During the Hamilton County Board meeting, Connie VanWinkle, representing the Hamilton County Ambulance Service, provided an update. She informed the Board that Nathan Taylor, President of the Ambulance Board, had penned a letter requesting funds from the Public Safety Tax to cover the remaining cost of a new ambulance truck. Notably, the Ambulance Board has already covered a substantial $145,000 in fees for the vehicle. However, the remaining amount of $129,000 is still outstanding.
With no set amount, Board Chairman Kelly Woodrow asked,
Woodrow: “How much is set aside, do you have in CDs or savings that the ambulance/911 going has?”
VanWinkle: “We don’t have a set amount set aside for that right now.”
Woodrow: “No, but how much do you have on CDs or savings?”
VanWinkle: “I’ll have to get back to you on that one.”
The ambulance has been ordered for a year and a half. Hopefully, the vehicle should be complete after the chassis and upgrades in March. The $129,000 that is still owed covers the costs of equipment and other expenses. Chairman Woodrow then asked VanWinkle if the ambulance service expected the costs to be that high and stated that Treasurer of the Hamilton County Ambulance Board Mark Auten claimed there was an excess of $300,000 available.
VanWinkle suggested that she come back with more answers for the board and a set amount requested by the Ambulance Board.
An item on the agenda for months gained the seal of approval between the City of McLeansboro and Hamilton County. The Central Dispatching Agreement will be accepted, with the final contract provided for the February meeting. It will only be a two-year agreement for now, with the option for both sides to opt-out at any time. The first year will cost $60,000, and the second will be $62,500.
In Public Comments, Hamilton County resident Steven Douglass had a few questions for the Board about how the County will respond to future lousy weather situations.
“I’ve just got a question with the recent weather that’s taking place, what the county or what the view is for future things that are going to take place, where how many snowplows this county has, what the procedure is for call out for driving said snowplows if there are any throughout the county.”
Chairman Woodrow acknowledged the concerns and emphasized the Board’s commitment to addressing the weather response issues. He explained that the County trucks were currently not in optimal condition, and there was no salt. However, the Board is actively working on solutions to improve the situation.
“We did have Saline County this time to come in down south and some spot down there, probably too late too little, and we got some salt and senders in, and we’re looking at trying to find another dump truck or trying to get another truck with a snowplow and where we can possibly spread some salt or senders on that and if we get in that shape again. We know we had a problem. They’ve done the best they can do for what they have in the tractor down there, and ice and everything like that. Were we prepared for that? I don’t know. Probably, probably not. But by the time we got on it, it was the ice and everything. I don’t agree with what we got back.”
Rick Coronado with the Highway Department attended the meeting and shared that crews were out first thing that Monday morning and that he was evaluating roads that Sunday for three hours with the snow and sleet.
Chairman Woodrow reiterated that the County will get salt and have better planning for future weather conditions if they occur.
Douglass: “I agree, because once you got to Saline County, Franklin County, or any other counties, you were okay on county roads.”
Woodrow: “White County was the same way Steven on the Norris City blacktop.”
Coronado: “The only thing they all used was salt. Every one of them.”
Woodrow: “Yeah, and we’ve never used salt and don’t have salt.”
Douglass: “They pre-treated the roads down there also in Saline County.”
Coronado: “And that washed off, I talked to the County Engineer, so that’s where I ended up with the County. I had a Saline County truck taking care of the South roads. I mean we doing everything we can.”
Douglass: “I understand.”
Two re-appointments were approved to end the meeting. Terry Wheeler will serve another three years on the Hamilton County ETSB Board, and Kelly Woodrow will serve on that same Board for a term of one year.
The next Hamilton County meeting will be on February 18th at 6 PM.
