2026-08-10 - Board of Commissioners

0:04:18[music]

0:07:00Heat.

0:07:17Heat.

0:07:43Welcome to the Davidson County Board of

0:07:45Commissioners meeting tonight for August

0:07:47the 10th. Welcome to our audience

0:07:50tonight. We appreciate you being here.

0:07:51I'll call on Commissioner Elliott to do

0:07:55our invocation and pledge of allegiance.

0:07:56>> Amen.

0:07:58>> Heavenly Father God, we come before you

0:08:00tonight with a grateful heart. Father,

0:08:02we're thankful, Lord, for uh this

0:08:05wonderful county and country that we

0:08:06live in. Father God, we're thankful for

0:08:08our first responders and the men and the

0:08:11women who fight for us on the front

0:08:13lines in our military. Father, I'm

0:08:16thankful, God, for this board of

0:08:17commissioners. We're thankful for the

0:08:19citizenry and we're thankful for every

0:08:21employee that's employed for Davidson

0:08:24County government and all they do to

0:08:26keep our community safe and thriving.

0:08:29And we pray God you give us wisdom

0:08:30tonight as we do the people's business.

0:08:32In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

0:08:35>> Amen.

0:08:38I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

0:08:42United States of America and to the

0:08:44republic for which it stands, one nation

0:08:48under God, indivisible, with liberty and

0:08:52justice for all.

0:09:01>> I would like to um recognize uh Dr.

0:09:05Slate from Davidson County Schools.

0:09:07Thank you for being here. And anyone

0:09:09else uh especially our our uh directors

0:09:13throughout the county, thank you for

0:09:15being here and our and our audience. Um

0:09:18turn it over to Commissioner Shell to

0:09:20recognize our veterans.

0:09:22>> Okay.

0:09:24Do we have any veterans? If you would

0:09:26please stand.

0:09:29Okay.

0:09:32[applause]

0:09:35If if you have not received the county

0:09:38veterans pen, would you please come up

0:09:40so we can present it to you?

0:09:44>> Okay.

0:09:46>> If you have not registered for public

0:09:48address, we'll we'll come on up here,

0:09:51sir.

0:09:55>> Pause.

0:09:55>> Thank you, sir. For you, sir.

0:09:58>> Thank you for your service.

0:10:05Thank you for your service.

0:10:07Appreciate your appreciation.

0:10:09>> Thank you, sir.

0:10:10>> Thank you, sir.

0:10:13>> And if you have not registered for

0:10:15public address, you can do so at this

0:10:17table at the front. I'd like to ask for

0:10:21um

0:10:22>> right over here.

0:10:23>> Right over here. I'd like to ask that

0:10:25you uh excuse Commissioners Mccclure and

0:10:28Meiselle. they are unable to attend

0:10:30tonight. May I have a motion and a

0:10:31second?

0:10:32>> So move, Mr. Chairwoman.

0:10:33>> I have a motion and have a second. All

0:10:36in favor say I.

0:10:37>> I. Thank you.

0:10:42>> Okay,

0:10:45we have a

0:10:50like for you to for us to adopt the

0:10:53agenda. Are there any changes for the

0:10:56agenda? I apologize. Turn your fault.

0:10:59>> Okay. No changes.

0:10:59>> Oh, I'm glad you

0:11:01>> hear none. I'll make a motion we approve

0:11:03adopt the agenda.

0:11:05>> Okay. And I have a second from Mr.

0:11:07Kester. All in favor say I.

0:11:09>> I.

0:11:10>> Thank you.

0:11:25Mr. Appreciate it. We [clears throat]

0:11:28have a few uh signed up for tonight.

0:11:31Susan Scarbor may come forward to the

0:11:36podium. Thank you.

0:11:45Good evening. My name is Susan Scarboro.

0:11:47I'm the chair of the pollinator garden

0:11:49initiative for [snorts] the Davidson

0:11:52County Extension Master Gardener

0:11:54volunteers. I'm here to represent them.

0:12:00We began this pollinator garden

0:12:01initiative in 2024 and for three years

0:12:04we've had educational programs delivered

0:12:07at libraries, senior services centers,

0:12:11and farmers markets.

0:12:14As Davidson County homeowners have

0:12:17learned how to replace their grass in

0:12:20their yards with native plants that feed

0:12:23and provide shelter to the over 580

0:12:27native bees and other native

0:12:29pollinators. They report feelings of

0:12:32calmness, joy, and autonomy for making

0:12:36this decision.

0:12:38Extension Master Gardener volunteers

0:12:40have also planted gardens at the Wall

0:12:43Museum in Wahberg and at Harrison Park

0:12:46in Denton. This past year, extension

0:12:50master gardener volunteers also worked

0:12:52with the Lexington Garden Club to help

0:12:55plant pots on Maine, beautiful flower

0:12:58arrangements that remind shoppers of our

0:13:01[clears throat] connection with nature.

0:13:04Most recently, the Pollinator Garden

0:13:07Initiative

0:13:09Committee is seeking to partner with

0:13:12Thomasville, Lexington, and all the

0:13:15remaining townships within Davidson

0:13:17County so that we can continue to enjoy

0:13:21the pollinator services offered by

0:13:23native bees, butterflies, moths,

0:13:26fireflies, bats, and even wasps and

0:13:29beetles.

0:13:31In light of recent discussions about

0:13:34change within our county,

0:13:37I want to ask all the citizens and all

0:13:40the public servants within the sound of

0:13:42my voice to plant a garden of native

0:13:46pollinator plants on their properties.

0:13:51If not for the work of pollinators, we

0:13:54would not have many of the fruits,

0:13:56vegetables that we love and enjoy so

0:13:58much, as well as chocolate or coffee.

0:14:03So, please provide these pollinators

0:14:05with the necessary native plants so that

0:14:08they can have food and shelter. We need

0:14:11these insects.

0:14:14And now with so much native habitat

0:14:17being destroyed by industrialization,

0:14:21many housing developments, and loss of

0:14:23farmland, it's up to homeowners to

0:14:27provide them space to live and work. I

0:14:30don't know about you, but I don't want

0:14:32the future generations to grow up eating

0:14:34man-made alternative food because their

0:14:38forefathers destroyed all the

0:14:41pollinators.

0:14:42So specifically tonight, I'm asking this

0:14:45board

0:14:46to consider doing this.

0:14:54>> Sorry, I lost.

0:14:55>> Three minutes, ma'am.

0:14:56>> I know you you

0:14:57>> Was it three minutes already?

0:14:59>> Yes. It goes quickly, doesn't it? You

0:15:01can finish what you're

0:15:02>> Well, thank you. We're asking you to

0:15:04strongly consider designating Davidson

0:15:07County, the entire county as a B

0:15:10community, by following

0:15:13the suggestions and procedures within

0:15:15this pamphlet. I'd love to leave for

0:15:17you, as well as I'd love to leave you

0:15:20and everyone here who would like to have

0:15:22a bee and flower card to help you to

0:15:24know what to plant and who you're

0:15:26feeding and sheltering. And I'd also

0:15:29like to invite you to the to participate

0:15:32in the Great Southeast Pollinator

0:15:34Census, which is August 21st and 22nd.

0:15:38And this is the third year that Davidson

0:15:40County, North Carolina, has done this.

0:15:43And there are five other states in the

0:15:45Southeast counting pollinators. They're

0:15:48critical not only for the foods we love,

0:15:52but for our future. Thank you.

0:15:55>> You very much. Can I ask Miss Garberg a

0:15:58question? And you may be up up to date

0:16:00on this or not. I don't know. It's

0:16:01because it's something I've recently

0:16:03just heard. Do you know have any

0:16:05information on the hornet that's

0:16:07attacked in our honeybees?

0:16:09>> Yes. It's a yellow. It's a bald-faced

0:16:12yellowlegged hornet.

0:16:14>> And um unfortunately, a friend of mine,

0:16:17another master gardener who lives not

0:16:20too far off of 64 West did find them in

0:16:24her garden. M

0:16:25>> so she's not a beekeeper. Yeah.

0:16:27>> But there are beekeepers around.

0:16:29>> Right.

0:16:30>> So unfortunately we have spotted that in

0:16:33Davidson County.

0:16:34>> Okay. Okay. Thank you for that.

0:16:36>> M Scarbar. I'd like to share also at the

0:16:40senior center. Uh they have a beautiful

0:16:43this and I went out there and saw it

0:16:45this year. Uh a pollinator garden over

0:16:47there that's absolutely beautiful.

0:16:49>> It is gorgeous and I've been out there

0:16:51many times. Yes ma'am.

0:16:52>> I wish you had. So may I leave you? Can

0:16:55you leave that with Debbie and Demi?

0:16:56Will you scan that? I just had somebody

0:16:58text me and tell me they wanted

0:17:03>> the pollinated garden.

0:17:05>> I will keep the extras in case.

0:17:07>> Thank you.

0:17:08>> Thank you.

0:17:09>> Anybody else have anything?

0:17:11>> Thank you very much.

0:17:12>> Thank you.

0:17:14>> Chuck Sleetski,

0:17:17how are you, sir?

0:17:19>> I'm well.

0:17:20>> Welcome.

0:17:23Well, that was really interesting. The

0:17:26young lady talked about uh the farms and

0:17:28the uh the the bees. I don't know how

0:17:32that's going to work with industrial

0:17:34plants, with um uh data centers, with

0:17:38all the noise and pollution that's

0:17:40created by all the other things that

0:17:44maybe you're going to do. I don't know.

0:17:47I'm still waiting for your vision for

0:17:51Davidson County.

0:17:53This lady wasted what? Six minutes, five

0:17:57minutes on something where what you

0:17:59might do is going to destroy the bees

0:18:03that we have left. But you're acting so

0:18:06concerned.

0:18:07I don't know. Where are you driving this

0:18:10bus? What is your future plans? What do

0:18:14you see happening in Davidson County? Do

0:18:18you want industry? If so, then that

0:18:21would make sense with some of the

0:18:23decisions that you're making.

0:18:26If you don't want industry, if you want

0:18:28to protect the farms, then tell us that

0:18:31so we know what you're trying to do. We

0:18:35cannot tell if you're doing a good or

0:18:37bad job because you don't have a plan.

0:18:41Apparently, I've been up here over and

0:18:43over again asking, "What is your vision

0:18:46for the future?" And I've heard nothing.

0:18:51In addition to that, one of my biggest

0:18:54fears now besides NDAs is what are you

0:18:58giving away as far as incentives for

0:19:01industry and plants to come here that we

0:19:06don't want?

0:19:08I would love to know if you're planning

0:19:10on giving the Sports Plex any kind of

0:19:13incentives.

0:19:15I'd like to know if you're planning on

0:19:17doing that for Duke Energy. I'd love to

0:19:20know if you're planning on doing that

0:19:22for uh any kind of data center.

0:19:26Again, I hear nothing. I'm sure my three

0:19:30minutes is up. Thank you.

0:19:32>> Thank you.

0:19:32>> Thank you. [applause]

0:19:38Mike Price,

0:19:44>> how are you?

0:19:45>> Hi.

0:19:46>> I won't take much of your precious time.

0:19:47You said three minutes. It's probably

0:19:49half that. My name is Mike Price. I was

0:19:51raised in this county. I've created

0:19:53several businesses in the state of North

0:19:54Carolina since retired and uh spend the

0:19:56majority of my time in this county. I've

0:19:58never really been involved in local

0:20:00politics, mainly because I've never

0:20:01really needed to be. Uh growing up and

0:20:03throughout most of my life, it seemed

0:20:04that most of our local politicians kind

0:20:06of shared my belief system and cared

0:20:08about the upholding of the Constitution,

0:20:10the United States, and bettering the

0:20:11area we live in. I'm I'm proud to be

0:20:13from this county.

0:20:16And I'm starting to get a little bit

0:20:17concerned. It seems like I've been wrong

0:20:19about some of this. I I've voted in

0:20:21basically every election since I was old

0:20:23enough to vote. I voted for most of you.

0:20:25Actually, I think I voted for all of

0:20:26you. Um I voted for our sheriff. Uh, and

0:20:31I'm starting to kind of come to regret

0:20:33that the implement the implementation of

0:20:36flock cameras in this county is a

0:20:38complete failure on part of the

0:20:39commissions except for Todd Yates. I saw

0:20:41that you did not uh vote for that and

0:20:43our sheriff.

0:20:45This is a mistake that we'll all be held

0:20:48personally accountable for. You've

0:20:51wasted taxpayer money and blatantly

0:20:53violated the Fourth Amendment rights of

0:20:54the citizens of the county with these

0:20:56cameras. And we, the citizens of this

0:20:58county, are here for three main purposes

0:21:01today. Purpose one is to tell you in

0:21:04person that we are prepared to work with

0:21:07you to get these cameras taken down in a

0:21:08collaborative way. Uh I prefer that pro

0:21:12uh that approach. I think everybody

0:21:13prefers that collaborative approach.

0:21:16Purpose two, we'd like to offer help.

0:21:17I'd like to offer financial resources,

0:21:20any sort of resources towards that that

0:21:22effort um to clean up this mess. And

0:21:27purpose three is to say is to inform you

0:21:29that the removal these if the removal of

0:21:32these cameras is not collaborative by

0:21:34January of 2027. Citizens of this county

0:21:37will remove these cameras. Okay.

0:21:42Ourselves. We will not forfeit our

0:21:45fourth amendment rights and we will not

0:21:47live in a police state. That's right.

0:21:49>> I speak for myself and I speak for many

0:21:51of the citizens. Okay.

0:21:53It's as simple as that.

0:21:59I want to handle it in a friendly

0:22:01collaborative basis. I have no animosity

0:22:03towards anyone, but I will not have my

0:22:05my my life tracked every second of what

0:22:08I do every day to some database. Okay,

0:22:12that's a hard line for me. I've never

0:22:14been to any of these things. I don't

0:22:15want to come to this stuff, but that is

0:22:16a hard line for me. Okay.

0:22:20So, I think that my my the guy that's

0:22:23going to come after me, he knows more

0:22:24about the ins and outs of this sort of

0:22:26stuff, but this is just my way of saying

0:22:28that this is something that matters a

0:22:29lot to me and I'm willing to put

0:22:31resources behind a friendly,

0:22:33collaborative way of getting this done.

0:22:35But either way, the flight cameras are

0:22:37they're done.

0:22:38>> Thank you. Thank you, SIR. [applause]

0:22:46BEN, can you pronounce your name for me?

0:22:49>> Yes. Ben D. Ro.

0:22:50>> D. Ro.

0:22:51>> Yes.

0:22:51>> Thank you.

0:22:52>> And uh really I don't have a speech

0:22:53written or anything. I just want to know

0:22:55what the steps would be. I know these

0:22:56have already been voted in. From what I

0:22:58understand, these cameras uh renew every

0:23:01year. Um I understand the sheriff uh

0:23:04sponsored the cameras the first year. I

0:23:05guess that's kind of how he got it

0:23:06approved. Now, as citizens, of course,

0:23:10we foot the 76,000 roughly for the 22 or

0:23:1323 cameras that are in the county. Um, I

0:23:16need to know what we need to do, you

0:23:18know, to, you know, find out about

0:23:20stopping this to get them taken down, of

0:23:22course. What are the next steps? I don't

0:23:24know if this is comes to a vote uh for

0:23:26you all that we press. Um, what do we

0:23:28need to do? What what what comes next?

