Commission defends EMS changes

The Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce was recognized by the Lawrence County Commission at its meeting Tuesday for the Festival of Trees and Christmas Market the chamber hosted this past weekend.

Shirley Dyer, director of the Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce, accepted a certificate from the commissioners at the meeting acknowledging the event.

Dyer said the event featured 29 trees, and all but one have been sold. She also said that more than 500 children took part in the children’s activities at the event on Saturday, and that the money raised from the trees go toward community development and scholarships.

Lawrence County Treasurer Stephen Burcham addressed the commission as well with last month’s sales tax information.

He said that sales taxes from October were down $51,871 from October last year, but that overall, the county was still up $129,487 for the year in sales tax from 2016.

During the commissioners’ reports, commissioner DeAnna Holliday talked about the new structure of administration in the county EMS. She said that although the decision to adjust one position and add two more may have seemed to be quick following the passing of the levy this election, the commission has been thinking about the move long before the levy passed.

“We spent a tremendous amount of time making this decision,” she said. “We talked to about 75 percent of the EMS employees, got their input and made sure this was the best decision for the county.”

The position of EMS director was eliminated, following current EMS director Buddy Fry’s retirement next month. Lori Morris’ position of fiscal officer was changed to finance administrator, while Mac Yates was hired as operations administrator and Jeff Gaskin was hired as resource and facilities administrator. Yates previously served as the EMS personnel supervisor, while Gaskin was an EMT in South Point and also serves as the South Point mayor.

In other action, the commission:
• Approved the Dog Warden Report dated Nov. 4, 2017.
• Approved one appropriation.
• Approved four transfer funds.
• Received and filed the correspondence from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources regarding the proposed changes in the state’s dam safety rules and statutory annual fee amounts. All classes of dams will increase.