MINUTES
Board of Directors Meeting
Jasper County Emergency Services
March 3rd, 2020
Chairman Fries called the meeting to order at 12:04 p.m., at the Board office, 13870 Dispatch Lane, Carthage, MO as per public notice. Present in addition to Chairman Fries, Tim Wilson, Ron Brewer, James Harrison and Dan Stanley. Representing staff was Office Support Clerk Amber Madison and Executive Director April Ford.
No Representing Public
Review and Action of Minutes
Open minutes for the Board of Director’s Meeting on January 30th, 2020 were reviewed.
Director Wilson motioned to approve the open meeting minutes for January 30th, 2020. Director Stanley seconded the motion. Vote: 5-0. The motion was adopted.
Public Comment and Correspondence
No Public Comment
Financial Report and Payment of Bills
The sales tax for January was received on February 7th 2020 in the amount of $174,692.33. plus, we received an additional sales tax payment of $1,152.65 on February 21st 2020, for a total deposit of $175,844.98. We have not received the sales tax check for February or March.
Total bills submitted for approval today $118,368.35 ($2,250.00 was approved during 01/30/2020 board meeting, but not reflected until todays financial report).The Checkbook balance after payment of bills will be $11,190.42. Accounts receivable balance: $589.20. (Record Request fee, & Joplin Fiber bill).
The Money Market account balance is $1,036.626.89.
Executive Director Ford explained that we are holding some invoices. We are holding three invoices for AT&T because they are not correct. April explained that AT&T is charging us sales tax and they are not charging us the contracted rate. AT&T is also charging us for services during a period where we were not “live” with the AT&T phone line.
Director Wilson motioned to approve the financial report and the payment of the Bills. Director Harrison seconded the motion. Vote: 5-0. The motion was adopted.
Executive Director Report
See Attached Report
Executive Director Ford advised the board that the Fun Committee is collecting donations for National Telecommunicators Week. April stated that she has two attorneys that are having a conflict about the rules for FMLA. April stated that she would like to review the sick time policy, specifically for performance reviews purposes. April would like to change the wording from sick time to maybe wellness. The Board and April discussed the pros and the cons of changing the policy and it was decided that April would modify the critical incident policy to show that the employee can be let off of console and be paid by Jasco in the event of a critical incident. April will bring the modified policy to the April meeting. Director Wilson stated to make sure that we don’t put a certain number of hours available to be used on the policy. Director Ford advised the Board that we had a Team in Action award from APCO. April shared with the Board that we had another caller use Noonlight to report a break in. April also shared that we had a third party text our 9-1-1 center for a stabbing that occurred in Springfield. April advised the board that we have a child hero award that will be presented at the Missouri Public Communications Conference. The child called 9-1-1 for her father that was having a medical emergency in another county. Kima Burnett took the call and was recognized at KU Medical Center. April advised the Board that she was elected for the Executive Director of the Year, and will be recognized at the Missouri Public Communications Conference. April reminded the Board members to make sure that they are sworn in by April 7th 2020. April advised the Board that Amber Madison made Dispatch Dollars. April explained that employees can earn the Dollars throughout the year and use the dollars for the gifts at the appreciation dinner. April stated that she would like to do something for the child hero. April would like to pay for their gas and lunch while at MPSCC. April will check and see what we did last time for the child hero and she will check with Gene Mense to see if we can purchase gift cards for them. April put the architect plans for the expansion project up on the monitor for the Board to view. The Board and April discussed that we would have to go out for a raise in the sales tax. April stated that she is trying to see if we would qualify for a grant that would do 75/25. April stated that we will still need a plan on the possible need to increase the sales tax. Director Wilson advised the Board that if we are going to join with Joplin’s Dispatch then we shouldn’t complete the expansion. The Board agreed that we need to move forward with the architects and find out what the cost for the expansion project would be.
Unfinished Business
2019 Audit Report
Executive Director Ford advised the board that our 2019 Financial Audit is complete. April advised the Board that Gene Mense stated that Southwest Missouri Bank needs to have a new Security Agreement written for Jasco. April stated that she has contacted the bank and the quarterly reports that SMB sends are the agreements that they send to their customers. April will be asking Gene Mense if he can provide an example of the report that he is needing from the bank.
Director Harrison motioned to approve the 2019 Audit Report. Director Wilson seconded the motion. Vote: 5-0. The motion was adopted.
IAED Re-Accreditation
Executive Director Ford stated that we have completed our Re-Accreditation process for Emergency Medical Dispatching, and we will be recognized at the Navigator Conference.