0:23:32>> One of the commissioners would need to

0:23:33put it on the agenda.

0:23:34>> Okay. and they would need to be voted on

0:23:36again whether to uh

0:23:38>> and we're building we just started a

0:23:40group and we're building active members.

0:23:41We have over 200. Um some are here

0:23:44tonight. Most of them are out in the

0:23:45county, but you know we're going to keep

0:23:48coming to these until maybe we can Mr.

0:23:50Yates. I know you were one of the only

0:23:52ones that voted against it, the only

0:23:53one. So maybe, you know, eventually I

0:23:55can get enough of a signature together

0:23:57that maybe we could, you know, put this

0:24:00before the board.

0:24:01>> Put it on the agenda

0:24:02>> for me. I'm gain. When did we vote?

0:24:05>> Get rid OF

0:24:10[applause]

0:24:11>> I was not a commissioner when that was

0:24:13voted on because I would not vote for

0:24:14that garbage.

0:24:15>> Excellent. I'm telling you.

0:24:16>> EXCELLENT.

0:24:18[applause]

0:24:19>> Sounds like we'll put it on the next uh

0:24:21>> can be abused.

0:24:22>> Yes. And it is being abused. There's

0:24:24there's 10 officers last week in

0:24:26Charlotte Meckllinburgg that under

0:24:27investigation for illegal tracking and

0:24:30usage of these cameras. And there's a

0:24:31lot of other things. They're creating a

0:24:33database. People say it's just crime and

0:24:35things like that. It's not true. There's

0:24:37there's a much bigger picture here. And

0:24:38they're creating a database.

0:24:39>> I saw a gentleman that stepped up to a

0:24:41board. I think it was in Washington said

0:24:43that he was starting a new a new company

0:24:45and he was going to put cameras on every

0:24:48member of the board to track our kids

0:24:50and where we go for our safety. Exactly.

0:24:52And that, you know, nobody wants that.

0:24:55>> Exactly. [clears throat]

0:24:56>> Under the realm of safety.

0:24:58>> Debbie, when's the next agenda you can

0:25:00get that on? that ain't covered up.

0:25:02>> The [clears throat] 28th is the next

0:25:03meeting.

0:25:04>> I'm sorry. 24th.

0:25:06>> I appreciate y'all. I appreciate y'all

0:25:08standing up against that.

0:25:09>> Is that a pretty heavy meeting?

0:25:11>> The 24th of August.

0:25:12>> Mhm.

0:25:13>> So, it'll be a nighttime meeting.

0:25:15>> Yes.

0:25:15>> So, 24th of August and we'll have more

0:25:17here and we'll put it to a vote. Yes.

0:25:19>> Is that correct?

0:25:20>> Amen.

0:25:20>> Okay. Thank you. Appreciate you guys.

0:25:22Thank you. [applause]

0:25:26>> Okay. That's all we have for that.

0:25:30Thank you for speaking with us.

0:25:35>> Here comes

0:25:36>> I don't remember

0:25:40voting.

0:25:41>> But that you know we we vote on a lot.

0:25:43>> We do.

0:25:44>> We

0:25:46might have been in the consent.

0:25:48>> It could have been in the consent agenda

0:25:50actually presented on it but they

0:25:51weren't called block cameras at the

0:25:52time.

0:25:53>> Okay. Well,

0:25:54>> do you remember what they were called,

0:25:55Debbie?

0:25:56>> No, sir. right

0:25:56>> because I don't think I can I remember

0:25:59the discussion on

0:26:01>> that they were going to

0:26:02>> missing children how to track missing

0:26:04children I don't remember anything block

0:26:07camera but I may be mistaken on

0:26:09>> and it was it was grant funed the first

0:26:11year

0:26:12>> yeah I know they pay for I thought with

0:26:14for their forfe

0:26:16yeah

0:26:16>> and that was what the county

0:26:18appropriation

0:26:19>> they're beginning to be on every corner

0:26:21that's

0:26:21>> they don't matter not good

0:26:23>> I've got this on my shoulder

0:26:27Okay.

0:26:29>> I think most of us up here agree agree

0:26:31with the government

0:26:32>> and it wasn't presented that way

0:26:34initially.

0:26:36>> I think if we do it too, we need to do

0:26:38some kind of uh amendment to tell the

0:26:40city where we stand on theirs too.

0:26:43>> I agree cuz they just put one up right

0:26:45here by center in the last month.

0:26:47>> The brand there are other brands behind

0:26:50them that are ready to take.

0:26:51>> We don't like no brand.

0:26:52>> We don't like the brand. Yeah,

0:26:56>> really appreciate that,

0:26:57>> sir. Appreciate y'all.

0:26:59>> Yeah.

0:27:00>> Okay, Mr. Crook, are you ready for us to

0:27:02get started? Thank you very much. We

0:27:04have a resigning request by Kirk W.

0:27:06Kleinard in Cotton Grove Township. And

0:27:09I'll turn it over to Mr. Crook.

0:27:11>> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, we do have

0:27:13[clears throat] a request tonight by

0:27:14Kirk Kleiner W. declined for reszoning

0:27:17property located in Cotton Grove

0:27:19Township, tax map 34A, lot 23,

0:27:22containing 007 acres more or less. Said

0:27:26property is located on the north side of

0:27:27Holloway Church Road, approximately 180

0:27:30ft east of the North Carolina Highway 8

0:27:33intersection. Reszoning is requested to

0:27:35change from that of RM1, Medium Density

0:27:37Residential District, to that of HC

0:27:40Highway commercial district. If you'd

0:27:41please divert your attention to the

0:27:43overhead, this little sliver right here

0:27:45is what we're talking about in yellow.

0:27:47This is NC Highway 8. This is West

0:27:49Holloway Church. This is Holloway

0:27:51Church. We're quote unquote in downtown

0:27:54Southmont, if you will. Um the how this

0:27:58piece of property survived back in 2006

0:28:02or 2007, NC DOT purchased right away. If

0:28:06you folks will remember, the hardware

0:28:08house restaurant was right here on the

0:28:09corner and then there was some buildings

0:28:12right in behind that. That property line

0:28:14went out to this old red line. That's

0:28:16what the property used to look like and

0:28:18they purchased better than half of it

0:28:19for right away for Holloway's Church

0:28:21Road. So, Mr. Kleiner has this little

0:28:24one little sliver of RM1 zoning. Um

0:28:27everything to the north of him is

0:28:28highway commercial and the RM1 was

0:28:31placed in Southmont because of u there's

0:28:34a lot of little bitty small 25 ft lots

0:28:36on an old platted subdivision down

0:28:38there. So at this point I'll yield the

0:28:40floor back to you madam chair and you

0:28:41can open the public hearing if you'd

0:28:42like.

0:28:42>> I declare the public hearing open. Are

0:28:45there any questions about the board?

0:28:47>> No ma'am.

0:28:49>> Okay.

0:28:50>> Seems kind of straightforward right?

0:28:52>> It does. Is there anyone in the audience

0:28:54who wishes to speak either in favor of

0:28:56or against in opposition to this

0:28:59request?

0:29:00>> Is anyone here to speak on Mr. Kleiner's

0:29:02behalf?

0:29:05>> We our office reached out and left a

0:29:07message for him today and he he's not

0:29:09apparently not here. Our representative

0:29:11is not here. I'll leave it up to the

0:29:13discretion of the board as to as to what

0:29:15you want to do. This is very simple.

0:29:18>> I'm good. It looks like it might have

0:29:20been been attached to number 22. Am I

0:29:23correct at one time? Because it's HC.

0:29:26>> And it was actually it was actually its

0:29:28own separate parcel.

0:29:30>> Oh, is it? Yeah. Very small. Yeah,

0:29:32>> they own everything in 22.

0:29:33>> Yeah. M. Mr. Kleiner does own everything

0:29:3622 all the way up to the Marathon gas

0:29:39station.

0:29:40>> Um, this for staff recommendation. And

0:29:42this is this is in downtown South Mod is

0:29:45recognized by the Davidson County Land

0:29:47Development Plan as a commercial node.

0:29:49Uh it's contiguous to existing highway

0:29:52commercial and there are quite a few uh

0:29:56>> I'm sorry.

0:29:58>> Yes.

0:29:59>> Is that landlocked?

0:30:00>> No, sir. No, sir. It's gotage on

0:30:02Holloway Church.

0:30:03>> Okay.

0:30:04>> Yes, sir. Okay.

0:30:04>> I declare the public hearing closed. So,

0:30:09Mr. Crook was going to say a few more

0:30:11things. Go ahead. Just wanted to uh

0:30:12reference our Davidson County Land

0:30:14Development Plan policies 11124151718

0:30:181116 117 121 5455 577 73 and 74 that

0:30:25support non-residential development in

0:30:27this part of the county. Uh and it

0:30:29complies with article 7 of the ordinance

0:30:31and we'd recommend that you uh approve

0:30:34this request and adopt statement of

0:30:36consistency. Please. Madam Chair, I make

0:30:38a motion we approve this request with

0:30:40the statement of consistency attached.

0:30:42>> I have a motion. Do I have a second?

0:30:44>> Second.

0:30:44>> Have a motion and a second. All in favor

0:30:47say I.

0:30:47>> I.

0:30:48>> All right.

0:30:49>> I got a question, Mr. Crook.

0:30:51>> Yes, sir.

0:30:52>> I mean, I know probably legally we have

0:30:55to do this, but looks like some of this

0:30:57would come back to the zoning by default

0:31:00because it's only a small piece of

0:31:02property. The rest of you you guys

0:31:05understand what I'm saying? I mean,

0:31:06somebody had to pay decent money to get

0:31:09this reszoned.

0:31:11>> Well, you you would think initially you

0:31:15would think DOT would have purchased the

0:31:17whole property for the rightway that

0:31:19then the then the RM1 would have gone

0:31:21away.

0:31:22>> Unfortunately, statutoily

0:31:24>> this is the only action that we can take

0:31:26to change zoning on a piece of property.

0:31:28Even even if it's, you know, if this was

0:31:31not owned by Mr. Kleinet, it would be

0:31:33unusable for anything.

0:31:34>> Yeah. So,

0:31:35>> I know that's the case, but I'm just

0:31:37saying by default.

0:31:38>> Oh, yeah. And then, you know, what did

0:31:40it cost him to reszone this?

0:31:41>> Uh, it cost him uh 300.

0:31:43>> 300

0:31:44>> or 350, excuse me.

0:31:45>> That's a lot of m That's a lot of money.

0:31:47>> Yeah. It's just a piece that it's it's

0:31:49got to be zoned that way.

0:31:51>> I know.

0:31:51>> Yeah.

0:31:52>> Okay. Thank you.

0:31:53>> No problem.

0:31:53>> Thank you. Um our second request um um

0:31:58is um Kindle Communications, but this

0:32:01application has been withdrawn and

0:32:04there's nothing to hear, so I think we

0:32:06can just

0:32:07>> No action required.

0:32:08>> Exactly.

0:32:09>> Yep.

0:32:09>> Okay. Thank you for your help tonight.

0:32:12>> I hope your sun roof is closed.

0:32:14>> Yeah, me [laughter] too.

0:32:17>> Okay.

0:32:19>> Okay. Are there any items to remove from

0:32:22the consent agenda for discussion? Quite

0:32:24a bit on there. I did want to, you know,

0:32:27if you if you wanted to look at the

0:32:29details, both of the things from the

0:32:31Lexington school system and the Thompson

0:32:34school system are uh detailed in in the

0:32:38consent agenda.

0:32:40>> I'm I'm good with the consent agenda,

0:32:42Madam Chair, and I'd make a motion to

0:32:43approve it as read if there's no

0:32:45commissioner that has anything.

0:32:46>> I don't believe we do. Do I have a

0:32:48second?

0:32:53>> Second.

0:32:53>> Okay. All in favor say I.

0:32:56>> I.

0:32:58Consent agenda. Thank you very much for

0:33:00that. Let me see if I can find the next

0:33:02page.

0:33:04>> EMS consultant.

0:33:05>> Okay. So, now we're into the

0:33:08deliberation tonight. I'm going to turn

0:33:10it over to Mr. Haynes. We're going to

0:33:12have a presentation by our EMS

0:33:15consultant.

0:33:15>> Thank you, Dr. like um

0:33:17>> being here.

0:33:18>> Thank you.

0:33:21>> Good evening, commissioners.

0:33:23>> So, we have Mr. Grayson and Mr. Miss

0:33:25Crawford here and they're going to do

0:33:26our presentation.

0:33:27>> Okay.

0:33:27>> And I think Tim and I may have a little

0:33:29piece and we'll take questions and

0:33:31discussions afterwards. So,

0:33:32>> Okay. Thank you.

0:33:36>> Good evening.

0:33:37>> Good evening, commissioners.

0:33:39>> Thank you so much for having both of us

0:33:41back uh here with you this evening. and

0:33:43we appreciate the opportunity uh to be

0:33:45with you and thank you for your Thank

0:33:47you. Thank you for your interest and

0:33:49your support, you know, of all local

0:33:51government. Uh I've been in local

0:33:53government my whole life. Miss Crawford

0:33:55has as well. Uh when you think about the

0:33:57the core services, obviously protecting

0:33:59our folks and protecting people and

0:34:01providing emergency medical services is

0:34:03is key to that. And we appreciate the

0:34:05opportunity to have worked with you and

0:34:07bringing information forward that will

0:34:09hopefully help moving moving us forward

0:34:11into the future. So, uh, just, uh, want

0:34:14to introduce Miss Crawford here with me

0:34:16as well. She's going to be giving you

0:34:17the majority of the information. Uh, her

0:34:19entire career has been with, uh, EMS.

0:34:21She's retired as the, uh, chief of the

0:34:24North Carolina Office of EMS, and she is

0:34:26our subject matter expert on the EMS

0:34:28components, but I will talk with you a

0:34:30little bit about the structure and what

0:34:32we looked at and and some of the

0:34:33overview here before uh, she goes into

0:34:35some of the details. So, we do work with

0:34:38the North Carolina Association of County

0:34:39Commissioners. where their contractor

0:34:40for fire consulting across North

0:34:42Carolina. We've worked with a number of

0:34:44counties and many more municipalities,

0:34:46some 250 so type projects. We have

0:34:49helped some counties with EMS components

0:34:51as Miss Crawford has specialized in that

0:34:54and uh we have a a contract work with

0:34:56the association to be able to do that.

0:34:58So for for Davidson County, there were

0:35:01seven key pieces and I think it's

0:35:03important before we jump into the the

0:35:05the numbers and the components to let

0:35:07you know what we looked at. We tried to

0:35:08look at this through many different

0:35:10lenses. Uh the first being the

0:35:12stakeholder feedback. We listen to your

0:35:14EMS personnel. Uh Miss Crawford as well

0:35:16as another member of our team face to

0:35:18face talking to them, listening to them.

