Patricia Hotz, director of Darton’s EMS program, and Charles Proctor, EMS project chair at Albany Tech, told commissioners the introduction of the vehicles into their curricula was vital to both programs.
“When we put them in an ambulance, our students’ attention span goes up 100 percent,” Procter said. “That’s when it becomes real for them.”
Hotz said many of the supervisors who are now part of the Dougherty EMS staff were graduates of Darton’s program.
“We’ve got a rickety old vehicle that needs repairs, and the state is requiring that we cut money out of our budget,” Hotz said. “We have more than 60 students in our program, and it is really critical for them to have the opportunity to drive an ambulance to prepare them for their careers.”
Dougherty EMS Director Bobby Tripp said his department had 2000 and 2002 model ambulances with 162,000 and 140,000 miles, respectively, that had recently been retired from the county’s fleet. And he said that, although the vehicles had been appraised at up to $10,000 and $13,000, respectively, donating them to the colleges would better serve the community.
“These are the folks who are responsible for training our employees,” Tripp said. “A lot of the success we’ve had in our program is due to these people (at Darton and Albany Tech).”
County Administrator Richard Crowdis recommended that the commission approve the request at its business meeting next Monday.
“Transferring ownership of these surplus ambulances to these two programs would, I believe, provide a greater value to the community than the money we would get for selling them as surplus,” Crowdis said.
In other action at the work session, commissioners held a rezoning public hearing regarding property at 2014 Denson Road; heard a report from Dougherty Environmental Health Director Jim Pericaud concerning an adjusted fee schedule for new body art, mobile food service and on-site sewage management system businesses; and discussed the proposed conveyance of 7.323 acres of land from the state of Georgia near the old farmers market on Gaines Road.
Commission Chair Jeff Sinyard asked Pericaud if Environmental Health’s proposed fee increases would affect established businesses, and the director replied that fees would remain the same for established businesses.
“Very good,” Sinyard said. “Our folks can’t afford new costs.”
Crowdis said the state had begun to return land at failed farmers markets to the governmental agencies that had originally deeded them, and that Dougherty County would get the 7-plus acres of land adjacent to the 2.103 acres that still house state Department of Agriculture offices.
All measures are expected to be approved at the county’s business session on Monday.
