The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/169641
The Press-Dispatch A-7 Wednesday, September 11, 2013 County Council discusses new EMS building costs wanted to have two locations: one in Petersburg and one in Arthur. Young said when the EMS started having two full-time ambulance crews on duty 24-7, they also changed how they pay EMTs. They quit paying them for sleep time. He said in theory that offset the cost. But that only works if they don't get runs during time they are sleeping. "I can tell you since we went to two full-time crews, we have been busy." Councilman Myreon Krohn said he didn't understand why the council could get a cost estimate on how much it was going to cost to have a building in Arthur and one in Petersburg. Commissioner Brian Davis said the main difference was going to be the rent they paid to be housed in the former Arthur Branch of Integra Bank. Krohn said that was only a 10-year lease. Davis said it was a 10-year lease with the option to buy if the owners decide to sell it. "Right now the difference in the cost is renting at Arthur. I don't know what else to tell you," said Davis. Councilman Sutton said he had no doubt the county was going to have to do something about the building at Campbelltown, because he has recently checked on it. It has seriously deteriorated. "The interior of the building has been shut up with no circulation. Moisture is still around and the building already had mold. We are getting bits and pieces of information, but let's see what the plan is. This $60,000, we didn't hearing anything about that at the last meeting, it just kind of jumped since the last meeting," said Sutton. Sutton said he wanted to have an idea of the cost of a new building. He said the figures had ranged from more than a $1 million to about $750,000. "That is still too high." He said he had talked to consultants who told him a rule of thumb is about $90 per square foot, which he said would put the cost in the $300,000 range. "We have to keep in mind we have one ambulance barn now. We want two and we didn't maintain the one we had. At some point these two aren't gong to be new either," said Councilman Randy Harris. "Randy raised a viable point. The current building at some point was not cared for." He also suggested they County council reviews budgets County Councilmen conducted their budget hearing on Tuesday. Councilmen (l to r); Myreon Krohn, Joe Sutton, Greg Mangin, Greg Willis, Auditor Ron Wilson, Deputy Auditor Bev Robling and councilmen Randy Harris, Dennis Bishop and Max Elliott review budgets being projected on a screen. They were still in the meeting at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, it started at 8:30 a.m. build a better quality building than a pole building with the siding attached by nails. "Could we keep the down spouts attached?" asked Harris. "It isn't that the gutters are missing. It is that they are laying on the ground," said Willis. "I guess the first question is one or two (EMS buildings)," said Councilman Bishop. Bishop said he understood it was the commissioners decision to make. "Now we know what we are looking at." Bishop said he knew some councilmen weren't comfortable with purchasing the ground. He suggested appropriating half the $60,000 requested so the commissioners could move forward with the doing soil samples and determining if the site might be suitable to build on. Councilman Mangin said if the EMS Building and Petersburg Fire Station were to build next to each other, both could save by sharing items like a meeting room and parking spaces. Elliott suggested the county determine a dollar figure and tell the commissioners to build it for that. Mangin said the first question a design professional was going to ask is "what is your budget?" Elliott agreed, saying if you are going to build a house, you know what square footage you want and have a budget and ask a contractor can we do it for this. Councilmen Sutton and Willis said if you give a design professional an amount, that is how much it will cost. Willis said he would like for the commissioners and councilmen to spend the money as if it were coming out of their own checking account. Commissioner Coleman said he was sure none of the commissioners were going to allow all of an appropriation to be spent because it was available to them. Councilman Bishop said he talked with Mike Voyles, who owns the property the county wants to buy for the EMS location. Bishop said Voyles didn't want to be tied down to holding the property for the county. But he did say he would allow them first chance to buy it if he got another offer. Eventually Bishop made a motion to appropriate $30,000 for a design professional, remove DLZ from the request and table the land acquisition appropriation request. It was approved by a four to three vote, with Bishop, Elliott, Mangin and Willis voting for it and Sutton, Krohn and Harris voting against. In other business, the council approved two additional requests of $12,000 for part-time employees and another $8,000 for chief deputy sheriff. Sheriff Jeremy Britton said he had two employees leave so they had to hire more part-time employees. Also, when Todd Meadors resigned, they had to pay him for the benefits he had accumulated, plus pay his replacement at the same time. A transfer of $24,179.37 in the EMS budget from intermediates to paramedics was approved. EMS Director Chris Young said they had an intermediate EMT move from the intermediate level to a paramedic. Following their regular monthly meeting, the council went into a budget hearing to set the county budget for 2014. It was expected to last all day Tuesday. The next council meeting is scheduled for 8 a.m. Tuesday, October 15. The ModernEwe 1st ANNIVERSARY SALE b Cele rate w Sept. 13-15 Fri. 10am-6pm Sat. 10am-5pm Sun. 12-4pm Door Prizes & Raffle to benefit the Posey County Humane Society 20% Of StOrew f ide ith By Andy Heuring County councilmen voted 4-3 to appropriate $30,000 for soft costs for a new EMS building during Tuesday morning's meeting. The vote came after nearly an hour of discussion about whether they should allocate a set amount of money for the project or decide what they need and see what that will cost. County commissioners had requested an additional appropriation of $60,000 to hire a design professional for a new EMS Building from DLZ. Councilman Greg Mangin said a year ago the county had three estimates from design professional firms and the highest was $40,000. "I think this $60,000 request is excessive." He said the typical architectural fee is six percent of the project. "I don't know why we have DLZ listed with this." Mangin added he thought the county needed to get a design professional on board. Councilman Dennis Bishop asked if they thought it would be best to get a set price. He and Elliott suggested they set an amount the county is willing to spend. Council President Greg Willis said at the last meeting when councilmen tabled a request for $25,000 to purchase a building site on Illinois St. they had asked for the EMS's long term plans on buildings and operations. EMS Director Chris Young said other than the new building the only other large expense was going to be a new ambulance. He said he wanted to see the county lease purchasing ambulances so they kept a rotation of new ambulances and a consistent level of lease payments. Councilman Joe Sutton said there has been a lot of bits and pieces of information about the EMS plans, but he wanted to see it all put down in a cohesive report so councilmen would have all the information in one place. Sutton said when he first was elected to the council the EMS was costing the county about $170,000 a year. Since then, it has increased considerably. "I would like to know where we are going." Commissioner Ryan Coleman, who was in attendance, said they had pretty much determined they & 50% O CLeArAN ff Ce 210-D S. Main St., Mt. Vernon, IN • 812-838-4513 Let Myers Heating & Cooling keep you cool this summer. Celebrating Halloween and fall without breaking your wallet (StatePoint) With the beginning of autumn comes time to decorate your home for Halloween and harvest, stock the pantry with heartier foods and spruce up your wardrobe with seasonal fashions. 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Thank you!" to all who were able to attend my 90th birthday celebration at the Village Inn. Hostesses were my loving sister, Carol Lee Garland, dear friend Betty Wright, owner of the Village Inn, and her personnel. I am grateful to them. It was wonderful to see relatives and friends that came from far and near. Your handshakes, pats, hugs and good wishes meant so very much to me. Beautiful flower arrangements, gifts and lovely cards were unexpected, but I greatly appreciated your kindness. It was a memorable day that I shall remember the rest of my days. I asked the Lord for a special blessing for all "A Glorious Day." I received that blessing and I pray that you received yours, too. Writing a story Alli Hardin, a Petersburg Elementary second grader, writes a story about the desert. Agape love to all, Rosemary F. Weathers