0:35:20Uh talking about uh strengths,

0:35:22weaknesses, opportunities, threats, what

0:35:24they saw as a vision for the future and

0:35:27what their needs were in their top

0:35:28issues. There's many issues. You can go

0:35:30to any organization. There's many

0:35:31issues. One of our goals is to try to

0:35:33prioritize those for you as policy

0:35:35makers and decision makers. But we felt

0:35:37like it was really important to listen

0:35:39to your personnel. We had really good

0:35:41interaction with your personnel and and

0:35:43your staff worked really well with us to

0:35:45make all that happen. So we listened to

0:35:47what they said. Then we came back to

0:35:48them and said, "Okay, here's what we

0:35:50heard. Help us prioritize this." So, you

0:35:53know, we didn't there's no way to talk

0:35:54to everyone. Somebody's out or off or on

0:35:56a call or whatever may be, but the

0:35:58survey helped to make sure everyone had

0:36:00a voice and we think that's important.

0:36:02So, there was really good inclusion with

0:36:04that. We went a little further and said,

0:36:06"Okay, the agencies that work with EMS,

0:36:09let's hear from them." Those might be

0:36:11first responder fire departments. It

0:36:12might be law enforcement. It could be

0:36:14the uh um you know, other agencies

0:36:17within the county that were identified.

0:36:18So, we listened to them and said, "What

0:36:20do you think about this?" So, they're

0:36:22partners. They're they're uh still

0:36:24working towards the goal of helping

0:36:26people on the worst day of their life,

0:36:28trying to help them to to survive. So,

0:36:30we listen we listen to partners as well.

0:36:33We did a lot of incident data and you're

0:36:34going to hear Miss Crawford talk about

0:36:36that. We looked at over three years of

0:36:38incidents that occurred in Davidson

0:36:40County. 90,000 plus in number. So it was

0:36:44it's significant. So we we looked at all

0:36:46those incidents. That's probably one of

0:36:48the most challenging pieces we had in

0:36:50this this process was getting through

0:36:53looking at all that. But it's really

0:36:54important to know, you know, what your

0:36:57call volume is, your your workload, your

0:36:59demand. You have to know where you are

0:37:01today to project for the future. And so

0:37:03we we worked on looking in a little bit

0:37:06in the you know where are we today a

0:37:07little bit in the rearview mirror the

0:37:08last few years and try to project moving

0:37:11forward. We have an excellent GIS

0:37:13analyst. He worked with your county

0:37:15staff and getting mapping and data and

0:37:17information together uh such things as

0:37:20well what how far can we go from these

0:37:22bases uh within a a particular time

0:37:24frame. You know how much of the counties

0:37:26covered all those types of pieces. And

0:37:28then he he really integrated much of

0:37:30that in that that incident data into the

0:37:33maps as well. So when you get your

0:37:35report and you look through that, you're

0:37:36going to see a lot of maps. Well, that's

0:37:38important because it paints a picture.

0:37:39And so as you look at those, uh we did

0:37:42harness GIS. We thank the county staff

0:37:44who work with us in doing that as well.

0:37:47We have a a fairly large team of people

0:37:50that looked looked at these uh

0:37:52components and um brought their

0:37:54expertise. You know, obviously, uh, Miss

0:37:56Crawford is our our lead there, but we

0:37:58have other folks. We have some of our

0:38:00our chiefs who are also paramedics and

0:38:02worked in EMS their entire career. Uh,

0:38:04we have, um, people who have really

0:38:07focused on on writing and developing

0:38:09strategic plans, uh, and have worked in

0:38:11other with other counties in EMS

0:38:13provision. So, we developed observations

0:38:15and recommendations. That's what you ask

0:38:17us as an independent group to come in.

0:38:20Uh, none of us are from Davidson County.

0:38:22uh we come and say this is what we saw,

0:38:24this is the facts, this is the data and

0:38:26present that along with with

0:38:28recommendations to you. And then we

0:38:30don't just leave you and say well here's

0:38:31a whole lot of recommendations. We put

0:38:33that in a a structure for you of a

0:38:36strategic plan. Now you may want to

0:38:39modify that. Uh most counties would, but

0:38:41we've given you something to start with.

0:38:42You don't have to start from zero. we've

0:38:44we've hit all of these key areas in a

0:38:46written strategic plan and that's part

0:38:48of your po report and it matches all the

0:38:51things that we we see above that. So we

0:38:54think that's important to provide it to

0:38:57you and provide to you in that manner.

0:39:00So, we want you to know all the pieces

0:39:01that we we have uh looked at with you.

0:39:04And I want to give a thank you again to

0:39:05your staff uh obviously EMS uh manager's

0:39:09office, but also uh communications, the

0:39:12911 group, the uh uh GIS group, and

0:39:15others that have contributed to

0:39:17providing this information for you.

0:39:20So, as we look at at your system and

0:39:22your service delivery system, obviously

0:39:24we we want to focus on where does it

0:39:26need to go in the future? Your policy

0:39:27makers, your decision makers, what do

0:39:29you need to know to to help you make

0:39:32more informed decisions moving forward.

0:39:34And so, as we we look at that, we we we

0:39:37see that you want to sustain your EMS

0:39:39services, but you do have a demand

0:39:42that's growing and a community that's

0:39:44growing. And if I had to put it into one

0:39:46phrase, I I I'm not a person to read a

0:39:49part of the report or read something to

0:39:51a group, but we worked at at putting

0:39:53this this summary together. And I think

0:39:56it it really captures what um Miss

0:39:58Crawford's going to go through with you

0:40:00here in just a moment, but in your

0:40:03executive summary, bear with me if you

0:40:04will. I'm just going to go through one

0:40:06short paragraph, but I think that it's

0:40:08important that you you hear that today.

0:40:11Davidson County EMS is currently a

0:40:13stable, dependable, and clinically

0:40:17capable EMS system.

0:40:19The review does not indicate a system

0:40:22that's in distress or a need for

0:40:25wholesale organizational change.

0:40:29However, several emerging pressures

0:40:32including increasing demand,

0:40:35workforce sustainability,

0:40:38ambulance availability,

0:40:40geographic coverage limitations,

0:40:43and aging facility infrastructure

0:40:46require proactive planning and continued

0:40:50county investment to preserve long-term

0:40:54service reliability.

0:40:56So, it's a paragraph, but I think it's

0:40:58got some important pieces. Our whole

0:41:00team worked on this and and everyone had

0:41:02a consensus. This this is what you need

0:41:05to hear. Uh that one paragraph. And and

0:41:07even though we'll give you additional

0:41:09data, we think that there's some nuggets

0:41:12there that are noteworthy and important

0:41:14for you to to know and to understand.

0:41:18So, we don't just look at one piece. We

0:41:21don't just look at the incidents. We

0:41:22don't just look at what your personnel

0:41:24said. We don't just look at what prov

0:41:25other providers. We put it all together

0:41:28and and try to bring those priorities to

0:41:30you. And this this shows that there's

0:41:32three different pieces. There's

0:41:34operational evidence, all the the CAD

0:41:36responses and the trends and the data

0:41:39data pieces which uh we all have to make

0:41:42decisions based on data today, right? So

0:41:44that's an important piece. Then we look

0:41:46at the system readiness. That's where

0:41:48we're looking at the modeling and the

0:41:50the GIS information and everything that

0:41:52we have have talked about uh there

0:41:53today. And we physically went to all of

0:41:56your facilities. So we went to every

0:41:57facility from a safety viewpoint. What's

0:42:00what's the operational needs? What's the

0:42:02safety needs? We we have helped to

0:42:04hopefully prioritize those needs for you

0:42:07as you look at capital. So, we looked at

0:42:09system readiness and then people, you

0:42:12know, no matter how many faces you have

0:42:14or how many um ambulances you have or

0:42:17where they're located, it takes people

0:42:19to do this work and people who care and

0:42:22people who are trained and capable and

0:42:24competent. And so, that's why we we

0:42:26really wanted to hear so much from your

0:42:28personnel and they were very, you know,

0:42:30responsive. So, this is not a single

0:42:32report card. It's it's pretty dynamic,

0:42:34but it's really based on these these

0:42:36three categories. and uh Miss Crawford's

0:42:39going to step through some of this here

0:42:40with you and then we'll come back and

0:42:42and answer your questions this evening

0:42:44as well.

0:42:45>> Thank you.

0:42:48[cough]

0:42:48>> Good evening. [clears throat] Thank you

0:42:49for the opportunity to come back. Um I

0:42:51enjoy doing the um the survey with the

0:42:55staff. That was critical to us getting

0:42:58the answers we needed. As Greg has

0:43:00emphasized, it is stable. It's

0:43:04dependable and it's clinically capable.

0:43:06Um, but your biggest asset are your

0:43:08people. Uh, they put their their lives

0:43:11on the line every day to get the job

0:43:13done and they are committed. Most of the

0:43:16staff reside in Davidson County and they

0:43:18are committed to giving their best and

0:43:21caring for the citizens or the visitors

0:43:22that come into Davidson County. So, as

0:43:24Greg said, it's not a it's not a system

0:43:26that's in distress, but I do think we

0:43:28need to plan for the future and prepare

0:43:30for what is to come. And that's some of

0:43:32the things that um that we found. Again,

0:43:35you have over 93,000 incidences

0:43:38um in Davidson County. Demand is growing

0:43:43and you're at a 7.1%

0:43:45growth. And I remember coming to

0:43:48Davidson County when I started with the

0:43:49office of EMS in 1992

0:43:54and it was nothing like the demand that

0:43:56Davidson County is seeing. You've got

0:43:57growth, you've got people moving into

0:43:59the county. It's huge and you need to

0:44:01prepare for that. Um the 90th percentile

0:44:05response is about 20 minutes.

0:44:09That's not the national average is

0:44:11somewhere between 11 and 15, but there

0:44:13are a lot of other considerations to

0:44:15take in in consideration. Um the high

0:44:18acuity response you're having the

0:44:20life-threatening incidences uh

0:44:22appropriately received faster response

0:44:24in the performance. So you have as I

0:44:26said you have a committed staff but you

0:44:28need to plan for the future and

0:44:30sustainability is huge. Um so again

0:44:34these are your numbers and this compares

0:44:37with your surrounding counties. I mean

0:44:39for scythe your um neighboring counties

0:44:41are going through the same systemic

0:44:43issues. So again

0:44:45>> and the 93,000 that's for three years

0:44:47right? So that's like 31,000 a year the

0:44:50call bait.

0:44:50>> Exactly.

0:44:52>> How many trucks? 12

0:44:53>> 12 trucks. 12 trucks.

0:44:55>> Have you added any additional? Are you

0:44:56still at 12? Yes.

0:45:00>> At night

0:45:00>> and 10 at night.

0:45:02>> So, it's it's impactful. I mean, that's

0:45:04a lot of

0:45:05>> 2500 plus calls a year per truck.

0:45:08>> Exactly. Crazy.

0:45:09>> With minimal staffing in this base, I

0:45:11remember this base only had two trucks

0:45:13and it still only had two years.

0:45:16>> Three during the day when we can staff

0:45:18>> and then you have two at night and

0:45:20you've had a problem staffing. So,

0:45:22again, those are some concerns. to

0:45:24follow a sustainable and dependable

0:45:26service. If you do not do something to

0:45:28plan for the future, you're going to be

0:45:29in crisis. So again, currency,

0:45:32concurrency is normal, resiliency is the

0:45:34issue. Um 85 84% of the time your calls

0:45:39overlap. So there are multiple

0:45:41incidences occurring at the same time.

0:45:4421% of that time demand exceeds the

0:45:46primary unit capability. So your units

0:45:49are not available. That's huge. And

0:45:51that's why I'm saying bringing on some

0:45:53peak time units would help during the

0:45:55highest call volume. Um that's some

0:45:58that's a lowhanging fruit, something you

0:46:00can do. Bringing in trucks or adding a

0:46:02couple of trucks throughout the county

0:46:04where your high call volume is and

0:46:06you've got those hours covered that

0:46:09would be most impactful and it's a

0:46:10lowhanging fruit. There's something you

0:46:12can do now.

0:46:13Uh I heard from the staff that they want

0:46:15it to be this agency in Davidson County

0:46:18EMS. They wanted to be a destination

0:46:21agency and years ago they were people

0:46:23were coming in could get your basic life

0:46:26support and your advanced life support

0:46:29level training in Davidson County. That

0:46:31has changed. People are going to your

0:46:32surrounding counties and it's not just

0:46:34because of the necessarily the pay. You

0:46:38know, people will move for $2 across

0:46:40county lines. But again, I think it's

0:46:42the commitment and this is what we heard

0:46:44throughout. We don't we're

0:46:46underappreciated, undervalued. So, it's

0:46:49not just the money. These people are

0:46:52giving up and sacrificing their time

0:46:53with family members, being around the

0:46:56clock, 12-hour shifts. It's it's it's

0:46:58huge. So, again, recommendations protect

0:47:01the outcomes that residents notice.

0:47:03Reliable help when calls overlap, a

0:47:06trained workforce ready to respond, and

0:47:08their willingness is there. Safe,

0:47:10functional facilities. We looked at base

0:47:13three. That's a huge. You've already

0:47:14planned to address that as a new base.

0:47:17um that's going to be impactful. People

0:47:19need to be comfortable where they are.

0:47:21So that was the one thing we heard

0:47:23continuously throughout the interviews

0:47:25with the shifts. Predictable phase

0:47:27investment and annual data using annual

0:47:30data forecasting and capital planning to

0:47:32avoid surprises. This is why you came to

0:47:34us and said let's do a study. Let's find

0:47:36out how we make Davidson County what it

0:47:38needs to be.

0:47:40[clears throat]

0:47:41Eight recommendations from one strategy

0:47:43and these are to be built upon the

0:47:44people and the leadership. Again, I

0:47:46talked about the workforce

0:47:48sustainability and initiative

0:47:50communications from this board as well

0:47:53as Alton and his staff. What we found

0:47:56continuously in our conversations were

0:47:59we don't feel like we're communicated.

0:48:00We don't feel like we're appreciated. We

0:48:02don't feel like we're valued. So, these

0:48:04are people that again are sacrificing

0:48:06and putting their lives on the line

0:48:07every day and they don't know how you as

0:48:10a board feels or how administration

0:48:12feels. So, these are things that we said

0:48:14this needs to be worked on. um

0:48:15leadership and development and

0:48:17succession. There is no leadership avail

0:48:19ability for the paramedics and EMTs that

0:48:22sacrifice their lives every day. They're

0:48:24not able to go to conferences um network

0:48:27with other agencies. We just had a North

0:48:30Carolina Association of EMS

0:48:31administrators conference. And it's not

0:48:32just for administrators. It is for

0:48:35clinicians that are out there working,

0:48:37but they were not afforded the

0:48:38opportunity to send two or three. And

0:48:40they need to go to that. They find out

0:48:42how other counties are doing. um you

0:48:45know how they compare what you're doing

0:48:46that may be helpful in Davidson County

0:48:48if you're in Fory or Wake or Guilford

0:48:51just those are things that again were

0:48:54repeatedly shared with us and we felt

0:48:56this needs to be in order to sustain

0:48:58your staff they need to be included and

0:49:01engaged operational I'm sorry

0:49:03>> you you moving really quick I've got a a

0:49:06question so absolutely you you've packed

0:49:08a lot in there you said that it wasn't

0:49:10salarybased but it's more about feeling

0:49:13like they they need to go to conferences

0:49:16and be supported in that effort and and

0:49:19uh so I I heard that um like is the fact

0:49:24that they can't go to conferences is

0:49:26that part of because we're low on

0:49:28numbers and we're trying to fill trucks

0:49:30or is that part that we don't have the

0:49:32funding uh to

0:49:34>> it's a little bit of both. Okay. uh

0:49:37because I mean that's an easy fix to go

0:49:39to a conference then you know to if it's

0:49:43the little things like that that you

0:49:45know but it it is nice to hear that u

0:49:49they're happy with their pay and you

0:49:51know we can always do better with pay

0:49:52everybody can but um I'm glad to hear

0:49:56that and we have been looking at studies

0:49:58to build EMS bases but I just wanted to

0:50:01to clarify that so the conferences the

0:50:04being able to get out and merge

0:50:07to to be a part of the associations and

0:50:09stuff like that. That was a big

0:50:11>> is critical. And Commissioner Elliot, it

0:50:13is not I mean I will not say it's not

0:50:15about pay. Everybody would like to have

0:50:17an increase, but it's work life balance

0:50:19for EMS. And I hear this consistently in

0:50:21every all 100 counties. We need to know

0:50:24that we're valued. We need to know we're

0:50:26appreciated. And most of all, we need to

0:50:28feel engaged. And that that that was a

0:50:30huge if I had to say the main thing out

0:50:34of all the interviews and we actually

0:50:35came over we did night um surveys we did

0:50:39and they could you know respond back

0:50:41informally if they didn't want to talk

0:50:43openly but every single shift out of all

0:50:45the four shifts were openly consistently

0:50:49that was the same thing communication is

0:50:52critical and engagement I don't feel

0:50:54like I am important or I'm valued

0:50:57>> and I hear this and It is about work

0:50:59life balance.

