Cole County staff shares budget wish lists

Flags flutter in strong winds Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017, at the Cole County Courthouse in Jefferson City.
Flags flutter in strong winds Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017, at the Cole County Courthouse in Jefferson City.

Cole County commissioners will be creating the budget for 2018 over the next few months. During Tuesday's commission meeting, they heard from department heads about what they'd like to see for next year.

Ambulance Director Jerry Johnston has proposed using ambulances 200,000 miles instead of 150,000 before the county replaces them. He also proposed reducing the ambulance fleet from 12 to 11 and eventually to nine. For next year, he'd like to add a transfer van, which would cost $90,500.

Johnston also has more money aimed at the training of staff.

"Nationally there is a shortage of paramedics, and we're no different," he said. "The lack of paramedics is our primary issue with overtime. We've been reaching out as far as a 100-mile radius to try and get new paramedics to come here."

Johnston said it takes eight to nine months for an EMT to train to become a paramedic.

County Health Director Kristi Campbell said most of her department's new budget requests are building-related.

This year's budget allotted $1.5 million for a new county health department to replace the current facility on Industrial Drive. The commission agreed to purchase the Community Health Center property at 3400 W. Truman Blvd. as the new home for the county health department. The county is funding the property purchase out of its reserves. The Community Health Center is purchasing the Frontier Building at 1511 Christy Drive from Kolb Properties.

Campbell met Monday with Jeff Davis from the Community Health Center, who said they are still waiting for final approval from the federal government before beginning work on the center's new building. Campbell thinks Community Health Center is still eight to 10 months from moving into the new facility on West Truman.

"We hope to turn the dental area into a training room and add three sinks and a stove for cooking/food safety classes," Campbell said. "We also hope to add a nurse practitioner so we can expand our clinic services."

Potential county facility upgrade projects listed by county Facilities Manager Greg Camp include approximately $100,000 for roof, lights and other improvements at the new health department, possibly to be completed before moving into the building. The money for facility work comes from the half-cent capital improvements sales tax.

Public Works Director Larry Benz said they would like to discuss adjusting the rates for the Eugene water system, which the county took over after the town disincorporated. He said the proposed budget calls for painting the water tower, but the county continues to lose money operating the system, which has also lost some customers.

"I'm hoping to talk with Missouri Rural Water about trying to find a buyer for the system," Benz said.

As far as projects to be done with half-cent capital improvement sales tax funds, Benz said they plan to work on two joint projects with Jefferson City - completing a railroad spur at Algoa to serve businesses in the area, as well as improvements on High Street.

Design work was done last year on the spur track, which runs from Command Web across Militia Drive and continues along the south side of Morris Packaging and Alpla.

However, Union Pacific Railroad officials said more space was needed for siding and mainline tracks to make the project work.

Without an increase in length, there could be interruptions in passenger and freight rail traffic.

This meant the project would cost more than the original estimate of $400,000-$500,000

Construction should begin next year, possibly in the summer. The city and county each will pay $220,599, and Morris Packaging will pay $79,800.

As for the High Street project, Benz said the county would pay $850,000 of the $1.7 million total. This would rebuild the street and include new curbs, pavement, stormwater and sidewalk improvements.

Other sales tax projects to potentially start in 2018 include design work for improvements on Business 50 West, costing $140,000, and upgrading Waterford Road at a cost of $500,000.

Sheriff John Wheeler has asked the commission to approve approximately $20,000 for purchase and installation of exercise equipment in the lower level of the department. Wheeler said the equipment would allow his staff to work out when they have down time in a safe and secure environment. Wheeler also has proposed moving the county's IT department to the sheriff's department. Moving it from its current location in the county courthouse basement would allow the county to get rid of old outdated equipment staff couldn't access.

The sheriff's department and ambulance service could split the cost for the county's share to pay for a reverse 911 system. Reverse 911 uses a database of telephone numbers and associated addresses, which, when tied into geographic information systems, can be used to deliver recorded emergency notifications to a selected set of telephone service subscribers.

The total cost would be $36,000. The Jefferson City Council approved funds in the city's budget to pay its $18,000 share.

County elected officeholders must have their budgets in to County Auditor Kristen Berhorst by Sept. 1. She will present her proposed budget in November, and the commission has until January to approve the final budget.