Notes from the Administrator

Another month has come to an end, and it is hard to believe that summer is here. In the month of May, the county passed a resolution that authorized the creation of a countywide emergency medical system and levy outside of the levy limit for the provision of those services. There are three main ways this can be done.

1. Consolidation approach - If we adopt this, one entity would be responsible for providing EMS services across the entire county. The other agencies could still be in existence, but the chosen service would be the one expected to respond to all calls. The county would then use the funds received through levying outside of the levy limit to fund this service.
2. Supplemental approach - One service would cover most of the county but would provide support to the other agencies. The support could be through organizing training, mutual aid agreements, or by having a higher level of care available (Paramedic verses EMT). In this approach, the primary service would be the only one to receive funds generated outside of the levy limit.
3. Distributed approach - Multiple agencies are providing the service across the county and the county would distribute the funds to each of them.

Thus far, discussions at the county level have supported a distributed approach. There have not been discussions about having one service cover more area than what they are currently providing services to.

By doing this, each property taxpayer will have an additional amount added to their property taxes to fund emergency medical services throughout the county. Our next step will be to meet with all municipalities and start the discussion about how to create a fair and equitable distribution of the funds.

The county board appointed Jeffrey Harrison as the new County Clerk at the May 19th meeting. He will be sworn into office on June 5. He will be replacing Derek Kalish whose last day was on May 1. We look forward to working with Jeffrey.

The board approved a staff reorganization for Symons Recreation Complex. Instead of having a Director and an Assistant Director, they will now have a Director of Operations and a Director of Development. The Director of Operations will supervise and direct the operations and staff of Symons Recreation Complex for Richland County and the City of Richland Center ensuring safety and compliance with State codes and County policies related to the facility and programs. The Director of Development will develop and coordinate an aggressive campaign to solicit external funds and support for the operations of the Symons Recreation Complex for Richland County and the City of Richland Center with the goal of reducing reliance on public tax support by developing new partnerships and attracting donors while building an endowment fund to sustain future operations and capital improvements working towards a more self-sufficient structure. Mike Hardy and Kyle Ewing are both continuing at Symons and are looking forward to their new roles. The previous structure had been in place since 1987.

The rummage sale for the campus will be on June 6 from 8 – noon. This will be a cash and carry sale.