0:51:00>> I mean, we go home to our families. We

0:51:02spend holidays with our families. They

0:51:04don't.

0:51:04>> So, these are things that just kept

0:51:07continually being and and these are

0:51:09lowhanging fruit. Sending someone to a

0:51:11conference is something you can look at.

0:51:12You can send two or three. We have a

0:51:14conference in the fall. There's a

0:51:15conference in the summer. So, these are

0:51:18things that you can address over a time

0:51:20period to say, "Let's engage the staff."

0:51:22Um, the operational readiness,

0:51:23deployment, and coverage optimization.

0:51:26Um,

0:51:27again, we're going back to the peak hour

0:51:29and the geographic alignment there,

0:51:32future service delivery evaluation.

0:51:33Those are things that are huge. And

0:51:35again, uh, we did hear some complaints

0:51:37about the facilities, and I realize

0:51:39you've done some work to the facility

0:51:41across the street, and it it's a lot

0:51:43different than the way it used to look

0:51:44when I was inspecting ambulances. So,

0:51:46there has been some improvement, but

0:51:47there's room for a long-term master plan

0:51:49on how you're going to upgrade these

0:51:51facilities and the five-year

0:51:52sustainability plan.

0:51:54I think our last EMS base we built was

0:51:5712 years ago. Arcadia. Is it Arcadia?

0:52:00It's 2014. Yeah.

0:52:03>> Yeah. So,

0:52:03>> we just remodeled one in Thomasville.

0:52:05>> We did just remodel.

0:52:06>> We did.

0:52:07>> Wasn't it about brand new? I mean,

0:52:09>> yeah, brand new facility.

0:52:12>> Nine years, eight years ago.

0:52:17>> So, we need one in Silver Valley, too,

0:52:18as we discussed. I think we'll see here

0:52:20in a minute. I think you [clears throat]

0:52:22talked about Silver Valley, but um there

0:52:24wasn't staffing. Was staffing an issue

0:52:26before you were able to

0:52:27>> back down?

0:52:28>> Well, that had taken morale down, too.

0:52:30Commissioner Shell,

0:52:31>> could you give us some examples of what

0:52:34we could do to make him feel worthy?

0:52:38>> I will tell you what I tell every comm

0:52:40board of commissioners that I talk with.

0:52:41Get in the back of the truck. See what

0:52:43they do. Take time to ride with them.

0:52:45>> What are they saying that we don't do?

0:52:48>> Some of the things that you're they're

0:52:49saying. You don't communicate. You don't

0:52:51ever come and ride. They can have

0:52:52events. Um the other

0:52:54>> 23 department we supposed to all the

0:52:56department spend time with?

0:52:57>> No sir, but once a year and I asked them

0:53:00though I put the onus back on them. Do

0:53:01you do anything to invite your

0:53:03commissioners? Do you have an employee

0:53:05appreciation day where you can invite

0:53:06your commissioners and say this is what

0:53:08I do. This is

0:53:09>> you know a lot of times it goes both

0:53:10ways. We a lot of times it's on them.

0:53:13>> They need to do some reaching out too.

0:53:15if they got a problem and they they

0:53:16don't feel wanted or important, they

0:53:19need to reach out and tell us we don't

0:53:21feel wanted or important and you guys

0:53:23need to do this, but all we hear is the

0:53:26complaints at the end of the race and

0:53:28and that's not fair.

0:53:30>> True. So, you'd appreciate some

0:53:32information along the way. This is my

0:53:33issue. This is my concern.

0:53:35>> I'll go ride as long as I ain't got to

0:53:36look at no blood or nothing. Y'all be

0:53:39taking me to the hospital.

0:53:42>> You going to do that?

0:53:43>> No, man. I can't do it. I I didn't know

0:53:45we could ride. So, we can ride. I

0:53:47thought there was I thought with HIPPA

0:53:48and everything.

0:53:49>> I think years ago there was

0:53:52>> maybe I remember a few that rode.

0:53:54>> I know our insurance guy back there was

0:53:55going old guy.

0:53:57>> Well, we had Casey that road quite

0:53:59often.

0:53:59>> Yeah.

0:54:00>> Casey wrote some.

0:54:01>> Yeah.

0:54:01>> Yeah.

0:54:03>> But I think Alison what they're saying

0:54:04is they need to know and the staff has

0:54:07to be comfortable enough. They're not

0:54:08just going to approach your county

0:54:09commissioners. So they're going to come

0:54:11to you and if Alison has said he is

0:54:12engaging, he wants to ensure that the

0:54:15staff feel appreciated and he's

0:54:17communicating. So and Jason as well,

0:54:20correct?

0:54:21>> Well, you know, burnout has a lot to do

0:54:22with it, too. If you working, you know,

0:54:25it is a terrible tough job. Uh, all of

0:54:29our first responders are sheriff

0:54:30departments.

0:54:31>> Talk about law enforcement. Law

0:54:32enforcement sees a lot of tragedy,

0:54:35>> but these people pick up every one of

0:54:37them.

0:54:37>> Everybody. Everyone.

0:54:38>> Exactly. commission

0:54:39>> and so they have to carry it home with

0:54:40them. And if you suffer from PTSD,

0:54:43that's a prime example of the job that

0:54:45you could do to suffer that would cause

0:54:47you suffrage cuz they see it all.

0:54:50>> You know,

0:54:50>> they do see it all. Certainly, they do.

0:54:52>> As an ex law enforcement officer, I

0:54:54never remember a murder or anything else

0:54:56that I ever worked that ambulance was

0:54:58sitting there to pick up carry off the

0:55:01>> You call, we haul, we're always there.

0:55:03with the public safety network and

0:55:05>> we want we want them to feel

0:55:07[clears throat] want you know uh they've

0:55:10received the highest raises they've

0:55:11received in the history of Davidson

0:55:13County so we're trying to get that

0:55:15salary up there but the next county over

0:55:17just raises their salary and they charge

0:55:19a lot more tax rate it's a lot higher

0:55:21than ours [clears throat] it's a

0:55:23difficult situation trying to figure out

0:55:25how to how to do what you need to do

0:55:28>> understood

0:55:28>> but we need more communication coming

0:55:30from them too not just a one-sided

0:55:34I agree with you.

0:55:35>> I agree. Go Alison. Okay. Um I'll touch

0:55:40a little bit on this and then I'll move

0:55:41on. Workforce sustainability. Again,

0:55:43[clears throat] we anticipated with CO

0:55:45that we'd have a 30% shortfall in people

0:55:48retaining people and workforce

0:55:51engagement. Uh so across the state

0:55:53that's being looked at, but again

0:55:55they're huge levels in recruiting people

0:55:57to come into EMS. Work life balance

0:55:59again pay is second. um retention and

0:56:03staffing levels. I got a question for

0:56:05you because seeing how you've done it

0:56:08over the entire state um and I'm not

0:56:12saying that this is what I want to do

0:56:14but I know on the eastern part of the

0:56:17state they were running through some of

0:56:19the same problems and um and because the

0:56:23county could not compete with what the

0:56:26the head hunters at the hospital were

0:56:28doing.

0:56:29>> Yeah. the hospital took over the EMS

0:56:32service and the hospital is actually

0:56:34running the county EMS services and

0:56:37having to pay the uh for the trucks and

0:56:41everything like that. Do you have any

0:56:43information on that? Like how did that

0:56:45happen? How did it take over? Was it

0:56:46something that started like this and

0:56:48then it just ballooned or

0:56:50>> I think you're seeing that across uh the

0:56:52state of North Carolina and other

0:56:53states. Hospitals are we're competing

0:56:55for the same dollars. What? And that's

0:56:56the first time since co it's the first

0:56:59time in the history of local governments

0:57:01that now the local government is in

0:57:04direct competition with the private

0:57:05sector and Baptist Hospital has a whole

0:57:08lot bigger checkbook than Davidson

0:57:10County does

0:57:11>> and their lobbyists are

0:57:12>> and they do and it's almost impossible

0:57:15to compete with somebody like that when

0:57:17they're pulling in. And here's the sad

0:57:19thing about it. In the back of that, in

0:57:21the back of that truck, you have a

0:57:24triage emergency nurse.

0:57:26>> Yes.

0:57:27>> And they deserve every bit of money they

0:57:28can get because I don't want to go low

0:57:31be it if I have a heart attack. Okay.

0:57:32>> Right.

0:57:33>> You know what I'm saying? So, but it

0:57:35it's a hard balance to

0:57:37>> it is a hard balance and I will tell you

0:57:39um from the state perspective and the

0:57:41association as a whole looking at this,

0:57:43we're trying to work with the

0:57:44association of county commissioners to

0:57:46get them engaged. were meeting with your

0:57:47hospital, your healthcare alliance. One

0:57:50of the um who's over the um healthcare

0:57:52alliance now used to be the hospital

0:57:54association is a former uh legislator.

0:57:57>> Okay.

0:57:57>> So, the first thing I've done is called

0:57:59him. I said, "Remember when you helped

0:58:00me get this for the state of North

0:58:01Carolina? We need to sit down to the

0:58:03table and talk about how we come

0:58:04together and instead of competing and

0:58:06working in silos, we work together to

0:58:08divide the funding." That would be the

0:58:10biggest help that any county could get,

0:58:13you know, and you know, anytime money

0:58:15you can get money, it helps morale. But,

0:58:18uh, when you're in direct competition

0:58:20and not just normal private sector

0:58:22companies, these are join like they have

0:58:26>> bigockets. Yeah, big pockets.

0:58:27>> They do. I will tell you that um, as you

0:58:30know, Medicaid Medicare Medicaid was

0:58:33taken over by the privates when we went

0:58:34to managed care in North Carolina. Well,

0:58:37we are finally to the point and I

0:58:39retired in 2015. We are to the point

0:58:41that America Healthy Blue is willing to

0:58:44sit down to the table.

0:58:45>> Oh, wow.

0:58:45>> And that has been I mean I've been

0:58:47retired 10 years. We started this and

0:58:49they still I mean because they got big

0:58:51pockets and they don't support they

0:58:53don't want to pay for community pair

0:58:54medicine treatment in place because they

0:58:57realize it's going to hit their pockets.

0:58:58Yeah.

0:58:58>> But again, EMS only gets reimbured when

0:59:01they transport. That is antiquated. We

0:59:04have got to change that mindset. But it

0:59:06is it is a a big pocket to fill. Let's

0:59:09just say it's a hard job, but we are at

0:59:11least at the point we're having

0:59:12conversations and that's huge.

0:59:14>> Yes.

0:59:15>> Yeah. Thank you.

0:59:16>> Absolutely. Um any questions so far? I

0:59:19don't I want to make sure you're

0:59:20understanding and there no issues.

0:59:23Anything else you want to add? You're

0:59:24standing here. Okay. Um

0:59:28I can't get my slide to

0:59:29>> I I do have one more. Yes, ma'am.

0:59:31Another thing I think you pointed was u

0:59:34a need for a career progression.

0:59:37>> Yes. Succession.

0:59:38>> A su succession. And um you know that

0:59:41just evidently that just needs to be

0:59:44done. You know all all the other ones

0:59:47seem to have you know take more courses

0:59:51you know and you move up etc. So I, you

0:59:55know, I think that's a no-brainer that

0:59:57definitely needs to be

0:59:59>> and the like I said the association

1:00:00there different conferences they can go

1:00:02to to get leadership courses. The

1:00:05community college we're working with

1:00:06them to add those courses. So there is

1:00:08but overall EMS as a whole has not done

1:00:11a very good job of planning for that. So

1:00:13that's no reflect on Alton or any other

1:00:16system. It's just we need to address

1:00:17that. It needs to be looked at. So,

1:00:19right now, if we have an EMT, we don't

1:00:21have a system set up like uh building

1:00:23inspections to where if they go get a

1:00:25class, they get a bump. That's terrible.

1:00:27>> Well, if they get another certification

1:00:29to go to,

1:00:30>> well, then why would they even want to

1:00:31try to get their paramedic if they're

1:00:33not going to get paid for?

1:00:34>> They'll get a raise. They'll get a pay

1:00:36raise every time they go to a different

1:00:37certification level. But we don't have

1:00:39anything for individual type classes in

1:00:42between, if that makes any sense.

1:00:44>> Yeah. So,

1:00:45>> certifications, they do get a pay. So

1:00:48you have EMT, advanced EMT, and then you

1:00:51have P. So there's a bump for each one

1:00:53of those certifications.

1:00:54>> Okay. Allison, how do you uh does the

1:00:58county reimburse any of that education?

1:01:01Is that something that you've talked

1:01:03about or discussed that there's an

1:01:05opportunity to reimburse them if they

1:01:06enroll in? I know they get fee, but it

1:01:08only reimburses about half. So, um,

1:01:12we've got about seven folks in paramedic

1:01:14school now that will be out between now

1:01:17and the end of the year is Amanda

1:01:20October.

1:01:21>> And so, one of the things that I I left

1:01:23out to tell you is maybe we can offer

1:01:26some reimbursement for those folks when

1:01:28they graduate from paramedic school.

1:01:30They bring us a certificate, they're

1:01:32going to be a paramedic for us, we can

1:01:33rever we can reimburse their fees. What

1:01:36keeps them from getting their

1:01:37certification then moving on to another

1:01:40county or or the hospital?

1:01:41>> We'd have to do it like the teachers

1:01:43with a two-year agreement or something.

1:01:44You stay with us for this long and we'll

1:01:46pay for that and then, you know, fast

1:01:49track. But I man, I I think we ought to

1:01:51be paying for training. I mean, that

1:01:54that's terrible to make somebody pay for

1:01:56their own training. We're benefiting for

1:01:58it. Pay for their training.

1:02:01that I mean that that utilizes you've

1:02:03got somebody there that could be

1:02:05probably one of the smartest paramedics

1:02:07or future paramedics in the entire state

1:02:09and we'll lose them because they're

1:02:11going somewhere else cuz they're having

1:02:12to pay for everything here.

