Cole County ambulances get new radios

A Cole County ambulance responds to a call in Jefferson City. (News Tribune file photo)
A Cole County ambulance responds to a call in Jefferson City. (News Tribune file photo)

The Cole County Commission approved purchasing radios for two vehicles that will be going into service in the county ambulance fleet.

The radios will cost a total of $9,460 and will be placed in a transfer van and a new ambulance, the purchases of which were approved last week by the commission. The total cost for both vehicles from Emergency Services Supply in Linn was $233,000.

Ambulance Director Jerry Johnston also requested two new cots for these vehicles during Tuesday's commission meeting. He said the cot in the two ambulances the service is replacing would not work in the new vehicles due to design requirements.

Over the past three years, the county has spent approximately $400,000 for ambulance cots that meet new standards. The cots requested would cost under $30,000 each - cheaper than cots purchased earlier, which ran as high $36,000.

Commissioners held off on approval for the cots purchase, saying they were wary of spending more money on the service after recent increases to the ambulance budget - adding five employees and installing a new computer dispatch service, all totaling $376,263.

Also during Tuesday's meeting, commissioners approved having WAVCO Construction make improvements to the courthouse annex, including new carpeting, paint and ceiling work. The cost was $111,931, below the $125,000 that had been budgeted. The money comes from the portion of the county half-cent capital improvements sales tax to be used for improving county facilities.

The work should start in the next few weeks, and the contract calls for it to be completed in 130 days - by Oct. 23.

The offices affected include the county recorder and county collector. Those offices will move staff and equipment while work progresses in their offices, but there should be no major disruption of service to the public, commissioners said.