Avtec Update
Executive Director Ford advised the board that she has been speaking with Kurt Bleich in reference to completing the Avtec project. Kurt has stated that it will take about 8 hours to update all consoles. At the April meeting we will discuss payment for the last portion of the radio project, if all necessary items are completed.
NexEdge Monitoring Plans
Executive Director Ford advised the board that JASCO monitored the connection from our building to the Jail tower for the latency issues, (logged by NexEdge software as Jitter Buffer) reported on the NexEdge. NeoTech completed the monitoring from these two sites and found no reason to believe this is caused from JASCO or the JASCO microwave. April stated that she wasn’t told but Matt Stoller set up a meeting for “IT” minds and Mike Runnebaum attended and it is believed to be network issues. Either a CMARC or a CWEP issue. April has not heard from Lt. Stoller or anyone else on how we should proceed. April is waiting to hear what the next steps are and if we will be monitoring the system any more. Chairman Fries stated that he has asked for Morris Straum to program radios again and he has still not followed through. April stated that she has the same issue with Morris. Chairman Fries advised the Board that he has spoken to Chief Dagnan about needing Straums help. Director Harrison stated that Straum is only coming to town for a “pocket full” of things. That way he can do several jobs with one trip. Director Harrison stated to engage Chief Dagnan. April stated that Duenweg Fire Department is also waiting on radios to be tested. April and Jeff both agreed that they would pay for the work that Straum completes. Director Harrison is concerned because now he has a contract with the City and now he is not answering or calling anyone back to complete these projects. April stated that she will send another email to Morris Straum and to Chief Dagnan.
Election 2020
Executive Director Ford reminded the Board that they need to get sworn in by April 7th.
Fire East Tower Agreement
Executive Director Ford stated that Frank Foster sent over the agreement and she will be reviewing and discuss modifications with Frank.
At 1:18 pm Director Wilson stepped out of the meeting.
DPS 9-1-1 Grant Funding Application
- CPE Phone Equipment and Connectivity to Springfield/Greene Co PSAP
Executive Director Ford stated that the cost for Jasco would be over $500,000.00. April has a meeting with Joplin on Friday. April stated that Joplin can’t make any decisions until next budget year. April stated that the deadline for the grant is March 30th. April stated that she is hoping that AT&T will say that we can enter into a 5-year contract and have no cost to build out the fiber.
April stated that if this happens, then Joplin would not need to go after the grant.
At 1:20 pm Director Wilson back in the meeting.
April stated that Comtech’s “end of life” is 2020/2021, and we are down 1 console. We have 9 out of 10 consoles working right now in the communications room. April stated that Springfield Greene County, Mercy, and Jasco will work on writing a proposal for the grant. If we receive the grant, then we would pay 100% up front and the grant would reimburse of 40% of the project. April stated that we would need to make a decision on how and when would we bring Joplin in. Joplin said that they are committed and will do what Jasco says. April stated that she will also try and save money on the upgrade. The Board agreed for April to continue working on the grant proposal.
New Business
Budget Amendment – GL 60519 Paychex Increase
Executive Director Ford stated that Paychex has increased our rates for payroll. April advised the Board that Paychex is not responding to emails, and not returning phone calls. The increase is $4,224.08 more than what we were told during the initial switch to Paychex. April stated that at the increased rate ADP is cheaper than Paychex now. April and the Board agreed to wait until we receive our refund from Paychex before we decide to switch back to ADP.
Vacation Carry Over for Employee Surgery
Executive Director Ford stated that we currently allow employees to carry 64 hours of vacation to the next calendar year. April stated that we have an employee that wants to carry over more than 64 hours of vacation for an upcoming surgery. The Board discussed the possibility of letting this employee carry of the vacation hours and they decided that it would not be fair to all employees. The Board decided that we could discuss the possibility of carrying over more than 64 hours of vacation at a future Board meeting. The Board and April agreed that we would look at the possibility of changing the policy to show that you could carry 80 hours of vacation over to the next year in the fall during budget time.
1:41 p.m. Director Wilson motioned to adjourn. Director Stanley seconded the motion. Vote: 5-0. The motion was adopted.
The next Board Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 7th, 2020 at 12:00 p.m.
On the_________________day of ______________________2020____
I, Jeff Fries, Chairman _____________________________________________certify these Jasper County Emergency Services Board Meeting Minutes for___________________________. They have been reviewed and are accurate.
On the __________day of_____________________2020______
I, Dan Stanley, Director __________________________ attest the Jasper County Emergency Services Board Meeting Minutes for _______________________________. They have been reviewed and are accurate.
