By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

The Guthrie County Board of Supervisors met in regular session on July 30 and discussed the next steps in efforts to create a countywide EMS service plan.

On behalf of Panora EMS, John DeLavergne shared that there seems to be confusion as to whether or not the supervisors have accepted or rejected the RFPs from the three EMS services that are being discussed (Stuart, Adair and Panora). The supervisors voted to formally accept the RFPs from the three services with negotiations continuing regarding geographic coverage areas and funding.

The supervisors had lengthy discussion about how to allocate the funds to each of the three services. The two measures suggested were population and call volume. After calculating the percentages of each service area compared to the county as a whole, Supervisor Maggie Armstrong shared what she found.

“Call volume and population are pretty closely correlated,” Armstrong said.

Supervisor Steve Smith pointed out that the expected revenues will not allow each of the three entities to receive the amount of funding each has requested, so more discussions are needed. The supervisors will communicate with each of the three entities to negotiate the proposed funding.          

The supervisors approved the public notice to voters on the EMS levy ballot measure, on a 4-1 vote, with Mike Dickson apposed.

Jason and Andrea Betts addressed the supervisors regarding their preliminary interest in opening a campground and ATV park in Bear Grove Township. Board Chair JD Kuster shared his opinion.

“I’ve traveled around to different states and taken the ATV and all the trails. A lot of people enjoy that,” Kuster said. “It would be great for Guthrie County to have that right here. I look forward to that.”

After discussion, the supervisors were generally in consensus about support for the idea and said a conditional use permit would be the most appropriate was to allow such a venture.

The next regular meeting of the supervisors will be Tuesday, Aug. 6. The public is welcome. Attendees may participate in person or by calling 323-792-6123 and inputting conference ID 547029216#.