MINUTES
Board of Directors Meeting
Jasper County Emergency Services
November 2nd, 2021
Chairman Fries called the meeting to order at 12:01 p.m. Meeting was held at the Board office, 13870 Dispatch Lane, Carthage, MO as per public notice. Present in addition to Chairman Fries, Tim Wilson, Carl Francis, James Harrison, Dan Stanley, and Greg Dagnan at 12:07 p.m. Representing staff was Executive Director (ED Ford) April Ford and Office Support Clerk Amber Madison.
In attendance was Dean Heart with TUSA Consultant Services, Steven Williams, and Mike Runnebaum.
Review and Action of Minutes
Open and closed meeting minutes were reviewed for the Board of Director’s Meetings on October 5th, and Special Board meeting on October 22nd, 2021.
Director Stanley motioned to approve the open and closed meeting minutes for October 5th and October 22nd, 2021. Director Harrison seconded the motion. Vote: 5-0. The motion was adopted.
Public Comment and Correspondence
Executive Director Ford advised the Board that Steven and Mike have been working hard at reorganizing the cables under the flooring to make everything easier to understand.
Financial Report and Payment of Bills
ED Ford advised the Board that DOR transferred $15,157.56 into our account for July – September 2021 funds.
The sales tax deposit for September was received on October 7th, 2021, in the amount of $170,113.31. We have not received the sales tax check October or November.
Total bills submitted for approval today $124,119.98.
Checkbook balance after payment of bills will be $13,396.30.
Accounts receivable balance: $75,400.81. (Records Request x2, Joplin Fiber, Joplin Viper reimbursement, METS x3 (too close out the year).
The Money Market account balance is $1,709,724.48.
Director Harrison motioned to approve the financial report and the payment of the Bills. Director Wilson seconded the motion. Vote: 5-0. The motion was adopted.
Director Dagnan stepped in the meeting at 12:07 p.m.
Executive Director Report
See Attached Report
ED Ford advised the Board that she is working with AT&T in reference to implementing an easement for the AT&T equipment that we have at JASCO. April advised the Board that we are entering into an agreement with Missouri State Highway Patrol for the RAP back program. April also advised the Board that Anderson Engineering has completed their portion of the parking lot project. JASCO’s Ford Explorer is also back in the shop because it is making a noise. ED Ford advised the Board that we are still having issues with finding applicants. ED Ford advised the Board that we possibly had a lightning strike that took out 9-1-1 trunks, we had to replace the cards and the trunks are all back up. Our phone database was full, so we had to purchase a hard drive. April advised the Board that we are having our annual Employee Appreciation Dinner on 11/12/2021 at the Carthage VFW.
Unfinished Business
Countywide Public Safety Radio System
- Consultant process update / Fire West continued testing update
Executive Director Ford introduced Dean Hart with TUSA Consultant Services. ED Ford advised that during the processing TUSA received great reviews. April also advised the Board that a couple of the references that were contacted said that TUSA saved them enough money on the project to pay for TUSA services.
At 12:15 p.m. Director Wilson stepped out.
Dean Hart introduced himself to the Board and he stated that he would start soon, and it should be a 60-day process once they start. TUSA should be able to give the Board a report by the end of January.
At 12:17 p.m. Director Wilson stepped back into the meeting.
Dean stated that the project should be 18-24 months from beginning to end. ED Ford stated that the Nexedge system ends in 2022. April spoke about infrastructure and stated the sooner that we can start the quicker we can get the project complete. April advised that the Jasper County Sheriffs Department is almost 100% complete with their MOSWIN project. April advised the Board that we have a tower climb scheduled for this week. The Board discussed what was put on the election ballot, and discussed options for MOSWIN build sites, l-cores, or edge connections. The Board agreed that the end game is interoperability to MOSWIN and Joplin. The Board, April and Dean discussed that if looking at MOSWIN Zone 4, there may be fees, and that we would need to consider a good MOU. April stated that we may not want to rely on anyone for our radio needs, we may want to have our own radio system to sustain us. The Board discussed that when we finance the project, we will need to check for interest rates, and get the best deal. The Board also discussed that MOSWIN has an issue with allowing Fire Departments on the system. Dean advised the Board that he has meetings set up to discuss this as well. ED Ford stated that she has been told that Fire Departments can not go on the system because of the current capacity. Director Dagnan stated that he has had people tell him that they have called 9-1-1 while in the city limits of Joplin and no one has answered. The Board discussed some issues that Joplin Communications had during the Cyber-attack.
