HomeMy WebLinkAboutOctober 2 2001 Briefing MinutesIREDELL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
BRIEFING MINUTES
OCTOBER 2, 2001
The Iredell County Board of Commissioners met in Briefing Session on Tuesday,
October 2, 2001, at 5:00 p.m., in the Iredell County Government Center, 200 South
Center Street, Statesville, NC.
Present: Chairman Sara Haire Tice
Vice Chairman Steve D. Johnson
Tommy E. Bowles
Karen B. Ray
R. Godfrey Williams
Staff Present: County Manager Joel Mashburn, Finance Director Susan
Blumenstein, Planning Supervisor Ron Smith, EMS Director Tracy Jackson, Fire
Marshal Chuck Gallyon, Purchasing Agent Evie Caldwell, and Clerk to the Board Jean
Moore.
CALL TO ORDER by Chairman Tice.
REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL FOR THE
EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES (EMS) DEPARTMENT: Dr. Steven G.
Folstad, the medical director for the EMS Department, joined Tracy Jackson, the
department head for EMS, to explain this request for additional personnel. Mr. Jackson
said the medical community had concerns about out -of -county transports. He said the
Iredell County Audit Review Committee met recently and agreed that a balance needed
to be reached between dedicating enough EMS resources for out -of -county patient
transfers while maintaining adequate coverage within the county. Jackson said the
committee had made the following recommendations.
1. Refer non -emergency, routine patient transfers to other ambulance service providers.
Utilize EMS for only life -or -death patient transfers.
2. Streamline the process for requesting an emergency patient transfer.
3. Institute a review process that will monitor policy compliance and reduce avoidable
transfer delays.
4. Establish a minimum number of units that will be allowed out -of -county at any
given time, but allow the on -duty EMS Operations Supervisor the discretion to send
additional units out -of -county during non -peak hours.
5. Request additional personnel and resources for EMS so that more than one ambulance
could be sent out -of -county without jeopardizing in -county EMS coverage.
Mr. Jackson said the following three options were being offered for
consideration.
OPTION 1
Add six (6) full-time EMT -Paramedics and an additional ambulance in order to improve
unit availability and response coverage.
Cost: $285,037.
OPTION 2
Add three (3) full-time EMT -Paramedics in order to improve unit availability and
response coverage.
Cost: $91,081
OPTION 3
Provide enough part-time coverage to insure that a QRV will be staffed around the clock
in order to improve unit availability and response coverage.
Cost: $105,653
Commissioner Williams asked if any contracted services were available for the
transports.
Jackson said there were some, however, they were located out of the county.
Commissioner Johnson asked if Options 2 and 3 were manageable.
Jackson said yes, especially if the rescue squads could assist.
Dr. Folstad said that Option 3 used part-time personnel, and this could create a
scheduling "nightmare."
Jackson recommended Option 2.
The commissioners agreed to place the matter on the consent agenda with
approval of Option 2, at a cost of $91,081.
ADDRESSING ORDINANCE REWRITE: Planning Supervisor Smith
explained the various zoning requests from his department, the site plan requirement
amendments, and the addressing ordinance rewrite. During his discussion on the rewrite,
Commissioner Johnson asked Addressing Coordinator, Barry Whitesides, to review the
signage for Reynolds Road and Bell Meade Avenue.
New Business
REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION REQUESTNG THE
IREDELL-STATESVILLE SCHOOL SYSTEM TO REFRAIN FROM ANY
FURTHER ADMINISTRATIVE SALARY INCREASES UNTIL PROGRAMS
WERE RESTORED AND ACCOUNTING PROCEDURES WERE
IMPLEMENTED: Commissioner Johnson said he recently had a visit from a school
system employee. Johnson said the employee had told him that prior to the school
system's budget cuts, she had a net monthly take home pay of $1221. Now, however,
after the school system had made budget cuts, her net monthly pay was $781. Johnson
said the employee's work responsibilities were basically the same. Mr. Johnson said the
cuts had created a hardship on many people, and he had written a resolution to state that
the decisions and actions taken by the school system did affect many people. He also
said that at a recent meeting with the commissioners, the school officials would not
guarantee against further budget cuts; however, a few days later a substantial
administrative salary increase was authorized. Mr. Johnson then shared his resolution.
Commissioner Williams said he didn't know whether the resolution would help or
hurt. He mentioned the board of commissioners had eliminated the financing for a new
Iredell-Statesville School Administrative Building. He said that by this action, the
citizens knew the commissioners had concerns. Mr. Williams said he had learned the
school system had balanced its budget.
Commissioner Ray also stated reservations about the resolution. Ray said she,
too, was "appalled" when hearing about the pay increase, but there were different ways
to express disapproval.
Commissioner Johnson requested to add the resolution to the agenda.
Commissioner Williams said he would be more inclined to vote for the resolution
if it did not single out a specific administrative employee.
Commissioner Johnson agreed to modify the resolution.
ADJOURNMENT: Chairman Tice adjourned the briefing session at 6:39 p.m.
Approved:
Clerk to the Board