MITCHELL COUNTY COMMISSIONERS – Monday, September 19, 2022

By Terry Bailey

The Mitchell County Commissioners conducted their weekly meeting at the Courthouse on Monday morning, September 19, 2022. All Commissioners and the County Clerk were present.
Eric Hamel, EMS Director, was the only person on the printed agenda. Hamel was present to make his monthly ambulance report for the month of August.
Commission President Mike Cooper initiated a discussion regarding a concern expressed by the auditor in the audit just completed. Cooper said, "The audit indicates your department would benefit from someone with strong bookkeeping skills. We realized you are paid to operate the ambulance service and save lives of residents of Mitchell County. Your background is in that line of work, not in bookkeeping. Do you think it is a good idea to look for someone who can specialize in that work and free you up for what we pay you to do?"
Hamel agreed with Cooper's analysis of the situation and a part-time bookkeeper might be a good idea.
Commissioner Jim Marshall mentioned he might know of a couple people who might be interested in doing some part-time bookkeeping work. Everyone agreed a full-time accountant was not needed, simply someone with strong skills to get things organized and put into good order.
For the month August, the Ambulance Service made 68 runs. Fifty-four runs were made to the City of Beloit, six to Cawker City, four to Glen Elder, two to Hunter, and one each to Tipton, Downs, Glasco and Barnard. The time periods from 11 p.m. to midnight and 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. were the busiest, followed by 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., 11 a.m. to noon and 12 noon to 1 p.m. with five each. The busiest day of the week was Thursday with 16 runs, followed by Tuesday with 12 runs and Monday and Wednesday with 11 runs each. The patient age group from 10 years old to 19 was the largest category with 18 runs. The average time from when a call came in until an ambulance left the barn was 1.23 minutes.
Superintendent of Public Works Marty Hernandez stopped by to touch base with the Commissioners with a few ongoing projects. Marshall told Hernandez that he was still getting calls inquiring about when the bridge was going to be finished at the Hazeltine Corner. Hernandez said, "We are working as fast as we can. Everyone wants to see it finished."
Having addressed all the items on the agenda, the meeting was adjourned.