By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette
During the Feb. 27 meeting of the Guthrie County Board of Supervisors, the supervisors heard an update on the progress of the EMS Advisory Council’s efforts to find an agreement regarding the various services and municipalities that would be involved in the proposed county-wide service. County Health Director Jotham Arber shared the efforts of the council to develop a proposal.
“When we try to sell this to Guthrie County residents, we want to be sure that we put in there that this isn’t just the county giving cities money,” said Arber. “This is the county asking for services to be delivered and holding the service providers to account for every tax dollar… and in exchange, Guthrie County residents are receiving quality services that are reduced in timeframe that allow our EMS professionals to save lives.”
The advisory council is proposing a levy of 75 cents per $1,000 of taxable valuation. No formal action was taken at this time. If the supervisors decide on such a levy proposal, it will need to go to the voters to approve or reject.
The committee also suggested sending out a Request for Proposals (RFP) as the best way to get information on how the existing EMS services could cooperate to meet the service needs of the county.
The supervisors chose to schedule time to dig deeper into the EMS issue at the March 5 meeting.
As part of the consent agenda, the supervisors approved a liquor license for Shootout Saloon LLC and a conservation claim for Hicklin Powersports LLC.
A budgetary work session will be held on Thursday, Feb. 29 at 1:30 p.m. The next regular meeting of the supervisors will be Tuesday, March 5. The public is welcome. Attendees may participate in person or by calling 323-792-6123 and inputting conference ID 547029216#.