THOMAS COUNTY EMERGENCY SERVICES BOARD
BOARD OF
DIRECTORS MEETING
11/30/99
Board Members Present: Chairman Earl Williams and Board Members Roy Campbell,
Jim Miller and Josh Herring
Executive Director: Jack Smith
Staff: EMS Director Scerrell Suber, E911 Director Tommy Layton, Volunteer Fire
Director James Hart
TCESB Attorney: Bruce Warren
Media: Mark Brannan, WPAX and Laura Cassels, Times Enterprise
Chairman Williams called the meeting to order and opened the TCESB Board of Director’s meeting with a word of prayer.
APPROVAL OF OCTOBER
28, 1999 MINUTES:
Mayor Campbell made a motion to approve the minutes. Councilman Miller seconded the motion. All were in agreement and the minutes stand approved.
ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN:
TCESB Attorney Bruce Warren officiated over the election of the new Chairman of the Thomas County Emergency Services Board. Mayor Campbell made a motion to elect Jim Miller as Chairman. This motion was seconded by Commissioner Josh Herring. There being no opposing votes, the motion passed. Mr. Miller will be chairman for a period of three months.
Financial Report:
In discussing the financial position, Jack Smith stated that the TCESB is currently under budget for the year. He also commented that the $300,000 commitment of jointly owned landfill profits by Thomas County and the City of Thomasville has been transferred to the TCESB, completing their commitments for 1999 funding made earlier in the year.
Roy Campbell requested a copy of the budget. A meeting to review the budget was set for Thursday, December 9, 1999 at 10:00AM.
Personnel Policies:
Executive Director Smith proposed a new personnel policy for TCESB employees. He stated that the policy approved earlier in 1999 was contradictory to the by-laws of the Board that were approved by the state Legislature. ED Smith stated that the new policy will include a “positive discipline” and drug testing procedures, and a clear definition of accumulation of annual and sick leave; all not in the previous policy. Mayor Campbell suggested that all board members review the policy before voting. All agreed to table until next meeting.
Jack Smith recommended that the Board approve a group health insurance plan for the TCESB. With a combination of the “best of county and city”, the new plan will provide a plan with no one losing any coverage they had with their previous employment. Single coverage of health care, including dental, orthodontics, and vision, would be provided at no cost to the employee. For $50.77 per pay period, the employee can have family coverage. ED Smith state that the plan would cost the TCESB $5,600 per year over the cost of the previous plan. Roy Campbell made a motion to accept the recommendation by Jack Smith to approve the group health insurance plan. Councilman Williams seconded the motion. There were no opposing votes and the motion passed.
ED Smith proposed that the TCESB employees be given a 3% pay raise. He stated that the employees, most coming from employment with the city and county, had missed the pay raises there since their transfer was at the beginning of 1999. ED Smith stated that the pay raises were important to boost morale in the TCESB. Commissioner Josh Herring made a motion that the TCESB employees, including Department Heads, receive a 3% pay raise retroactive to July 1, 1999. This motion was seconded by Councilman Earl Williams. All were in agreement and the motion carried.
Jack Smith also stated that he would ask the Board to consider in their budget for 2000 a 4% merit pay raise for employees based on merit as evaluated by supervisors, with the effective date on July 1.
ED Smith and Volunteer Fire Chief James Hart stated that there has been no previously written Policy & Procedures Manual for Volunteer Firefighters. Jack Smith also stated that having this manual is a requirement of Risk Management. The policy recommended by Mr. Smith was taken from the State’s training agencies. As the TCESB integrates its volunteers with the paid firefighters previously with the city, those standardized policies could be modified to meet the needs of Thomas County. Mayor Roy Campbell made a motion to accept the VFD Personnel & Procedures Manual subject to revisions deemed necessary after further review and periodic revisions. The motion was seconded by Earl Williams. The motion carried.
In addition to having volunteers meet new requirements to be firefighters, Jack Smith said that he wants tighter control of the number of volunteers. He stated that there has to be some means of knowing exactly what is being funded. ED Smith recommended that each volunteer station have 12 active and equipped volunteer firefighters. Board member Josh Herring said that some departments could need more and would like to consider the proposal before voting on it. All other Board members agreed and the proposal will be considered at a later date.
Joe Cole, Fire Chief
Chief Cole was absent due to a death in his family. There was no report.
Scerrell Suber reported 4,463 calls to date. He estimated that the total calls for 1999 would be over 5,000. Mr. Suber also stated that there has been an increase of out of town transfers. There are going to be changes in Medicare that will affect the EMS. Also, Director Suber stated that in the near future to look for standardized ambulance fees state-wide. This will result in no price-gouging and because we are on the lower end of the spectrum, price-wise, Thomas County should benefit from the standardization.
Tommy Layton stated reported that E911 has had 8,620 calls in dispatch to date. There have been 190,000 radio transmissions. Mr. Layton said that he has not yet received the check from Bell South, so he could not report a dollar amount. For the Boards information, Director Layton said that the software from Interact for E911 dispatch will be ready by the end of next week, but the Visions software used by the Thomasville Police Department is not yet ready for integration with the Interact software. However, both software vendors have promised Mr. Layton that the integration will be ready.
James Hart reported that all of the volunteers have been very active over the holidays. The Forestry Division, despite dry conditions, is issuing burn permits. Unfortunately, this has resulted in many of the fires attended. Mr. Hart also stated that there have been minimal complaints with the new pagers. The volunteers are happy to have received the new equipment. James Hart said that the Volunteer Fire Department is moving forward.
All business being completed, the meeting adjourned at 5:20PM.
________________________, Executive Director
Thomas County Emergency Services Board