Avtec Update
Executive Director Ford advised the Board that there wasn’t any damage to our antennas from the lightning strike, per Command One.
MOSWIN Update
Executive Director Ford advised the Board that we are up and running in the comm room with two consoles. ED Ford advised the Board that Motorola paid for the load study on the tower.
Building Maintenance/Expansion/Parking Lot Update
Executive Director Ford showed the Board the parking lot expansion recommendations. April explained that Anderson Engineering has planned for water run-off and retention. April also stated that we need to have a big enough parking lot for a semi-trucks so they widened the parking lot for turn around.
CPE/9-1-1 Phone System Replacement
Executive Director Ford stated that we are going with Viper and that we are 2 months into the project. We are doing all of the clean up now and the equipment is coming next week. We will be live December 15th and Joplin will be live on December 16th. Text to 9-1-1 will be live on December 17th. We will then connect to Springfield in 2022. ED Ford spoke to Mark Morris about paying for two 9-1-1 trunks and that would save money.
Amendment to the Virtual Consolidation Agreement with Joplin
Executive Director Ford advised the Board that the agreement has been given to Joplin for signing. The Joplin City Council will have to sign the amendment. April has sent an invoice for Joplin’s side of the project, and we will bill Joplin for maintenance.
Overtime Compensation
Office Support Clerk Amber Madison advised the Board that the employees are signing up for shifts and are appreciative of the overtime compensation change. The Board agreed to keep this temporary policy in place for this month. The Board advised that they would approve or deny the compensation on a month-to-month basis.
Staffing and Recruitment
Executive Director Ford stated that we are 5 employees short and that we did hire a part timer. We are still actively trying to recruit applicants. We are having difficulty finding good applicants.
At 12:51 p.m. Steven Williams left the meeting.
Cyber Security Insurance and Changes
Executive Director Ford stated that we spend time with Kelly with Southwest Insurance Agency, and we have also engaged Netsolus in filling out Cyber Security paperwork. We are planning on having 2-factor authentication in place by the beginning of the year. Director Dagnan stated that his department has done this, and they are worried about personal cell phones having the 2-factor authentication on them. Netsolus has stated that we could use tokens for personal cell phone.
At 12:54 p.m. Mike Runnebaum left the meeting.
New Business
SMB – Securities Pledge
Executive Director Ford presented the securities pledge held at the Country Club Bank as of September 30th, 2021. In the book amount of $2,000,000.00, the market amount of $1,984,440.00 and the current face amount of $2,000,000.00.
Director Wilson motioned to approve the SMB Bank Security Pledge. Director Stanley seconded the motion. Vote: 5-0. The motion was adopted.
Health Insurance Renewal
Executive Director Ford advised the Board that our Health Insurance increased 4.9%, our Vision has a small increase, and our Dental plan did not increase. Director Francis mentioned that we might need to look at being self-insured. ED Ford advised the Board that currently our policy is that after 7 years of full-time service we will pay $750.00 of their insurance. We will need to remove this from policy due to the amount of insurance being higher that $750.00 for employee only. ED Ford recommends that we change the policy to after 3 years of full-time JASCO would pay employee insurance and 50% of elected coverage. Currently, we only have 5 employees that carry spouse or kids. The example would be if an employee adds their family to the Insurance, JASCO would pay the employee’s portion at 100% and then cover 50% of the family expense. April advised the Board that in doing this it would raise our budget by $11,000.00. Director Dagnan stated that his department does this for their employees and that they budget every year as if the entire Department is going to take out family coverage. Director Francis stated that he would like to see what it would cost JASCO if all the employees took out family coverage. The Board agreed to have April complete this spreadsheet and to bring it back to the Board meeting in December for discussion and to budget for it.
