Preston Ambulance to provide education incentive

By Karen Reisner
karen@fillmorecountyjournal.com

Fri, Jan 11th, 2013
Posted in Preston Government

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By Karen Reisner

The Preston City Council at their first meeting in 2013 approved financial incentives for EMTs and First Responders for the completion of up to twenty hours of additional education through a Transitional Course. Twenty-four hours of refresher classes are required every two years by the state to maintain an active license.

Ambulance director Ryan Throckmorton recommended the incentive of $250 for EMTs and $150 for First Responders upon the successful completion of the Transition Course in 2013 and 2014. Part of the crew would be completing this education this year and the rest next year. He asked that a $100 incentive per year for refresher education be made available for future years.

The council approved the incentives as recommended. Throckmorton noted that to his knowledge incentives have not been offered in the past.

Other Business In Brief

•A lease for 2013 with George and Kay Spangler was approved for the National Trout Center building on St. Anthony Street. The NTC pays the rent but the city still extends its property and liability insurance to this site. The lease is now for two floors of the building at $800 per month. The lease terms were negotiated by the NTC board.

•Appointments to city boards and commissions for 2013 were approved. Councilman David Collett will serve as Mayor Pro-tem. Newly appointed councilman Robert Maust will serve on the Tourism Board and the EDA. Otherwise, councilmen will continue serving on the same boards and commissions that they did in 2012.

•Authorized signatories on city checks will include City Administrator Joe Hoffman, Deputy Clerk Sheila Marzolf, Mayor Kurt Reicks, and Mayor Pro-tem David Collett. Two signatures are required on all city checks.

•The city’s fee schedule that had been adopted in 2011 was reviewed. No changes were made.

•The step scale for city employees in 2013 was approved. The scale includes a 1.75 percent cost of living increase in wages as agreed to in the 2012 labor negotiations. This benefit was extended to non-union employees. The city and utility have 15 full-time employees, of which six belong to the PPEA. Five of those union employees are employed by the utility and one by the city.

•The next city council meeting will be on Tuesday, January 22 due to the Martin Luther King holiday.

•It was noted in the city council notes that Foremost Farms dry blending operation (now in the building at the intersection of Main Street and Pleasant Street) has been sold to Agropur, a Canadian food product company. No changes in the operation have been announced.

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