Quincy Reporter

Adams County Board Public Health & Safety Committee met March 14.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

Committee members present were Barbara Fletcher, Brent Fischer, Mark Sorensen, Steven McQueen and Mark Dietrich. Also present were Sheriff Tony Grootens, Chief Deputy Pat Frazier, Coroner Scott Graham, EMS Director John Simon, and EMS Assistant Director Jessica Frese.

The meeting was called to order at 5:30 PM.

All bills were reviewed and appeared to be in order.

Mark Sorensen asked that a correction to the minutes of the February meeting be made to reflect his choice of a Surface Pro computer. A motion to approve the corrected minutes of the February 14, 2022, meeting was made by Brent Fischer and seconded by Mark Sorensen.

Coroner’s Report: Coroner Scott Graham

Coroner Graham reported that during the month of February there were:

79 reported deaths

4 autopsies

2 abandoned cremations

39 cremation permits issued.

No suicides

Ambulance/Emergency Management: Director John Simon

Assistant Director Jessica Frese introduced the Committee to Macy, the department’s The Department’s Emotional Support Dog. She comforts EMS personnel and other first responders after traumatic events.

Director Simon reported that the Ambulance Service is down by eleven personnel. This is causing the Department to experience a 30% reduction in service due to a lack of staffing. This means that 30% of the time, there are no personnel on hand to answer calls. They are receiving approximately 26 calls per day.

The night EMT course is nearing completion. Director Simon expects to hire two full time and some part-time personnel from this program.

The Blessing EMT program may produce 1 or 2 new personnel for the Department. The High School program will end at the completion of the school year.

Director Simon is working on eliminating the pay disparity between Adams County and other local EMS services in hopes of making Adams County more competitive in hiring and keeping employees.

Sheriff’s Report: Sheriff Grootens

Jail:

For February, the average daily population of the Adams County Jail was 116. One Corrections Officer left employment.

Dijohn Knuffman has been hired as a new Corrections Officer.

Mold-SafeStart Environmental is scheduled to start mold testing shortly. Sheriff’s Office:

The Sheriff’s Office is currently fully staffed.

They will be offering testing on Saturday.

Sheriff Grootens predicts that they will be over their budget this year due to having to catch up on payments unpaid by the former Sheriff’s administration. In addition, Sheriff Grootens has discovered that the Sheriff’s Department vehicles have not been receiving appropriate preventative maintenance. He has assigned a Fleet Manager to take care of the vehicles in the

Department and ensure that periodic maintenance is performed on schedule.

Old Business

None

New Business

County Sheriff Car/Body Cameras – Sheriff Grootens, Pat Frazier

Sheriff Grootens and his Chief Deputies have met with the Finance Committee and received approval for in-vehicle and body cameras. They have chosen a system comprising V300 body worn cameras and M500 in-car cameras. These cameras will work with the storage system already in place in the County. The cost to purchase these cameras will be $211,165.40. An option to lease these cameras for 5 years at $162,539.48 is also available and is in consideration.

Emergency Services Radio Procurement Status Update

Sheriff Grootens and his Chief Deputies have met with the Finance Committee and received approval for their new radios. They have chosen the Kenwood radios through Global Technical Systems, Inc. (GTSI). These radios will not have STARCOM capability and are less expensive than the competing Motorola

radios. The cost of these radios is $499,728.00.

Appointments

None.

Business being concluded, a motion to adjourn was made by Barbara Fletcher and seconded by Steven McQueen. The meeting adjourned at 6:37 PM.

https://www.co.adams.il.us/home/showpublisheddocument/8378/638174095769905824