1:02:14[clears throat]

1:02:15>> What does that cost?

1:02:18>> On average it was about I think it was

1:02:19about $1,500 what we come up for for a

1:02:22parabatic program on average. Some of

1:02:25them are going to different schools so

1:02:26it may vary between one and another but

1:02:28it's on the average is about 1,500

1:02:30bucks. That's nothing for a county of

1:02:32this size. That's Yeah.

1:02:37>> Well, it it it it can become a problem

1:02:41if everybody has that same opportunity

1:02:44in all the departments to, you know,

1:02:47then it can become something that's

1:02:48difficult to do. I think we're in a

1:02:50unique situation here with our first

1:02:52responders and uh you know they they

1:02:56have a hard job and we're in an active

1:02:59fight to try to keep people loyal to us.

1:03:02Well, why are they going to be loyal to

1:03:03us if we're not loyal to them?

1:03:05>> So,

1:03:07yeah,

1:03:07>> they just need to sign a contract for

1:03:10>> Yeah, that's it. Yeah.

1:03:14>> Just just the lead. That's great.

1:03:18>> Colleges do it. Other agencies do it.

1:03:22>> I just want to make sure we ain't

1:03:23training staff.

1:03:24>> That would benefit us even more because

1:03:26we're, you know, guaranteed to have

1:03:28them.

1:03:28>> Yeah. You've got them.

1:03:29>> Yeah.

1:03:30>> Even if it's a short period of time.

1:03:33>> Did my battery go out?

1:03:37>> Okay. I went I think I went the wrong

1:03:40way.

1:03:41the re. Yeah,

1:03:42>> I can't see none of it any great.

1:03:44>> Again, communication and leadership.

1:03:47Yeah,

1:03:47>> you can run it. You can operate it.

1:03:48Okay,

1:03:50>> um again, this just reemphasizes some of

1:03:52the things that are important and the

1:03:54fact that communication and leadership

1:03:55[clears throat] is is key to retaining

1:03:59and recruiting people. Um again, I will

1:04:02tell you something else that's very

1:04:03important. I don't know where it is in

1:04:05this presentation, but social media. If

1:04:07I did not I heard that at every shift.

1:04:09We are not allowed to have show social

1:04:11media. We don't have a social media

1:04:13page. Other counties around this area

1:04:17across the state have a social media.

1:04:19They have a voice. I understand that

1:04:21some of it was because of the bad

1:04:22publicity. But just as much as you can

1:04:25receive bad publicity, you can receive

1:04:28good publicity and they can showcase

1:04:29what they do. Because I know you've had

1:04:31accidents out here on 85. To be able to

1:04:33show pictures, this is what we did. We

1:04:35saved these lives. That's a simple

1:04:37that's a lowhanging fruit. I mean to

1:04:39allow

1:04:42we we not letting them have social

1:04:43media.

1:04:44>> You do not have

1:04:45>> one time but it was

1:04:46>> like personal social media.

1:04:47>> No, not personal.

1:04:48>> They're just socialism. I was about to

1:04:50say

1:04:50>> for the for the agency.

1:04:52>> Okay.

1:04:53>> Well, I like that to get out and make

1:04:56>> time. But we we discontinued it for a

1:04:58while.

1:04:59>> Okay.

1:04:59>> Had to.

1:05:00>> Yeah.

1:05:01>> And that wasn't a choice of the

1:05:02commissioners at that point either. It

1:05:04was a bad choices by individuals.

1:05:07>> Understood.

1:05:09But that is something

1:05:10>> you got to just be honest about it. You

1:05:11know, if they and you if you're

1:05:15monitoring a social media page, you got

1:05:17to monitor. You can't let people put on

1:05:20lies on there or or put scenes of dead

1:05:23bodies and the family doing any of that.

1:05:26>> Yeah. The family hadn't even been

1:05:27notified. But yeah, but that's a

1:05:28possibility.

1:05:29>> Different. you got somebody doing that

1:05:31don't have the scrut to to be

1:05:33>> it got to be monitored and it has to be

1:05:36some

1:05:38feedback if they do and there has to be

1:05:40some penalty if they listen because

1:05:42that's confidentiality that's HIPPA

1:05:44>> we've talked about that for the last 5

1:05:46years uh about having a public

1:05:49information officer that we we

1:05:51drastically need one of them for the

1:05:53board because people don't know half the

1:05:55things that we do and what's going on in

1:05:58the departments And that's one thing

1:06:01that would be beneficial.

1:06:02>> Well, that's true. People make

1:06:04assumptions about what we do.

1:06:06>> True.

1:06:06>> And and then they they delete things

1:06:10that they want to delete without

1:06:12recognizing that we're doing certain

1:06:14things. And it's on it's in public,

1:06:16>> you know, our Facebook page on our

1:06:19website, but they don't bother.

1:06:21>> Our our heroes deserve to be cheered on

1:06:24and and thanked and appreciated and, you

1:06:27know, so I I can see that.

1:06:30Thank you.

1:06:31>> Okay.

1:06:32>> I like that. I like that. Sorry about

1:06:34that.

1:06:35>> I think they will be very receptive and

1:06:37appreciative of that little minor piece

1:06:39because it was in every shift that they

1:06:42were like, "We can't we can't show what

1:06:44we do. How do people know what we do and

1:06:47how we save lives in Davidson County?"

1:06:48So, thank you for that. Uh, again,

1:06:50optimized deployment before expanding

1:06:52this system. I talked about this. I hit

1:06:54on your response time and the travel

1:06:56time and where we need to be. Um, and I

1:06:59think you're addressing that. The peak

1:07:01hour ambulance availability, Alison, you

1:07:03talked about that. You're going to

1:07:04address that. If the commissioners

1:07:06approved that, so there's just things

1:07:07that you can do that will improve the

1:07:09quality and even bringing on a BLS level

1:07:13service, someone to help you. And I

1:07:15think Commissioner Shell, you talked

1:07:16about this when we presented that you

1:07:18needed some help. These, they're running

1:07:20ALS calls. They can't do all your

1:07:22conlescent calls. They've got to have

1:07:23some backup.

1:07:24>> Yeah.

1:07:25>> So, okay.

1:07:28uh communication and leadership

1:07:29strengthen. You went backwards.

1:07:31>> I went the wrong way.

1:07:32>> You went the wrong way.

1:07:33>> You mentioned earlier 90,000 calls. How

1:07:35many of those are BLS?

1:07:38>> Do you remember there's 93,000?

1:07:41>> I think it was 93,000. But what how many

1:07:43were

1:07:43>> three years?

1:07:48>> Do you remember?

1:07:50>> We can get that information. We didn't

1:07:51we didn't break it out that way. Um I've

1:07:54touched on this. I don't want to be

1:07:55redundant, but base three again needs a

1:07:57clear facility decision. You've already

1:07:59looked at that and that's being

1:08:00addressed. Correct. We

1:08:01>> talked about that. We've we've got

1:08:06we talked to Brian, the engineer. I

1:08:08think the the repairs to that current

1:08:10facility would be close to half a

1:08:12million. And I think he said he could

1:08:14put us in a new piece, new place for

1:08:16about 650. And we own property at

1:08:19Enterprise Road next to the boxite,

1:08:23which would actually me on my times

1:08:24because it would move south about two

1:08:27miles would help me pick up a little bit

1:08:29of dead area space so to speak.

1:08:31>> How much area we've already own?

1:08:34>> Talking about the area we already own

1:08:37on Enterprise Road. So you can either

1:08:39>> you know we could look at putting half

1:08:41[clears throat] a million in a facility

1:08:42we don't own or we could put 650 into a

1:08:46facility that we do own that's brand

1:08:48new.

1:08:49>> It's about a no-brainer.

1:08:50>> Be a good location.

1:08:52And that that address your call volume

1:08:53as well.

1:08:55>> It was it was helpful by call volume.

1:08:57>> That's even another positive.

1:08:58>> Okay.

1:08:59>> So, how long has this been on our radar?

1:09:01This is the first I heard about this.

1:09:04So, has this been brought up to the

1:09:06facilities committee or anything?

1:09:09>> They've had to tail stuffed in the

1:09:10windows since 2014. I know.

1:09:13>> I know. I went up.

1:09:15>> They got tape [clears throat] over the

1:09:16windows that I wasn't aware of when I

1:09:18went out and visited. So, but we need to

1:09:20take care of

1:09:22Yeah. And in addition to adding another

1:09:24facility, I know you said Arcadia was

1:09:25your last one, bringing all your

1:09:27facilities up to standard, ADA

1:09:29compliant, those issues, emergency

1:09:31lighting, overhead door safety, bay

1:09:33flooring, there are a lot of things that

1:09:35you can do that are not going to be a

1:09:36significant financial impact. So again,

1:09:39these were just some of the things that

1:09:41our team looked at. Okay. Uh and then

1:09:44again, I said everything builds upon

1:09:46each other. A five-year plan provides

1:09:48early warning. Uh again, you're

1:09:51measuring your workload, you're

1:09:52forecasting, you're prioritizing, and

1:09:53you're making adjustments. And that's

1:09:55critical to sustaining your service.

1:09:57Again, the service is not in crisis. I

1:10:00want to reemphasize that, but I think

1:10:02you need to make plans to make sure it

1:10:04doesn't become a crisis. Okay.

1:10:07>> Did you do a breakdown of the individual

1:10:10uh ambulance basis or how many calls

1:10:13that 93,000 as it was?

1:10:16>> We did not. We I don't know if your CAD

1:10:18system could give us that data. That's

1:10:20something we can look into if you would

1:10:22like us to, but we did not break it down

1:10:24by

1:10:24>> B. Probably going to be your highest

1:10:25volume. But I just wonder how how far

1:10:28off Midway is.

1:10:30>> You you track that, Nicole. That you do.

1:10:33We can get that from Nicole.

1:10:34>> Okay. I thought sure y'all would have

1:10:36had that included in this report.

1:10:39>> Y'all know

1:10:39>> that show us the weak point where we

1:10:41need to base the most. You know,

1:10:43>> well, it does show where we need to base

1:10:44the most.

1:10:45It's probably Silver Valley

1:10:47>> distance wise.

1:10:48>> Yeah,

1:10:49>> because it's so far away from the other

1:10:51base district

1:10:51>> for the call volume too.

1:10:53>> The call volume would not be that high.

1:10:57I think when we looked at it before it

1:10:59was roughly maybe 1,500 to 2,000 calls a

1:11:03year in that area that it that that it

1:11:05could absorb because it would pick up

1:11:07some of the Thomasville area. It would

1:11:09pick up some of Lexington's area and it

1:11:10would pick up some of Vent as well.

1:11:12>> Okay.

1:11:14Did you also Alton talk about if you

1:11:17were added the two peak times you would

1:11:18add maybe a potential backup in Silver

1:11:21Valley at a peak time unit?

1:11:23>> Talk about doing another, you know,

1:11:25bring somebody in to do BLS.

1:11:26>> Yeah.

1:11:27>> To help support us. We could we could

1:11:29submit bids to get one in Lexon and one

1:11:31in Thomasville during this peak time

1:11:33like 9 or 10 a.m. to 9 or 10 p.m.

1:11:36>> But we might could put an addendum on

1:11:38there to see if they would be willing to

1:11:39to bid out until we can build a base in

1:11:42Silver Valley. They might could provide

1:11:43us at least with a BLS truck in Zor

1:11:45Valley to cover some of that area as an

1:11:48option if we want to do that.

1:11:51>> Would it be fair to say BLS is 25% of

1:11:54our volume?

1:11:56>> Probably.

1:11:57>> I would say about 21%. Yeah.

1:11:59>> About 25,000 calls a year.

1:12:01>> Well, it's 30,000 calls a year. So it's

1:12:05probably about between 10 and 15,000

1:12:08calls a year or about 10 is BLS stuff

1:12:11that lower tier not the high QE stuff.

1:12:14Got that right. So it would provide a

1:12:16good amount of relief for us. Now could

1:12:18they catch all of them tonsil? Probably

1:12:21not. you know, your outline bases is

1:12:23going to still pick up some of that, but

1:12:25most of the steam is here in the main

1:12:26bases. And, you know, then you've got

1:12:29you've got trucks coming in from the

1:12:31outside to pick up the calls, which is

1:12:34kind of leaving those areas open. They

1:12:36the supervisors will move the trucks

1:12:38around trying to play like a chess game

1:12:41to keep everything covered equally. But

1:12:44with those BLS trucks, we would have

1:12:46less of that hopefully.

1:12:49>> So, it would definitely help. What did

1:12:50they what did they do? Staging

1:12:53>> when when you when they're trying to

1:12:54cover an area to go somewhere

1:12:58>> between two areas so they can pick up

1:13:00the same ample distance to get wherever

1:13:02they need to go.

1:13:03>> So, I mean, if if you're looking at that

1:13:0596,000 and that's a three-year period,

1:13:09that's 32,000 calls. If 10 to 15,000 are

1:13:13the under, that's more than 21%.

1:13:17>> Yeah.

1:13:20Yeah,

1:13:21>> but I mean still we still need help, you

1:13:23know. Definitely

1:13:25>> they're just they're getting more out.

1:13:27>> It is hard.

1:13:28>> They're doing all they can. Staffing

1:13:30needs when we have to sh we have to shut

1:13:32down, you know, a truck here and there.

1:13:33>> Yeah.

1:13:34>> They're picking up double time, so to

1:13:36speak.

1:13:36>> And we still have to help other

1:13:38counties, too, when they're down.

1:13:40>> That's right. It's kind of a mutual

1:13:42mutual aid agreement.

1:13:43>> We're running ALS to go do a BLS. Yes.

1:13:48>> Mhm.

1:13:48>> So there's a there's a waste of

1:13:50resources.

1:13:51>> It is a waste of resources.

1:13:52>> So yes,

1:13:53>> but you want to make sure everyone is

1:13:55covered. So bringing on Paula does your

1:13:58Triad does your convolescent.

1:14:00>> She does our convolescent and so does

1:14:01Providence

1:14:02>> and Providence. So you have two

1:14:03providers right now, but you're needing

1:14:05you're still not covering.

1:14:06>> We need someone to help back up the 91

1:14:0891 system,

1:14:09>> the 911 BLS stuff. And those can be run

1:14:11out of like a regular truck set up for

1:14:14stuff

1:14:15>> like

1:14:15>> why don't we on our own and you know run

1:14:19those

1:14:20>> where we have to hire on more staff in

1:14:22>> I mean I got that but it'd be a whole

1:14:24lot easier to control what we have and

1:14:26then you know build out like that

1:14:28>> like P and Proidence most of the stuff

1:14:31they do is scheduled doctor's offices

1:14:35those sort of things these would do the

1:14:38911 calls that come in that may be a

1:14:40lesser

1:14:40call that that's considered BLS and

1:14:43they'd be able to respond to that.

1:14:44>> If we had some of those and we could

1:14:45partner with some of these fire

1:14:47departments and house like a truck kind

1:14:50of close by and then you know I mean I'm

1:14:53just thinking outside the box until we

1:14:54could build some infrastructure that we

1:14:57own. Maybe that would be something and

1:15:00uh you know obviously utilize our rescue

1:15:03squads a little more.

1:15:06So I don't know.

1:15:09Commissioner Elliot, I think I remember

1:15:11I recall. Did you not used to use your

1:15:13rescue squads? Are they are they phasing

1:15:14out?

