THOMAS COUNTY EMERGENCY SERVICES BOARD
Board of
Directors Meeting
7/22/99
4:00 PM
Board Members Present: Chairman Earl Williams, Mayor Roy Campbell, Commissioner Josh
Herring, and Commissioner Jim
Miller
From Thomas County: Twink Monahan, County Insurance Manager
TCESB Attorney: Bruce Warren
News Media: Mark Brannon, WPAX and Laura Cassells, Times Enterprise
Guest: Paul Roberts from Pension Services
Chairman Williams called
the meeting to order and opened the TCESB Board of Director’s meeting with a
moment of prayer.
APPROVAL OF July
1 and July 6, 1999 MINUTES:
The
first item on the agenda was the approval of minutes from the Board Of
Directors meetings of July 1, and July
6, 1999. Mayor Campbell made a motion
to approve the minutes from the July 1, l999 minutes. But the Mayor pointed out errors on the minutes for the July 6,
l999 meeting. The secretary left to get
copies of the minutes. Approval of the
minutes was put aside for the present.
DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS:
Scerrell Suber, Director of EMS:
Scerrell
Suber states that his department handled 2,735 calls from 1/1/99 through
7/22/99. Out of town transports average
two or three per week. Pavo, Boston,
and Coolidge have received $1,000 matching grants for the Automatic External
Defibrillator. Barwick, Riverside,
Ochlocknee, and Meigs are other applicants. Mr. Suber stated that he would like
to get a bid for the AED and present it to the Board for approval. The Board was in agreement.
Joe Cole, Fire Chief:
Chief
Cole reported run and call volume.
Chief Cole reported that things are going smoothly with the exception of
air conditioning problems.
Tommy Layton, E-911 Director:
Tommy
Layton spoke about training. Classes
are set up for the 4th or 5th of August. Mr. Layton stated that the new software
conversion was coming along on schedule.
The air conditioner fan motor went out at the Base Station. The UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply)
equipment cuts on immediately when power goes off and has kicked on a total of
fourteen times because of power surges.
The UPS equipment was a very good investment. But Mr. Layton states that an alarm when the air conditioner goes
out is needed. The Base Station needs
to stay about 68 to 70 degrees. Mr.
Layton states that in six months his department handled 51,786 calls, 103,720
total phone calls, and one million transmissions on radio.
JAMES
HART, TRAINING DIRECTOR:
James
Hart stated that he now has courses for 101 Firefighters in Boston, Pavo, and
Reichertville. Further courses are
forthcoming for other towns. Mr. Hart
stated the goal is that all departments will be certified by January 2000.
Permanent training records on each employee are being compiled. A list of needed equipment is being compiled
to present to the Board. Mr. Hart
states that morale is good. Chief Cole
told James Hart that some live training could be set up. All trainees that are on the WCI could
participate. Mr. Hart tells the board
that Chief Cole has been a great help.
PROPERTIES:
Mike
Stephenson directs the board member’s attention to the lists of property
prepared for their review. Mr.
Stephenson points out that the property has been inventoried by department and
by agency. He stated that all property
is presently covered by insurance. Mr.
Stephenson stated that David Paulk of the ACCG has advised him that in the
interim, the properties could be covered without title.
Bruce
Warren stated that formal transfer could be done by bringing it before the
Thomasville City and Thomas County Commissioners at their next meetings. Mike Stephenson stated that we would plan
to have it accepted by the TCESB Board members at out next board meeting. Chairman Williams directed Tom Berry and
Mike Stephenson to put this on the agenda for the Board Of Directors meeting in
August.
APPROVAL FOR PURCHASE OF FIRE DEPARTMENT
PANTS:
Bids
were solicited for uniform pants for Thomasville/Thomas County Fire
Rescue. The bid was requested for 129
pairs of Fechheimer uniform pants. 117
pairs of style 49300 (eight pocket) and 12 pairs of style 49400 (four
pocket).The three bids were opened.
Bids were as follows:
Companies Style 49300 Style 49400
Harrison Uniforms $56.25 $43.25
McCain Uniforms $55.95 Command
Uniforms $54.95 $41.95
Chief
Cole states that the best pants he has ever used was purchased from Command
Uniforms. Chief Cole recommends
accepting the bid from Command Uniforms.
Board
Member Josh Herring made a motion to approve the purchase of 129 pairs of
uniform pants from Command Uniforms.
Mayor Campbell seconded the motion.
Chairman Williams asked for a vote.
All was in favor. The purchase
stands approved.
PAYROLL DEDUCTIONS:
Mike
Stephenson introduced Heidi Pehrson.
Ms. Pehrson has been working on payroll and deductions. The problem is that the Peachtree system is
limited to twenty-nine (29) deductions.
