By Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times
The Carter County Emergency Ambulance Board couldn’t wait until their regular March meeting to order a replacement chassis for one of their existing truck bodies. After discussing the measure during their regular February meeting, the board held a special meeting on March 6 to approve the purchase and changeover.
During that February meeting the board also made and approved a motion to offer interim director Tim Woods the job of executive director – a move that Woods accepted.
During his first meeting as executive director, the March 6 special meeting, Woods presented the board with a proposal from Emergency Transportation Associates for the purchase of the Dodge 4500 4X4 diesel chassis, and the reconfiguration of truck #4 to fit that chassis; with the offer of a 180 day turn around. The cost for the project, which the board voted to approve, is $192,396.25 with the loan provided through Commercial Bank of Grayson on a five-year term.
During their regular meeting for March the board reviewed the minutes for these previous two meetings, and accepted reports from the executive director and finance director.
Woods gave an update on the new ambulance from Burgess, which passed state inspection at the end of February and is now in service at the Olive Hill station.
The executive director also discussed other truck maintenance issues and seasonal illnesses and their impact on staffing.
In financial reports, the service reported that income for February was $317,083.02 – which was higher than the amount budgeted for the month and $75,428.83 more than the same period in the previous year. In other good news, expenses for the month came in at $102,710.34 under budget for the month, at $142,415.66 and $111,097.62 less than the same month in 2023.
Payroll still consumed the greatest amount of income for year to date (YTD) taking 55.87% of total income. But, even at that, payroll came in under budget for February as well – at $199,276.02 which is $723.98 less than was budgeted for the month; but $8,55379 more than the same month in the previous year.
Unscheduled overtime made up some of that increased cost, with 5.28% of time reported for the month consisting of unscheduled overtime, an increase of 2.92% over the previous month.
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com