1:15:15>> Neither one of them are a transport

1:15:17agency at the moment.

1:15:18>> All right. Because you had several.

1:15:20>> But I I see what you're saying about

1:15:22starting your own. A lot of larger

1:15:24systems are considering that. Um but you

1:15:27got to have something in the meantime

1:15:29until you can get recruitment.

1:15:31>> We talking about planning for the

1:15:32future, right?

1:15:33>> Absolutely. Long-term planning.

1:15:35>> We got to talk about it now.

1:15:36>> Got to talk about it now.

1:15:37>> That's what the problem is. We looked at

1:15:38a couple providers over the past couple

1:15:40years and they didn't have any help to

1:15:43help us.

1:15:43>> They were struggling as well,

1:15:45>> right?

1:15:45>> And I think that's the problem.

1:15:47>> Yeah. And the competition and we talked

1:15:48about this earlier about mobile

1:15:50integrated healthcare. Your hospitals

1:15:51taking your staff. Again, these are all

1:15:53things that are being working on from a

1:15:55federal level as well as a state level,

1:15:57but we are all competing

1:15:58>> and it's everybody. Everybody's facing

1:16:00the same stuff.

1:16:02>> You're not It's not unique to Davidson

1:16:03County.

1:16:04>> Okay.

1:16:05>> Okay. Um

1:16:08Yeah, you change go to the next one

1:16:09because we've talked about mobile

1:16:10integrate. So short-term stabilizing

1:16:13your core right now, what you have in

1:16:14place then planning to to do these

1:16:17things to improve the system. Okay,

1:16:22>> Madam Chair, where I would recommend at

1:16:25this point is to our consultant and

1:16:29Alton, excuse me, Alton, I can't give

1:16:32you that.

1:16:34Formulate a plan with all the weaknesses

1:16:36and what their suggestion for remedy

1:16:38would be. Amen.

1:16:39>> And then let's take a look at

1:16:41>> I agree.

1:16:42>> Yeah,

1:16:42>> I agree.

1:16:44And I I want those numbers

1:16:46>> of what you said.

1:16:49>> I want those numbers,

1:16:51you know,

1:16:52>> and where the high parts are. I'd like

1:16:54to know just to see.

1:16:56>> Yeah.

1:16:57>> You know, you

1:16:59>> But I think then we have a format as to

1:17:02what to look at, what to consider, and

1:17:05>> then you can bring us back real action

1:17:08bullet points.

1:17:10>> Yeah.

1:17:10>> But what's your thoughts on that now?

1:17:16I would let I would like to, you know,

1:17:19to ask us to look at the training a

1:17:22little harder on these folks and then if

1:17:24we could get that

1:17:25>> recommendation that could be one of the

1:17:26recommendations.

1:17:27>> We could do that with that two-year

1:17:28attached to it or something that we need

1:17:30that

1:17:31>> a little shot in the arm. Yeah. Yeah.

1:17:35>> Yeah. Just lay it out.

1:17:36>> But you've heard the concerns and we're

1:17:38happy to

1:17:38>> Yes. condense that into something that's

1:17:40a task list

1:17:41>> that would be beneficial.

1:17:42>> Yeah.

1:17:43>> So, we've talked about the phase

1:17:44implementation without losing your

1:17:46momentum, what you got going now, and

1:17:47not losing your people, trying to do the

1:17:49lowhanging fruit piece. And then, uh,

1:17:52again, near term things is workforce

1:17:55sustainability. You're talking about

1:17:56adding another base. You're talking

1:17:58about engaging your staff and sending

1:17:59them to training. And then maybe uh

1:18:02midterm look at a five-year

1:18:04sustainability plan. Um, EMS facilities

1:18:07master plan. all the things that we've

1:18:08covered, but that could be your

1:18:09five-year strategic plan. This is what

1:18:11we're going to do in EMS for public

1:18:12safety.

1:18:13>> And did I hear you correctly? Like

1:18:14internally, not just not just the pay

1:18:17per the the stuff like this, but an

1:18:19internal how do I get the sergeant, how

1:18:22do I get this lieutenant, like we need a

1:18:24legit structure of somebody that's been

1:18:27here that's not always staying right

1:18:29here, but they have a way to grow up in

1:18:31the county that gives them a reason to

1:18:33stay here. We need that.

1:18:35>> Exactly. and Alson if if you're you know

1:18:37for instance and this were some of the

1:18:38things we heard

1:18:39>> if Alson's going to be retiring what's

1:18:41the succession plan for him who's who's

1:18:43going to be next and that's something

1:18:45and I say EMS overall we don't do a good

1:18:47job of planning for that it's been

1:18:49something we've talked about over the

1:18:50years but we don't plan for it so that's

1:18:52something and Alton knows that so he

1:18:54knows he's got to inform his staff as to

1:18:57this is when I'm going to retire I'm

1:18:58considering this this is you know you're

1:19:01all have an opportunity to

1:19:03>> working a lot now

1:19:05We got all officers staff filling out

1:19:07basically what their responsibilities

1:19:10are and what they're doing so each other

1:19:11can learn these things and so we'll be

1:19:14integrated so everybody

1:19:16>> cross train and stuff already started

1:19:17some of this stuff in the last couple of

1:19:20months or so.

1:19:21>> Okay. Yeah. I'd like to see a report on

1:19:23it and then hear back from everybody

1:19:25that's involved kind of like what what

1:19:27they feel cuz I want them all to be like

1:19:30locked in with that. And I think that's

1:19:32the only way communication from the top

1:19:34down. Everybody's on the same page.

1:19:37Nobody's surprised by anything. That

1:19:39that's that's the way you do it, man.

1:19:41>> And Commissioner Elliot, I would say

1:19:42this. The staff wanted to know you doing

1:19:44this study. You've taken time. We've

1:19:46committed our time to be upfront and

1:19:48honest with you. What's the feedback?

1:19:50Are we going to get a copy of this

1:19:51report? I have asked that question. I

1:19:54got calls the other day. Are we going to

1:19:56get the report? When are you presenting

1:19:57it to the commissioners?

1:19:58>> What commissioner said Shell said is you

1:20:00get the bullet points together. What are

1:20:02the recommendations and then we come

1:20:04back here and hash it out and make sure

1:20:07that these things are corrected

1:20:09>> and uh

1:20:09>> even if it's something, you know, we

1:20:11wouldn't like.

1:20:12>> That's right.

1:20:12>> His own.

1:20:13>> Yeah.

1:20:14>> Amen.

1:20:15>> Awesome. Okay. Are there any other

1:20:17questions? Uh because we we're closing.

1:20:20Greg, I'll give you the opportunity to

1:20:21come [clears throat] back and see if

1:20:22there's anything you want to share.

1:20:23>> Y'all asked some really good questions

1:20:25and I appreciate your engagement with

1:20:26it. Just kind of looking back, you've

1:20:29got a strong system, but there's

1:20:30opportunities for improvement. So does

1:20:32any organization. Your workforce

1:20:34sustainability critical. You've got to

1:20:36keep the people you have, you got to

1:20:37develop them. You know, you were talking

1:20:39a little earlier about the the

1:20:41hospitals. Go to the emergency room

1:20:43tonight and look who's working in the

1:20:46hospital. Uh, pre-COVID, you didn't see

1:20:48EMTs working in the hospital, but you do

1:20:50today. You'll see them with tags and

1:20:52IDs. So, the hospital is is hiring

1:20:54people there. Your your workforce,

1:20:57establishing your workforce, sustaining

1:20:58your workforce, really important these

1:21:00days. The dynamics have changed in the

1:21:03last few years, making the most of the

1:21:05of the deployment that you have. Uh,

1:21:08those peak time units. We in in the

1:21:10different counties we work with, that is

1:21:12a strategy to help. and and as we talked

1:21:15about just moment ago, that might be

1:21:16BLS, but it's a strategy to help. And uh

1:21:20uh many counties are looking at that

1:21:22same piece. And then uh your people want

1:21:25to feel uh respected, appreciated when

1:21:28their facility is not

1:21:32like it should be and uh maybe not, you

1:21:34know, even have some safety concerns and

1:21:36issues, fix those things. And so we we

1:21:38out outline that obviously for base

1:21:40three, but there's others as well. it

1:21:42just the need to look at that

1:21:43comprehensively and and over time

1:21:46obviously very very important. So, you

1:21:48know, this is just a quick review of

1:21:49those those three main pieces. So, um

1:21:52Miss Crawford, I know of no one that

1:21:54knows more about the EMS systems in all

1:21:56100 counties than her. So, if you have

1:21:58questions, we'll be glad to answer

1:21:59those. Uh we'll get back to you on some

1:22:02of the particulars on your question

1:22:04about the the call volume and the

1:22:06levels. I'll have to look at that a

1:22:07little bit further. Um, but we'll we'll

1:22:10reply back to the manager's office on

1:22:12that.

1:22:13>> And just for clarification, I want to

1:22:14say for the folks just listening at home

1:22:16and the folks that are here there, we

1:22:18have had like real intimate

1:22:22conversations with the fire chief and

1:22:24the fire department at base 3 about

1:22:26trying to get that facility fixed. It's

1:22:28one that we do not own. We're kind of

1:22:30stuck right now having to to be in there

1:22:33because it's been there for golly how

1:22:36many years out like forever, right? So,

1:22:39and and it is subpar conditions and we

1:22:42we yeah, we've addressed that with the

1:22:45fire chief asked to try to get some of

1:22:47those conditions fixed. It's a part of

1:22:50how much money do we want to put in a

1:22:51facility that's not ours. And uh I think

1:22:55you know your recommendation for the

1:22:56amount of money we're going to have to

1:22:57put in either one, we might as well own

1:22:59the facility if we're going to do it and

1:23:01then we have control over it. So I

1:23:04appreciate it.

1:23:06>> There's two things. One thing I didn't

1:23:07hear in the report tonight that is very

1:23:10important for us as a county is the Kath

1:23:12lab. We don't have a cath lab in this

1:23:14county and our ambulances are going out

1:23:17of the county. That's true. where where

1:23:19you heard that and I'll let Mr. Crawford

1:23:21speak to it, but where you heard that is

1:23:22about when multiple calls happen at

1:23:24[clears throat] the same time and is

1:23:25their reliability for that next unit.

1:23:28Well, if they're at cone or they're at

1:23:30Baptist, then they're they're out of

1:23:31position. That that's part of the as

1:23:34your call volume gets higher and they're

1:23:36not then they're they're traveling

1:23:38because you don't have that.

1:23:39>> I understand every minute of it. That's

1:23:41that's a that's a that's a big issue.

1:23:45>> And I have

1:23:46>> we've been discussing this for a while.

1:23:48>> So in your numbers, if if her

1:23:51information will get it for you, how

1:23:53many transports do we have ALS out of

1:23:56the county?

1:23:58That would be information that's very

1:24:00important for us because this is one of

1:24:03the reasons we don't have enough

1:24:04ambulances because they out of the

1:24:06county. Okay.

1:24:07>> A lot of them are ALS that go out of the

1:24:08county because they're either strokes

1:24:11there are people having heart attacks or

1:24:14there's people that have some sort of

1:24:15trauma and they all need that

1:24:16specialized care which none of which is

1:24:19provided here in Davidson County. So

1:24:21again, and the term of the call. So I

1:24:24mean, how long our trucks is out of or

1:24:27on a call compared I'd like to see that

1:24:29compared to other

1:24:31>> think about that.

1:24:32>> I'm sorry.

1:24:33>> Tim has some of those compared

1:24:36them to like Foresight and Guilford

1:24:38County. The term, the length of the

1:24:40call.

1:24:41>> We've got them compared to the other

1:24:43>> light counties. They they stay. So we've

1:24:46got

1:24:46>> So we've got

1:24:47>> See, I don't know that I want light

1:24:48counties. I want counties that's got

1:24:50cath labs and hospitals in a

1:24:52>> that's thing like counties your call

1:24:54volume your size and how far they are

1:24:56from a cath lab. So

1:24:58>> cuz like for side county they got their

1:24:59own cath lab. I want to know how fast it

1:25:01takes them to get somebody compared to

1:25:04ours is hours is hours out of the pocket

1:25:06for two hours while they on the call.

1:25:09You follow me? Two and a half hours

1:25:11>> or theirs is out of pocket for

1:25:13>> 45 minutes maybe. You know,

1:25:15>> so if you got somebody that's serious

1:25:17that's taken to let's Lexon or Thomas

1:25:20here and uh has the does the ambulance

1:25:24have to stand by until the hospital

1:25:26decides we need to send them to preite

1:25:28or we send back they call them back in

1:25:31transport?

1:25:32>> Well, normally what'll happen is

1:25:34>> um once we deliver them to one of the

1:25:36local hospitals

1:25:37>> most of the time they will call a

1:25:39critical care truck to transport them.

1:25:41>> Oh, okay. Okay.

1:25:43They they have to clean the truck. They

1:25:44have to get a new stretcher. They have

1:25:46to do go through a lot of maintenance

1:25:48stuff while they're there. Right.

1:25:50>> Yes. They do have to do that to get back

1:25:51in service, but we don't normally do in

1:25:54facility transfers, meaning from

1:25:55facility to facility. The hospital takes

1:25:58care of that of themselves. On the rare

1:26:00occasions that they don't have somebody

1:26:02available to transfer somebody, so

1:26:04they're actively having a heart attack

1:26:06and they got to lean for some reason. If

1:26:08critical care can't get there, they

1:26:09can't provide air medical or something

1:26:11that it's up to the supervisor depending

1:26:14on what what kind of availability we

1:26:16have at the time whether we can transfer

1:26:18them from facility to another facility,

1:26:21but we've not done inter facility

1:26:23transfers

1:26:26at least 10 years or we had to cut that

1:26:29and most other services don't. So if

1:26:30you've had a heart attack and you need a

1:26:32calath and if you at leoning they get

1:26:34enter they get their ambulance

1:26:39>> how long is we're picking them up on the

1:26:41scene and

1:26:42>> right I'll get you

1:26:44>> yeah you go straight on the high point

1:26:45or straight

1:26:46>> on to the where we need to go so

1:26:48protocol closest appropriate facility

1:26:51>> right so this internal transportation

1:26:54that been going on the last couple years

1:26:56maybe is that

1:26:56>> it's been going on for at least 10 plus

1:26:58years

1:26:59>> 10 Okay.

1:27:00>> 10 or 12

1:27:01>> at least. Yes.

1:27:02>> So that's when they started hiring

1:27:06>> somewhat. Yeah.

1:27:07>> But we got to work at the point that we

1:27:09were overwhelmed cuz I was still on

1:27:11truck. We were overwhelmed with doing

1:27:13facility transfer. So we didn't have any

1:27:15time to run the medical the EMS calls

1:27:17here in town. We were too busy taking

1:27:19people up the road so to speak.

1:27:21>> So they keep an ambulance just so you

1:27:24don't ride the helicopter. It's not that

1:27:26pressing. Um they keep an ambulance over

1:27:29here at le

1:27:32>> Wow. So that's another hour or two. Huh?

1:27:35>> They got a Well, another Yeah. Hour and

1:27:37a half.

1:27:39>> We need a Kath lab. Bad. Uh Mr. Rickard,

1:27:42if you could get with Casey. He's got

1:27:44the contact information. If you don't

1:27:46mind giving our u our manager,

1:27:49ex-manager a call and seeing see if we

1:27:52can get a contact. He's been dealing

1:27:54with the hospitals about this Kath lab.