Health Insurance EAP
Executive Director Ford advised the Board that Southwest Agency is wanting us to switch to Travelers Insurance Group. ED Ford stated that we sat down with Beimdiek and for $1.66 an employee we can add an Employee Assistance Program. April recommends that we add and budget for the EAP for 2022.
Southwest Agency Renewal
Executive Director Ford advised the Board that we sat down and discussed our building and equipment appraisals with Southwest Agency. We are filling out new paperwork for the new equipment that we are getting. Our current policy has increased by $3,600.00.
Motorola R56 Audit
Executive Director Ford advised the Board that we had 77 points of failure on our audit. There were a lot of things that were duplicate items on the list. April advised the Board that there are some things that can’t be changed because of how the building was constructed. April will give Dean the report for him to review. Dean stated that some of the things on the report are probably not necessary, and to hold this and put it with the radio project. We will also be watching to make sure that we do not void any of the warranties on the equipment.
Carl Junction Radio Purchase
Director Francis advised the Board that Carl Junction Police Department is about to buy a radio system. Francis asked the Board what if Carl Junction buys this system and if it would work for the system that we choose to go with, would we reimburse them what the amount of money that we would have spent on their part of the county wide public radio system? The Board and Dean Heart discussed what possibilities could be. Dean Heart said that he will have a proposal completed within 60 days, and then we will have a plan. Director Francis requested that the Board make a motion within 30 days of what they are going to tell each agency, that way everyone is told the same information. Director Dagnan suggested that Carl Junction go on the Nexedge system for a temporary bases, and a temporary repeater could be put up and licensed. Also, Carl Junction could get with Sheriff Randee Kaiser and see if he can borrow some of the Sheriff’s radios for the time being. Director Francis stated that he would tell Carl Junction.
Carterville Storm Sirens
Executive Director Ford stated that Carterville Police Chief Worley is wanting JASCO to set off their storm sirens. Director Francis stated to have Carterville talk to Chief Don Melton at Webb City Fire Department and have them set their sirens off. If Webb City is setting theirs off than Carterville gets theirs set off at the same time. The Board agreed to have Carterville Police Department contact Webb City Fire Department for assistance.
Sarcoxie – MULES Access
Executive Director Ford advised the Board that Sarcoxie Police Chief Brandy Corum plead guilty on March 10th, 2021, for misuse of MULES and has received one-year unsupervised probation. The charge has been filed as a class a misdemeanor and the Mayor of Sarcoxie has agreed to have her remain the Police Chief.
Director Wilson motioned to approve reinstatement of MULES access for Police Chief Brandy Corum. Director Wilson also stated that a letter is to be sent to Chief Corum explaining that JASCO will suspend access if she misuses MULES in the future. Director Francis seconded the motion. Vote: 5-0. The motion was adopted.
2021 Budget Amendment
Executive Director Ford advised that she is still working on the budget amendment and that we are at 65% of our budget right now. We will have an amendment ready by December’s Board meeting.
Wage Study/Wage Scale
Executive Director Ford advised that we have completed a wage study based off of other local agencies. April presented an increase of $2.38 for starting wages. This would put starting wage at $17.00 an hour. ED Ford stated that the increase along with all other wage, tax, insurance increases and compensation increases would bring our budget by $172,000.00 and that is including the increase for covering 50% of Insurance. The Board denied the increase to $17.00 an hour and they discussed that they would be fine with what is approved normally which is a 2-3% increase. Director Dagnan recommended that April get ahold of Victoria McGrath, Victoria is a consultant that completed the wage study for Carthage. The Board agreed for April to get quotes for a consultant to complete a wage/staffing study for the Center and present the quotes at the December Board meeting. The Board also advised for April to present the same wage increase that was approved in 2021 for 2022.
2022 Budget
Executive Director Ford advised the Board that she will have the 2022 budget ready to present at the December Board meeting.
2:06 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, December 7th at 12:00 p.m.
On the________ day of ________________2021
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_________________2021
I, Dan Stanley, Director __________________________ attest the Jasper County Emergency Services Board Meeting Minutes for ___________________________. They have been reviewed and are accurate.
