrication. The patient was airlifted to Wichita for medical treatment. As suggested, he and Mrs. Woods went to the hospital Administration Building to look at the space and it would be possible to use but also questionable. The building would be very difficult to renovate and very expensive. A financial report for the 1st quarter was presented showing receipts of $81,289.90.
Gordon Homeier spoke to the Commissioner about an accident that happened on his property on March 29th. He asked that the Sheriff, who was present, be asked to leave; however, the Commissioner stated it was an "open meeting" and could not ask that he leave. Mr. Homeier reported that he radioed for EMS and rescue when one of his employees was trapped inside the cab when the dump truck he was driving turned over. Nine emergency vehicles plus a helicopter showed up for accident. The driver was extricated by the fire department and he was put on a helicopter for Wichita. He questioned why the helicopter was called out before the EMS reached the scene and especially so when he received a bill from the helicopter company for $18,000 and his insurance company is denying the claim due to the fact that the patient did not sustain any serious injury, not even a broken leg. Also, he questioned why a wrecker was called when it was on private property and that would be his decision. A heated discussion followed in which the Commissioner maintained that according to guidelines presented to them, the call out of the helicopter was warranted and Mr. Homeier left the meeting.
Upon the request of Sheriff Ploutz, Commissioner Kueser moved to go into executive session to discuss non-elected personnel from 10:02 a.m. until 10:15 a.m. Commissioner Rush seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0. The Commissioner returned to open session at 10:15 a.m. and no action was taken.
Terry Robl, KanEquip, presented an offer from MGM, LLC for $11,500 to purchase a 75' x approximately 200' lot east of the EMS building. Commissioner Kueser moved to accept the offer of $11,500 for the said lot. Commissioner Rush seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0. Mr. Robl will see that the land is surveyed and get the information back to the County Attorney so a contract can be drawn up for approval.
Brent Van Buren, who has being working with local law enforcement, EMS and fire departments on the new digital radio equipment brought the Commissioner up-to-date on the progress. The templates are done, the programming is done, the county highway department's two radios are done, USD #327 buses and bus barn are done and the EMS is ready to go. The hospital is almost ready and the communication between the EMS and hospital will be encrypted. Also, law enforcement communication can be encrypted if necessary. The second dispatch system is ready to be put in at the Sheriff's office. They are all ready to go on the digital system but have not been switched over as yet. So far out of the projected cost of $27,000 they have spent approximately $23,000. The one expense left is removing the 800 repeater to a new sight and setting it up to be used as a backup. The state has 80 portables that can be purchased at approximately $100 each. At a recent Fire Chief's meeting, they decided that each city could purchase some for their department and asked Mr. VanBuren to reserve 27 of them. They could use more but their individual budgets would not allow any additional purchases. Commissioner Rush moved to purchase the additional 53 portables for use by the various fire departments. Commissioner Oller seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0. Mr. Van Buren will keep the Commissioners apprised of the on-going activities of the communication system. The Commissioners thanked Mr. Van Buren for all his hard work and dedication in seeing that the entire county is able to communicate with each other and insure the safety of emergency workers as well as the citizens of the county.
OLD BUSINESS:
There were no old business items.
NEW BUSINESS:
There were no new business items.
ADJOURNEMENT:
Chairman Oller adjourned the meeting at 12:25 p.m.
__________________________________
Janet L. Andrews, Ellsworth County Clerk
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