1:27:56Well, I've been working with right now

1:27:58I'm working with the the new CEO at

1:28:00Novon, Mr. Brown, Chris Brown, and they

1:28:04are I'm working with him. They are

1:28:05putting in a certificate for need for a

1:28:09cath lab in Davidson County, and it's

1:28:12not specific to them. It's just showing

1:28:14there's a need for someone to do it. So,

1:28:17I'm already working with them on that.

1:28:19We get that put together. They send that

1:28:21they approve a certificate they need

1:28:23>> and they get up to the two hospitals

1:28:26[clears throat] to battle it out who

1:28:27>> that's that's going to take time.

1:28:30>> It will take a little bit of time but

1:28:31they are putting in a certificate they

1:28:33need and I've been working Mr. Brown to

1:28:36>> establish that.

1:28:38>> Okay. Good deal. Sounds like it's

1:28:40already been I know Casey was working on

1:28:42it and

1:28:42>> yeah he was working with

1:28:44>> Right. Okay.

1:28:47>> Any additional questions that we can

1:28:48answer or

1:28:50I think we're good.

1:28:52>> Thank you so much. Thank you so much. We

1:28:54>> get a breakdown out and of those 93,000

1:28:57breakdown of what bases require, what

1:29:01how many calls or whatever.

1:29:02>> Okay. We'll work on that.

1:29:07>> We appreciate y'all listening and paying

1:29:10attention to this information. You've

1:29:12been very engaged in this tonight. We

1:29:14thank you for caring. We thank you for

1:29:15supporting your EMS personnel

1:29:17[clears throat] uh moving forward and

1:29:19and maybe have taking that opportunity

1:29:21to ride learn what they do, learn about

1:29:23the complexity of their job. Uh we'll

1:29:25get you that information you asked for

1:29:26as follow up back through the manager's

1:29:28office. And uh again, we appreciate your

1:29:31public service and dedication. T

1:29:33>> Thank you. Thank you.

1:29:35>> Your chief training officer,

1:29:38>> she's back there. Yeah.

1:29:40>> What can we do for the training? What

1:29:43aspect do we need to do there? Like what

1:29:45what where are we missing it at? I'm

1:29:47sorry, but I respect you a lot. Work

1:29:51with you forever. She's been with you

1:29:53forever. She's been here forever. And

1:29:56she's probably one of the smartest

1:29:58people involved that that I know. Uh

1:30:02>> we do send a limited number of people to

1:30:03conferences. We sent some people to the

1:30:05administrators conference. How many did

1:30:07we send to the

1:30:12to expo. Typically that's that's eight.

1:30:15>> We usually send eight to that,

1:30:16>> but that's typically the EMS expo is um

1:30:20from the office of EMS every year.

1:30:22Typically we are able to send eight

1:30:25folks to that.

1:30:26>> Okay.

1:30:27>> But that's pretty much it for the year.

1:30:31>> We have 150 providers.

1:30:33>> I got you.

1:30:34>> So they might

1:30:36>> we usually drop draw a lottery.

1:30:39>> I got you. just the best we can do for

1:30:40that's all we got.

1:30:42>> Yeah. I mean, we have um comparable one

1:30:45of the things I learned at at the

1:30:47administrator's conference we were at

1:30:48last week was that and and I'm not going

1:30:51to name names because I don't think

1:30:52that's appropriate, but there's a county

1:30:53that's very close to us that's pretty

1:30:56consistent with us that has a training

1:30:58budget of $50,000 a year and then

1:31:00$35,000 a year to send people to

1:31:02conferences and educate their people.

1:31:05>> Right. So, their folks are always

1:31:07getting to get this

1:31:10um further education,

1:31:12>> networking,

1:31:13>> this piece that's talking about your

1:31:14secession planning and how who you know

1:31:17is going to be your people in 10 years

1:31:18that are going to run your place and

1:31:20keep it going.

1:31:21>> They have the money and the ability to

1:31:23make those people.

1:31:25>> I got you.

1:31:25>> Right. And and we we don't

1:31:28>> Yeah.

1:31:28>> Um and that's I think that's a detriment

1:31:31to us. We have people that would love,

1:31:34you know, our a lot of our folks are

1:31:36sponges.

1:31:37>> They'll learn anything you teach them.

1:31:39>> Yeah.

1:31:39>> We just got to have the ability to to

1:31:42give them the opportunity for

1:31:43>> I got you. I got you. Well, I appreciate

1:31:45you. I know you've been teaching ever

1:31:47since forever. So, thank you. I respect

1:31:51your opinion. Thank you.

1:31:52>> Thank you, Alton. Appreciate it.

1:31:54>> Thank you, Al.

1:31:55>> All right. I guess we're going to talk

1:31:57about these response times here and um

1:31:59>> really briefly just to supplement to the

1:32:01study. Um and

1:32:05I suspect y'all will still have more

1:32:08questions than we'll have answers

1:32:09tonight. Um and that's okay. We there's

1:32:11always homework to do. Um but I will say

1:32:16you all are are actually doing a lot of

1:32:19the things that the study's

1:32:21recommending. It's just not

1:32:22comprehensively packaged. So, for

1:32:24example, in our capital improvement plan

1:32:26right now in the next five years, we

1:32:28have $2.9 million in the plan for EMS

1:32:31base enhancements. So, we're doing it.

1:32:34We just don't all know it's in there,

1:32:36you know, comprehensively. So, um if

1:32:39you'll look at the the handout I gave

1:32:41you, this is all this information was

1:32:43pulled from other studies that these

1:32:45folks did over the years and it shows um

1:32:50some total response times. And let me

1:32:53pause for just a minute and just

1:32:55highlight. I have highlighted in red

1:32:57right there. You see uh turnout times

1:33:00for for this county compared to for

1:33:03Scythe County.

1:33:05We're right on spot on 2 minutes 18

1:33:07seconds. So, um there's a lot of hard

1:33:11work going on. I know there's a lot of

1:33:12overtime going on, but these folks are

1:33:14working it and they're getting out the

1:33:16door and we're very comparable with with

1:33:19Forcy in that respect. Um, our travel

1:33:22time, if you think about it, obviously

1:33:24far right column, you see the square

1:33:26miles. Um, much larger county than say

1:33:30for sight, but our travel times aren't

1:33:31that far off given the the geographic

1:33:33challenges that we're faced at times.

1:33:36Um,

1:33:38so I think, you know, they're doing a

1:33:40great job holding it in the road and I

1:33:42know there's some certainly some things

1:33:44we can do to improve and make make

1:33:46things better um overall. Um, but this

1:33:50is your county to county comparison for

1:33:52these these five groups here. Um,

1:33:56if you look down at the bottom table,

1:33:59this is, uh, Davidson County yearbyear

1:34:02over the course of the time the

1:34:04information was pulled through CAD for

1:34:06three years. And one of the challenges,

1:34:09um, you know, you'll see 911 call

1:34:10processing time is a little little on

1:34:12the higher side, but it's coming down

1:34:14year by year. Um, and I can't speak

1:34:18about why all that is that way, but our

1:34:20911 center does operate as an EMD or an

1:34:22emergency medical dispatch and they have

1:34:25to follow certain protocols. So, if you

1:34:28called High Point 911, for example, High

1:34:30Point City, they don't handle medical

1:34:32calls. They have to transfer those to

1:34:33Guilford County. So, they have to follow

1:34:36all these steps. And Nicole can probably

1:34:38weigh in if y'all had questions about

1:34:40why those times were were a little bit

1:34:42little bit higher. Um, but I'm gonna

1:34:45flip through this and then if y'all have

1:34:46questions, we can hit those. If you'll

1:34:47turn the page, then all you look at it's

1:34:50upside down or right side up. But the

1:34:53second page here, um,

1:34:56I just wanted I pulled this information

1:34:58today. These are just minimums. Now, I'm

1:35:00not saying this is what people come in

1:35:03at and are earning, but if you look at

1:35:04these minimum hourly rates of pay for

1:35:06Davidson County, juxtaposed for Scythe

1:35:09County,

1:35:11EMT and advanced EMT,

1:35:15we're we're ahead of them by a little

1:35:17bit.

1:35:18>> And paramedic, we're at about 97%. So,

1:35:22we're we're pretty pretty close to the

1:35:24to Force County. I don't have a

1:35:26comprehensive case study for y'all, but

1:35:27that's that's the

1:35:30that's the product of the work that

1:35:32y'all have worked with Alton and his

1:35:35team and the department to make those

1:35:37adjustments because we've made some

1:35:38adjustments over the years. And we'll

1:35:39get um to that in just a second before

1:35:43we get to these potential action items.

1:35:44If you look at the last page, it just

1:35:47shows a little bit of um vacancy rates.

1:35:51Now, if you look, and this goes back,

1:35:53this follows kind of the timeline of the

1:35:54study. If you go back to May of 2023,

1:35:59pretty high vacancy rate.

1:36:02Um, little tough times. And you all may

1:36:05not recall, but around that same time,

1:36:07you see there was a pretty good

1:36:09correction in a couple months time.

1:36:11That's you all approved a pretty good

1:36:12pay study uh plan

1:36:16in May. So between the COLA in July and

1:36:20and that pay study uh there were you

1:36:23know they received around I think it was

1:36:2515.9% increases for your uh EMTs and

1:36:29AMTs and your I think your paramedics

1:36:31were around 12.9% and I think we've done

1:36:33some adjustments since then. Now granted

1:36:35you saw it dip and now we're back around

1:36:37the 15% mark. What is 15% right now has

1:36:41probably 14 openings that's riding on

1:36:44the truck. That's what we're talking

1:36:45about. people that can ride on the

1:36:46truck. So, um, but they're hold they're

1:36:49holding their own. Uh, I know they're

1:36:51working hard. I see that we look at the

1:36:55budget, right? You have lap salaries.

1:36:58So, when your budget is going strong on

1:37:00the overtime side, but your lap

1:37:02salaries, there's a lot of slack. That

1:37:03means that there's a lot of openings.

1:37:05It's being filled by that overtime. And

1:37:07they, you know, that was pretty clear.

1:37:09So, if y'all will go back to page two,

1:37:11sorry, I should have had them in a

1:37:12different order. these action items kind

1:37:15of stuff we've already hit on and of

1:37:17course there's other things. Um

1:37:20so I I won't belver the point. Um but

1:37:23something to help with those peak times,

1:37:25you know, those pressure points during

1:37:27those peak times, which if you when you

1:37:29review the study, that's typically 9:00

1:37:31a.m. to 9:00 p.m. That's your peak

1:37:33times. Um whether it be contracting or

1:37:36us just adding our own. Um not really

1:37:39sure what the projected cost is. We'll

1:37:40have to dig into that a little bit more.

1:37:42Uh but that would relieve some workload

1:37:44pressures. Uh we've already talked about

1:37:46base three, a new base. It's around

1:37:50650,000 give or take. Talked about

1:37:52communication improvements and that's an

1:37:54ongoing thing. I highlighted that

1:37:56because they're already working through

1:37:58some of that now. They being Alton and

1:38:00his team. Um

1:38:04continue working with the hospitals for

1:38:06the for the Kath lab which we talked

1:38:08about. Um, other base improvements.

1:38:10Dwayne and his team have actually done a

1:38:13lot of improvements already. I'm not

1:38:14saying that there aren't still more to

1:38:16be done, but they he had a a big old

1:38:18checklist that I looked at that he sent

1:38:20me a couple of weeks ago that uh was

1:38:22pretty comprehensive. There's always

1:38:24room for more improvement, but a lot of

1:38:25that's been u taken care of and I'm sure

1:38:28there's more that can be done, but

1:38:30um I'll let out weigh in on this one. A

1:38:34little bit of night shift differential.

1:38:35[clears throat]

1:38:36Um,

1:38:37>> so we have difficulty filling night

1:38:38shifts. So I we're just like everybody

1:38:42else. We struggle finding people for

1:38:43night shifts.

1:38:45>> So I know that Nicole and their bunch

1:38:46has a $3 an hour night shift

1:38:49differential. So maybe we should talk

1:38:51about potentially in, you know, putting

1:38:54that in effect for us as well.

1:38:58[snorts]

1:38:59>> And that one you do have a cost estimate

1:39:01there. And that's based off of the

1:39:02number of employees. And that even

1:39:04includes some of the fringes there

1:39:06>> that would include even part- timerrs

1:39:07that would pick up a night shift as well

1:39:09just to try to get people to sign up.

1:39:12>> And then the last one we have, this is

1:39:13just, you know, our top, you know, real

1:39:15quick list is, you know, potentially

1:39:17adding call takers to emergency

1:39:18communications, which would help with

1:39:20their uh call times because they

1:39:25um

1:39:26when they get those non-emergency calls,

1:39:28you know, that's clogging up a dispatch,

1:39:30a potential telecommunicator, and that

1:39:32could help. But it would, you know,

1:39:33probably to be impactful, you would

1:39:35probably have to hire a total of eight.

1:39:37So they'd have two per shift and, you

1:39:40know, but I think that could help their

1:39:42uh call processing times.

1:39:43[clears throat] John work

1:39:44>> talk about that a little bit. Nicole

1:39:47Nicole can probably explain it a whole

1:39:49lot better.

1:39:49>> Um yeah, so when you guys um hired me, I

1:39:52had mentioned that my viewpoint on

1:39:55what's next in the future of 911 is call

1:39:57takers. Uh Rob and I had discussed it a

1:40:00little bit before he retired. Um have

1:40:02kind of been in the county manager's

1:40:03year for a couple years now. Um that we

1:40:06have seen the trend of how much is on a

1:40:08telecommunicator that must take a 911

1:40:10call and also dispatch responders to the

1:40:13scene. um any telecommunicator in there

1:40:16at any given time could be taking a

1:40:17cardiac arrest or a child birth or any

1:40:20number of emergency medical calls, fire

1:40:23calls, police calls, and also have to

1:40:25break that attention span to dispatch

1:40:27that call. Um and the person call taken

1:40:30that's taking a medical call could be

1:40:31dispatching sheriff's department who has

1:40:33no idea what EMS is currently dealing

1:40:35with. Um so you're essentially looking

1:40:38at call takers to split that job duty

1:40:40into two different categories.

1:40:43um counties around us are looking at it.

1:40:45It is something that is on 911 radar. Um

1:40:48the more that you add to

1:40:49telecommunicators, something is going to

1:40:51give. So, either you're going to tell

1:40:53that ambulance to stand by before giving

1:40:55their radio update to handle a caller or

1:40:57you're going to tell a deputy that's

1:40:58calling for help to hold on uh that they

1:41:01have to deal with a child birth of a of

1:41:02an infant. It's it's any manner of

1:41:05things that could be happening at one

1:41:06time. So, that has been on the radar for

1:41:08a couple years with 911. Um and that one

1:41:11of course spoke with me after this study

1:41:12that this is definitely something to

1:41:14look at for future development for us.

1:41:17>> Now would you need this during peak

1:41:18time?