Between Thomasville City and Thomas County, thirty-four (34) deductions
are being used. The need is to
consolidate or eliminate some of these fields.
Much discussion ensued. It was
agreed to eliminate the Christmas Club.
PENSION:
Mr.
Paul Paulk from Pension Services attended the TCESB Board meeting to clarify
The Plan. The following is a summary of
ESB Plan Provisions.
1.
Trustees: the same individuals as are functioning as
trustees for the health insurance plan.
2.
Plan Type: Money Purchase Plan with mandatory employee
contributions.
3.
Compensation: W-2, including Section 125 and 457
deferrals.
4.
Eligibility: Employees will be eligible to participate in
the plan after completing one year of ESB service; all ESB employees will be
eligible to participate as of July 1, 1999.
5.
Entry Date: first day of the month following completion
of the eligibility requirements.
6.
Excluded Employee
Classifications: Part-time, contract, leased, and temporary employees will not
be eligible to participate in The Plan.
7.
Employer Base
Contribution: 3.0%
8.
Employer Matching
Contribution: None.
9.
Employee Mandatory
Contribution: 3.0%
10.
Contributions for
Employees Working Less Than 1,000 Hours During a Plan Year: Participants will receive a contribution if
they complete at least 1 hour of service during the plan year.
11.
Normal Retirement Age:
Age 65
12.
Vesting Schedule: 100% after completing five years of service.
13.
Vesting Service: one year credited for each plan year that
employee completes at least 1,000 hours of service.
14.
Rollover
Contributions: will be accepted prior
to an employee becoming a participant.
15.
Other Plans: ESB does not maintain any other retirement
plans.
16.
Other Pre-Tax plans: ESB sponsors a Section 4576 deferred
compensation plan.
ESB Employees that were vested participants in the
current City or County defined benefit pension plans as of July 1, 1999 will
remain in their current defined benefit plan and continue to accrue benefits in
future years. These employees will not
have any change in their retirement program as a result of their transfer to
the ESB and will not be eligible for the ESB 401(a) defined contribution plan. The ESB will contribute up to 3% of compensation
to the City and County defined benefit pension plans for the vested ESB
employees that remain in these plans.
ESB employees that were non-vested participants in the
current City or County plans on July 1, 1999 will have their participation in
these plans terminated as of July 1, l999 and they will become participants of
the ESB 401(a) defined contribution plan as of July 1, 1999. Pension Service Company will prepare an
election for these employees, giving them the choice of taking the present
value of their accrued defined benefit as (1) a rollover into the 40l(a) plan,
(2) a rollover to an IRA, or (3) a taxable lump sum payment.
All
points being discussed and agreed on, Mr. Paulk ended his presentation.
Y2K CONTINGENCY PLAN REVIEW:
Chairman
Williams asked if the board could postpone the Y2K Review until the next
meeting. It was agreed.
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
Commissioner
Jim Miller made a motion for an Executive Session, seconded by Mayor
Campbell. James Hart asked to be
excused to attend a class. Heidi
Pehrson left. Board went into Executive
Session. At the conclusion of the
Executive Session, all present were asked to return to the meeting.
BACK TO OPEN SESSION:
FINANCIAL REPORT:
Mike
Stephenson submitted a Financial Report for the six-month period from January
1, l999 through June 30, l999. Mr.
Stephenson stated that 56% of the budget had been spent in the first six
months.
APPROVAL TO FILL VACANT POSITIONS:
Mike
Stephenson stated that even though we have spent 56% of the budget in the first
six months, he recommends that the board approve the hiring for the vacant
positions submitted. These are as
follows:
EMS - 1 Paramedic
E-911 - 1 Dispatch
Fire Department
– 3 Firefighters
Commissioner
Josh Herring stated that he understood that we were hoping to get cross-trained
people. Chief Cole agreed and stated
that anyone we hire must be willing to cross train.
Mayor
Campbell made a motion to authorize Department Heads to hire one paramedic, one
dispatcher, and 3 firefighters. Chairman
Williams asked for a vote. All were in
agreement, and the motion passed.
Commissioner
Herring made a motion to adjourn the meeting and all being in agreement, the
meeting adjourned.
MEETING REOPENED:
APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JULY 1, L999 AND
JULY 6, 1999:
Commissioner
Josh Herring made a motion to approve the minutes of the TCESB meeting held on
July 1, l999 and to approve the minutes of the TCESB meeting held on July 6,
l999 with the corrections changing all mentioning of Josh Herring as Chairman
to Earl Williams, Chairman. Roy
Campbell seconded the motion. The
minutes stand approved.
It was agreed that the next scheduled meeting
for the TCESB would be held on August 19, 1999 at 4:00 PM in the City Hall
Conference Room.
Board
meeting adjourned at 7:15 PM.
__________________________, Chairman
Thomas County Emergency Services Board