EMS issues before Brooke Commission
Trending
WELLSBURG -- Issues involving emergency medical personnel were a recurring subject at Tuesday's Brooke County Commission meeting.
Commission President A.J. Thomas said crews have begun clearing trees on the lot to be occupied by a new 2,475-square-foot ambulance station at the intersection of Pleasant Avenue and state Route 2
The trees will be removed to allow approaching motorists on Route 2 to see ambulances entering the highway in an emergency.
The commissioners said a section of Route 2's right lane will be closed for a couple of days sometime in the next few weeks to provide more room for the crews to work.
Following the meeting, Thomas confirmed crews had removed two large tanks found beneath the ground.
Each about 4 feet wide and 20 feet long, the tanks contained a very small amount of fluid that appeared to be dirty water, he said.
Thomas said a company specializing in environmental remediation has been hired by the Waller Corp., the contractor for the project, to determine if any other tanks exist and if any soil has been contaminated.
He said the work will require a change order for the $2.1 million project, but the cost hasn't been determined.
There's been some speculation the tanks had belonged to a gasoline station that operated near the site in the 1950s.
The commission had demolished a single-story house and a trailer on the lot to make room for a station with five bays, four living quarters, a conference-training room, two offices and a storage area for equipment.
The new headquarters for the Brooke County Ambulance Service will replace stations currently operating along state Route 2 at Follansbee's north end and in the Marshall Terrace area near state Route 67.
In related business, the commissioners agreed to submit to state officials information expected to determine whether the county is eligible for state funds for wages for local emergency medical service personnel.
Through the passage of Senate Bill 737, a state fund is to be established to provide counties money needed to provide raises to the EMS workers in an effort to retain those in that field.
The bill allows the state to disburse funds "to the counties demonstrating the most need, counties who have a special levy, counties who have reached the maximum rate on a regular levy and counties that suffer from competition from border states."
A five-year levy supporting the ambulance service and other county entities currently generates $296,000 per year for it.
Last year, a majority of voters supported a new five-year levy slated to generate $900,000 per year for the ambulance service, beginning in July 2025.
The commission also agreed to promote Zach Ferrari, an emergency medical technician with the ambulance service, from a part-time position to a full-time one.