THOMAS COUNTY EMERGENCY SERVICES BOARD
Board of
Directors Meeting
1/26/00, 12:00
Noon
Board Members Present: Earl Williams, Roy Campbell, Moses Gross, Ricky Smith, Executive Director: Jack Smith
TCESB Attorney: Bruce Warren
News Media: Mark Brannan, WPAX and Laura Cassels,
Times Enterprise
Earl Williams welcomed the new Board Members and opened the Thomas County Emergency Services Board Meeting with a word of prayer.
ELECTION OF BOARD CHAIRMAN
Board Attorney Bruce Warren presided over the election of the new Chairman for the TCESB. The Board rotates between a city official and a county official every three months when a new Chairman is elected. Earl Williams nominated Roy Campbell for Chairman. Ricky Smith seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Councilman Earl Williams made the motion to approve the TCESB minutes from the 11/30/99, 12/9/99, and 12/23/99 Board meetings. Commissioner Ricky Smith seconded the motion. All were in agreement and the minutes stand approved.
OTHER BOARD MATTERS
In discussing the vacancy of the fifth Board Member slot Mayor Campbell asked for any recommendations. The new Member cannot be an elected official. He/ She must be a citizen of Thomas County. There has been little enthusiasm from any person asked. Mayor Campbell urged Board members to seek someone to fill the vacancy. Also, Mayor Campbell said that our Local Legislation Bill presently states that any two members of the TCESB can terminate the fifth member. He would like to see it changed to say that it would take a majority vote. Attorney Bruce Warren stated that it would take a resolution from both the County and City. Full support from the County Board of Commissioners and City Council must be definite.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Executive Director Smith proposed that the TCESB purchase six commercial pumpers and one rescue truck. He said that there are Volunteer Fire Stations that are in desperate need of new trucks. Upon inspection it was discovered that repair costs would exceed the value of the trucks. The proposal is that the Thomasville City Stations would receive three of the pumpers and the three Volunteer stations that would acquire the new trucks would be Boston, Ochlocknee, and Coolidge. The replaced pumpers from the City would be sent to other volunteer stations. Factors in the consideration of placement are (1) Municipalities, and (2) Volume of calls. Executive Director Smith gave the Pierce Company quotes of lease/ purchase of the trucks totaling $1,150,904, with annual payments over a 10- year period of $118,140. Equipping the trucks would cost approximately $25,000 each. After discussion, Ricky Smith made a motion to solicit bids for six commercial pumpers and one Fire Rescue truck with acceptance or rejection to take place after bids are received. Roy Campbell seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Bids will be take on both two and four man cabs.
Executive Director Smith, while discussing other financial matters,
urged the City and County to consider long-term commitments in order to
facilitate long-range planning. Earl
Williams said that Landfill Revenues are very solid and Mayor Campbell said
that the entire City Council is willing to commit to make of half of any
shortfall of revenue promised to the TCESB from the Landfill profits.
In order
to operate more efficiently and effectively and have a definite direction, a
Planning Session was recommended by Executive Director Smith. All Board members
were supportive of this and will work on scheduling the Session.
Executive Director Smith requested a meeting with all Board Members and
Volunteer Fire Department Chiefs in order to give more information to Board
Members about the Volunteer Stations. A
meeting was set for Thursday, February 10th, 2000 at 7:00PM in the
Courtroom at the Thomas County Courthouse.
There
was a discussion about cross- training of Fire Rescue and EMT’s. Executive Director Smith urged the Board to
in the future make cross-training a condition of employment for Fire/EMS. Moses Gross questioned the feasibility,
relating to facilities and accommodations for females. Fire Chief Cole assured the Board that that
could be easily corrected. At this time
it is not a problem; provisions can be made.
After discussion, the Board moved to table the issue until after the
Planning Session.
On
recommendation by Jack Smith, the Board agreed to delay hiring of a Director
for EMS at the present time. Mr. Smith
expressed confidence in the EMS Shift Captains. Morale has improved and the Department is moving forward in a
positive direction.
Executive Director Smith submitted the December Financial Report. He stated that it is subject to change
pending the Final Year-End Audit.
Figures will be provided after the audit is completed.
Fleet
Vehicle maintenance is currently handled by the County Shop. Executive Director Jack Smith recommended
that the TCESB contract with First Service.
The County Shop Rate is $28 per hour- flat rate. First Service offered $16.72 per hour- flat
rate. One of the warranties by First
Service provides that any work that has to be redone will be at no charge to
TCESB. Chief Cole added that any work
that has been done by First Service for the Fire Department has been quality
work and they also create a very good working relationship. The TCESB agreed that we use First Service
for future maintenance and repairs with a target date of 2/01/00.
Mike Stephenson, County Manager requested a written request stating a
cut-off date that the TCESB will stop using the County Shop. There will be some allowance for a
transition period.
Executive Director Smith received Board approval of a Computer and
Software Purchase for EMS. This will
allow EMS to file claims electronically; drastically reducing the collection
time of receivables and reducing paperwork.
The discarded EMS computer will be used to create an automated system
for filing Volunteer Fire Reports.
Chief
Cole reported 1439 calls for 1999. He
estimated a total of at least 1500 for the year 2000. Fire Safety Education is expanding to include more grade
levels.
Director
Tommy Layton reported a total of 9000 transmissions for this month. This total includes calls for Law
Enforcement, Volunteer and other Fire Departments, and EMS. After Mr. Layton’s report, a discussion
ensued about upgrading E-911. Moses
Gross is expressed concern about the quality of E-911 transmission and
dispatch. New consoles and proprietary
software is sorely needed; however, there is no room now for this equipment in
the existing facility. Mr. Gross
recommended that the TCESB proceed with planning of a new 911 Call Center. Director Layton said that if the structure
that houses E-911 is more than 1000 feet from the tower, the system must rely
on phone lines and cable rather than direct tower transmission.
Moses
Gross made a motion to authorize $50,000 to be used for engineering on a new
E-911 Center. Ricky Smith seconded the
motion. All agreed and the motion
passed unanimously.
Shift
Captain Derrick Ogletree reported 429 total runs for the month of December
1999. He made a projection of 4452
calls for the year 2000. Mr. Ogletree
stated that in recent weeks there have been positive steps made at EMS. The
status of collections and uncollectable accounts will be examined by Executive
Director Jack Smith and Office Manager Mary Stolarik. Those figures will be presented to the Board at a later date.
Director
James Hart stated that on a regular basis as a Volunteer he witnesses that
Safety Education is a very important part of the Fire Rescue System. Improvements are being made in the area of
Incident Reporting to the State. With
the implementation of the computerized Incident Reporting there will be a wider
base of information for the Volunteer Fire Department. Mr. Hart also commended the Board for hiring
Jack Smith as Executive Director. He
expressed his confidence in and support of Mr. Smith.
ADJOURNMENT
With
no further business to be discussed at this time, Ricky Smith made the motion
to adjourn. Roy Campbell seconded the
motion and the meeting was adjourned.
_______________________________,
Executive
Director
Thomas
County Emergency Services Board