Supervisors hear proposal for restructuring county EMS office

Iowa County Engineer Nick Amelon started off the April 21 Iowa County Supervisors meeting briefly discussing ongoing construction projects and contract rock, then moving on to a discussion of purchasing a “crack-seal machine” for the secondary roads department.

Amelon said he found a couple of used machines online. There was a 1999 model for $14,000 or a 2016 model for $25,000. He told the board his idea was to delay hiring a truck driver for Ladora until midsummer, then using the money they saved on that to pay for the machine. He explained that it wasn't necessary to immediately hire someone new to that position. No official decision was made.

The bids for the Amana sidewalk construction will start coming into the office in a couple of weeks. The Amana road use tax will be used to pay for the project.

At 10:15, the board held a public hearing for adopting the fiscal year 2023-2024 budget. Budget discussions had gone on longer than usual this year with some contention between board members, leading up to a three-to-two member approval a couple of weeks ago. This week, with no comments from the public, the board adopted the budget, again on a three yea to two nay vote. Supervisors Alan Schumacher and Abby Maas voted “nay.”

Ambulance Director Adam Rabe brought his department monthly update, but also brought a written paper for the board on reorganizing the EMS Office and field staffing to use their existing budget to restructure the department to meet their staffing needs. Rabe reported that he had included an additional training position for the department in his original budget, which wasn't approved.

His paper suggested three changes for the department which would allow him and his assistant director to spend less time in the office on paperwork and more time in the field. The summary of his request said he would first change the assistant director's position to hourly instead of salary, and then hire an administrative assistant to fill an existing open full-time position, and then change an existing lieutenant/field paramedic position to a training captain/field paramedic. With this change, he suggested that the assistant director would then be spending 75 percent in the field with him, the director, taking up the missing 25 percent and the administrative assistant would do the extra paperwork. The person in that position would be required to get their EMT training in one to two years, and would also be the assistant safety coordinator. Since they wouldn't be required to be a paramedic, it would save the department money in the long run.

Schumacher asked Rabe why he was having such a hard time keeping staff, to which Rabe replied that his wages were comparable, and that it was a tough job that burned people out quickly. Schumacher also asked how many hours the directors were required to work, citing that at his career job, the managers worked 50/60 hours a week. Rabe's answer was, “40.”

No decision was made at the meeting. The supervisors asked for a week to consider his proposal and they will put it on the next meeting's agenda.

John Bushong, the architect for the new jail kitchen and engineer's office, called in for a change order for the kitchen generator part of the project. The quote for the cost from Timm Electric just had a final total for $41,806. Supervisor Maas asked Bushong for an itemized quote and he said he could do it. The decision will be made at next week's meeting.

The board voted on two resolutions at the end of the meeting. One was an ARPA funds allocation for secondary roads. The resolution passed with three votes to approve and Shumacher and Mass voting “nay.”

The second was a revocation of all temporary COVID-19 response policies with all supervisors voting “yes.”

April 14 meeting

The Marengo Legion kicked off the April 14 Iowa County Supervisors meeting, with Morrie Denson, Commander, thanking the board for the donation they recently put toward the Legion building project. He went on to explain how the Marengo Legion brought the hospital to Marengo in the 1950s and they felt it was important to continue supporting the hospital expansions by moving to a new location.

Another county project, the Friends of the Knoll Ridge Pool, attended the meeting to request a donation to keep the North English pool open. They told the board they were formed in the fall of 2022, and were working on gaining nonprofit status due to the pool's current association with the Knoll Ridge Country Club. They explained that the pool has always been part of the community and it encourages families to stay in the area.

Supervisor Alan Schumacher began to say while he thought it was a needed project for North English he didn't know how they would fund it, when Board Chair Kevin Heitshusen interrupted him and said “There are ways we can do it.” Heitshusen then explained to the members of the group who attended that they wouldn't be able to make a decision that day.

During the Iowa County Engineer's portion of the meeting, the board approved Engineer Nick Amelon's five-year plan and the secondary roads budget for the next fiscal year. Amelon explained he might not have enough money to do a couple of small bridges this year, as planned, because of funding problems.

Heitshusen opened the pavement striping bids for the year. Amelon explained there were more than usual this year. The low bid was submitted by LL Pelling and approved.

In other updates for the department, Amelon said the contract rock was about 50 percent completed, and they were working on replacing small culverts. The paving work on M Avenue has started with patching south of the interstate and will be working north to Marengo. Paving will begin when that is completed.

In other business, the board approved the 28E Agreement between Iowa County and Mental Health/Disability Services, pending Assistant County Attorney Lou McMeen's approval. This is a yearly contract to provide assistance with health care and disabilities for residents in need.