1:41:19>> Yes. So

1:41:20>> just not just not all the time because I

1:41:22take it from

1:41:23>> we have a call analysis that with our

1:41:25call taken software that allows us to

1:41:27see where heat maps are and allows us to

1:41:30see where peak call volume is. Right now

1:41:31we're looking about 9:00 am to 900 pm is

1:41:34the highest call volume that's coming

1:41:35in. Um I believe out in the study kind

1:41:38of showed that same time frame. Um so we

1:41:40would look at putting them on the

1:41:42highest peak call volume times.

1:41:44>> Would that take eight to do that Tim?

1:41:46>> Probably not. The only thing I and I

1:41:48don't know this is Nicole's world really

1:41:50is

1:41:51>> probably not. No. But um the one thing

1:41:55thinking out loud and I don't I don't

1:41:57know how that would affect your your

1:41:59protocols and processes you know as far

1:42:01as training is concerned because you'd

1:42:03have a set you know a different kind of

1:42:06set of rules at different time.

1:42:06>> I don't know if that would change a

1:42:07thing but if they did the peak time that

1:42:09would probably cut it in half.

1:42:11>> I was thinking

1:42:12>> that's what I'm thinking.

1:42:13>> And you would want to obviously you have

1:42:15to give them off time. So if you have

1:42:17eight you wouldn't work those eight 9

1:42:19to9

1:42:20>> true

1:42:20>> seven days. So, you're looking at doing

1:42:22four on one schedule, four on the

1:42:24opposite rotation where they rotate out.

1:42:26Um, so really be looking at putting four

1:42:28on the the peak call volume times, which

1:42:30is where my eight come from just to give

1:42:33some

1:42:34>> some days off.

1:42:35>> I [laughter] got you. You're not saving

1:42:36us money this week.

1:42:39>> I got you. But it would alter how call

1:42:41taken is done because right now your

1:42:43telecommunicator is either telling that

1:42:45caller to hold on or they're telling

1:42:46that deputy EMS unit, fire department to

1:42:49hold on because obviously you guys

1:42:52imagine I mean I can do this as a mom

1:42:53because I have a child at home that

1:42:55demands that I listen to everything she

1:42:56says at the same at same time as my

1:42:58husband talking. So it's the same thing

1:43:00for a telecommunicator. They have two

1:43:02different people that are demanding

1:43:03their 100% attention and a

1:43:05[clears throat] human is just not able

1:43:07to listen to both of those at the same

1:43:08time. when you have a caller that is

1:43:10coming in this ear, your responders are

1:43:13coming through a speaker from your

1:43:14computer. So just imagine, I mean,

1:43:16listen to the radio and the TV at the

1:43:18same time. It's the same thing. Try to

1:43:19pick up 100% of what each one of those

1:43:22things are doing at any given time. So

1:43:23it splits those duties

1:43:24>> and that and that's something that's not

1:43:26going to just help EMS, but it's going

1:43:27to help law enforcement,

1:43:29>> fire department, it's going to help the

1:43:30whole system. Correct. Got

1:43:32>> I got a question for you. How long would

1:43:34it take you um from the calls that come

1:43:38in, how many's dispatched

1:43:41to each division? So, in other words,

1:43:44either fire, Thomasville, Davidson

1:43:47County, or Lexon. Is that very hard for

1:43:50you to get that information?

1:43:51>> I can get it for you.

1:43:52>> So, you understand what I want? Probably

1:43:54in a year's or in a year's time. Is it

1:43:56hard to do? Cuz I'm thinking your

1:43:57computer

1:43:58>> processing time.

1:43:59>> No, just how many calls come in? Oh, how

1:44:01many calls

1:44:02>> total? Then out of those calls that come

1:44:04in, how many are actually dispatched?

1:44:06>> And and and when I say dispatched, then

1:44:09I want to know dispatched to whom?

1:44:12>> Yeah.

1:44:12>> To Thomasville Police Department, to

1:44:14Lexon Police Department, to And you can

1:44:16put the fire departments as a whole.

1:44:18>> Y that's right.

1:44:18>> Your law enforcement calls are your

1:44:20highest. That's the majority of what we

1:44:22take, which we do. Denton, Thomasville,

1:44:24Lexington, and the sheriff's department.

1:44:25[clears throat] So there's just a lot

1:44:26more entities than that. So your your

1:44:28law agencies are your highest. But one

1:44:30thing I want to look at in my own mind

1:44:32is how many calls we got and then out of

1:44:34those calls, how many were actually

1:44:36dispatched somewhere. You know,

1:44:38>> actually we've sent somebody for boots

1:44:40on the ground. You know,

1:44:41>> I'd like to add a caveat to what he's

1:44:43asking for, too, cuz I'd like to see uh

1:44:46one thing that this communication has

1:44:48brought out is obviously there are calls

1:44:50where we're we have a a station unit

1:44:54waiting on law enforcement to check

1:44:56before they can even get to the scene.

1:44:58So, they have to they have to get

1:45:01somewhere and y'all are talking to them

1:45:03and they can't check the scene or go see

1:45:05because law enforcement has to go check

1:45:06and make sure everything's safe first

1:45:08and then they go I'd like I'd like to

1:45:10see how many of those and what those

1:45:12time frames are because

1:45:14>> the stage for

1:45:15>> Yeah. You know, like if if you c

1:45:18instance I called the sheriff's

1:45:21department probably

1:45:24five months ago. I thought that there

1:45:26was a girl uh

1:45:29I I thought she was dead. Looked like in

1:45:31the car. I don't know if she had

1:45:33overdosed on fentanyl or whatever, but I

1:45:35called because she was on my property

1:45:37and there was a car sitting there and

1:45:39the two people looked like they were

1:45:41strung out. I heard the ambulance come.

1:45:44I rode my my golf cart up to the D and

1:45:46they were staged at the uh at the gas

1:45:49station because they can't come until

1:45:51somebody makes sure that if is there a

1:45:54dead body? Is there something going on?

1:45:55So, the sheriff's department had to

1:45:57come, but the sheriff department never

1:45:59made it there and I guess they came off

1:46:02of the high they were on and then they

1:46:04realized they were on my property and my

1:46:06wife was down there with like a

1:46:08flashlight and they moved the car and

1:46:10then we ended up having to call back and

1:46:12be like, "Hey, they're gone. They they

1:46:15just got out on the main highway and

1:46:16they're heading back towards Lexington.

1:46:18They've left and they're under the

1:46:20influence." So, we called back 911 and

1:46:23then the the EMS truck

1:46:26had to check out and then leave, but

1:46:28they couldn't come down there because

1:46:30the sheriff department had to check the

1:46:32scene first, but that you know it. So,

1:46:34those time frames too also limit and and

1:46:37add to a call time

1:46:40>> and I didn't even think about that till

1:46:42you were mentioning

1:46:43>> and that ambulance can't go anywhere

1:46:44else because it's

1:46:45>> they can't because they're stuck there

1:46:47waiting to respond to that. But uh I

1:46:51mean if if if the sheriff department

1:46:53doesn't have enough deputies and people

1:46:55going then it affects the like the whole

1:46:58system affects one another.

1:47:00>> So

1:47:00>> what um

1:47:03I take it how well never mind three

1:47:06three months I don't need a year. Okay

1:47:08that's a lot that's a lot of work. So

1:47:10>> okay if

1:47:10>> you can just give me the last three

1:47:12months would be great and

1:47:13>> yes sir

1:47:14>> that'll tell me a lot right there. I

1:47:16don't know how you get that information

1:47:17to Chris's. I don't know. I don't know.

1:47:20I'm sorry. Just forget about it. Just

1:47:22forget about it.

1:47:22>> That'd be pretty tough there.

1:47:23>> I'm just saying that

1:47:25>> I'm just saying that, you know, even

1:47:27even vacancies in the sheriff's

1:47:30department, high call volumes there, it

1:47:32it affects the whole system as a whole

1:47:34that you're talking about. So, even

1:47:36though we say in a perfect world an EMS

1:47:38truck could be here and this time could

1:47:39be there, there are multiple factors

1:47:42that play with each call. And it's kind

1:47:43of crazy when you think about it.

1:47:46Yes, sir. So, you don't have to worry

1:47:48about that in a call. I'm sorry.

1:47:49>> And what that'll do to as well is tell

1:47:52me if there's 20% of the calls that come

1:47:53in that we do nothing with, you know,

1:47:56kind of like the BLS calls and that kind

1:47:58of thing. So,

1:47:59>> thank you.

1:48:00>> I appreciate what y'all do. Thank you.

1:48:05>> Okay, we have one more item I believe

1:48:09before close session. Miss Harris with

1:48:11this is some appointments are rebly

1:48:16>> I can.

1:48:17>> Okay.

1:48:18>> Good afternoon, Madam Chair, fellow

1:48:20commissioners. We have a um a board of

1:48:23adjustment member retiring at the end of

1:48:25his normal term, Mr. Jim Bogs, and we

1:48:28need a an appointment for a position on

1:48:31that board. Looks like there are five

1:48:35candidates that have been put forward.

1:48:36We have two existing alternates right

1:48:39now. Thomas Rebecca Brown who was

1:48:42appointed in uh August of 2024 and we

1:48:45have Mr. Clark Brown who was appointed

1:48:47in September of 2024. I think we have

1:48:50Mr. Doug Hunt, [clears throat and cough]

1:48:52excuse me, who was on the Thomasville

1:48:54City Council and I think he was planning

1:48:56board a little bit before that. Mr.

1:48:58Bobby Trigloff and I'm not real familiar

1:49:00with Mr. Trigloff. I'm hope I'm saying

1:49:02his his name right. And then Mr.

1:49:05Christian Jones has put an application

1:49:07in. Christian is an alternate on our

1:49:10planning board currently and is a

1:49:11surveyor here in Davidson County. So, um

1:49:15we are

1:49:17up to um what I'll say this with respect

1:49:21to Mr. Brown and Mrs. Brown that current

1:49:25our current uh alternates. Our it's our

1:49:29uh it is our um process to allow them to

1:49:34alternate when we're missing a regular

1:49:36board member and both of them have

1:49:37served as voting members and they're

1:49:39both very very capable and uh would

1:49:42would serve the board well.

1:49:44I would love uh

1:49:48both of those. I mean they serve our

1:49:50community with uh keeping the county

1:49:52clean. They've done everything. They are

1:49:54proven uh leaders. Plus, they've served

1:49:57right here. Um

1:49:58>> you're thinking about Rain now, right?

1:50:00>> Yeah. Yeah.

1:50:02>> That's Clark is is Rain's husband. Uh

1:50:05Rebecca is no relation.

1:50:07>> I like Clark.

1:50:08>> Yeah.

1:50:08>> Yeah.

1:50:09>> I'm open to whatever y'all's wishes are.

1:50:13>> I'm sorry if I spoke out of term, Madam

1:50:16Chair.

1:50:16>> That's okay. That's okay. Would you like

1:50:18to offer up Mr. Brown?

1:50:20>> I would. I'd like to offer up Mr. Brown.

1:50:22I think he'd be he's served on this.

1:50:24He's voted. He's been there. I I think

1:50:26he would be a phenomenal

1:50:30>> he didn't hesitate to take the position

1:50:32to begin with. You know, I think he was

1:50:34very in interested in it and the kind of

1:50:38person that he is is a, you know, he's

1:50:40very meticulous about the kind of work

1:50:43that he did in his own life. So, I I

1:50:46know he does a good job.

1:50:47>> Either of them either of them would

1:50:49would serve the ward very well.

1:50:51people understand or are or are aware of

1:50:55just how much work the Brown family puts

1:50:59in this county. I mean, they're out

1:51:00there every Thursday picking up trash.

1:51:02>> Picking up. Yeah.

1:51:05>> Solid waste if I'm not mistaken about

1:51:07this.

1:51:07>> He is he is on solid waste committee.

1:51:09>> So, I'd second Chris's motion.

1:51:12>> Have a motion and a second.

1:51:13>> I appreciate that.

1:51:14>> Any other questions? All in favor say I.

1:51:17I.

1:51:18>> Okay.

1:51:18>> Thank y'all. Thank y'all. Thank you.

1:51:20>> Be back before you for an alternate.

1:51:22>> So So do you need an alternate

1:51:24>> that we got an alternate? We could

1:51:26appoint both of them this evening.

1:51:27>> Okay. Very good. Very good. Okay.

1:51:29>> And now a consideration for someone to

1:51:31fill Mr. Brown seat.

1:51:32>> Mr. Brown seat.

1:51:35>> Um who were they options again?

1:51:39>> Doug Hunt, Bobby uh

1:51:41>> Bobby Triglo.

1:51:42>> Now Doug's got some experience.

1:51:44>> Or Christian Jones. Either one.

1:51:46>> Christian. I like Christian. Christian's

1:51:48a surveyor on our board of our planning

1:51:50board right now

1:51:51>> and I I'm um he his insight with respect

1:51:55to the planning board is very valuable

1:51:57to us. I would imagine he's put this

1:51:59application in because he's very busy

1:52:02and he's conflicted on a lot of the

1:52:03subdivisions that he has to vote on.

1:52:05>> Yeah.

1:52:05>> So, u he he's a excellent member, a good

1:52:09thinker. Um but it's

1:52:11>> and that's another one of those things

1:52:12where he's proven himself. He's been

1:52:14involved and I I like Christian. That's

1:52:17a good recommendation by you. So,

1:52:19>> so you going to make a motion motion if

1:52:22if uh the board would approve Christian

1:52:24Jones for the alternate.

1:52:26>> I'll second it.

1:52:28>> All in favor?

1:52:29>> I and and we'll be back shortly for an

1:52:32alternate for the planning board. Now,

1:52:34[laughter]

1:52:36>> thank you.

1:52:36>> But thank you guys.

1:52:37>> Thank you. Okay. [clears throat]

1:52:39>> Motion to go into close session. Motion

1:52:41to second. All in favor? Bye.

1:52:43>> Bye.

1:53:14Heat. Heat.

1:54:53>> [music]

1:55:22>> Heat. Heat.

1:57:22Heat.

1:57:36Heat.

2:04:12Heat. Heat.

2:08:40Heat.

2:08:55Heat.

2:09:13Heat.

2:09:17[music]

2:09:26Heat.

2:09:50Heat. Heat.

2:10:44Heat. Heat.

2:10:50Heat. Heat.

2:11:47>> [music]

2:12:33>> Heat. Heat.

2:13:15Ping pong.

2:13:30Heat. Heat.

2:14:34Heat. Heat.

2:17:47Heat. Heat.

2:19:02Heat. Heat.

2:19:09Heat. Heat.

2:21:33Debbie wants a second.

2:21:34>> Debbie wants

2:21:36Who made the motion?

2:21:39>> Chris made the motion. And who made the

2:21:41second?

2:21:42>> Uh, Trip. trip. Okay.

2:21:45>> All in favor say I.

2:21:46>> I.

2:21:48>> Uh Mr. Jones, would you please provide

2:21:50us with a report?

2:21:51>> Yes. The board had a close session,

2:21:53legal close session, discuss one matter.

2:21:56Um it is the um it is a matter in front

2:21:59of the North Carolina Office of

2:22:01Administrative Hearings. It's um case

2:22:04number 26 OSP

2:22:0601858

2:22:09uh Barry Allen Richards versus Davidson

2:22:11County Department of Social Services.

2:22:14Um the uh board provided um uh staff and

2:22:20the attorneys um with uh instructions on

2:22:23how they would like to proceed.

2:22:25>> Thank you very much. Motion to adjurnn.

2:22:27Motion

2:22:28>> second. All in favor say I.