Highland County Board of Supervisors December 2023 Meeting – Pt 1

The Highland County Board of Supervisors held it’s monthly meeting on December 5.

The meeting began with a report from EMS Chief Nick Fialo. He reported there were 31 calls in November.  The paid EMS staff answered 20 of those 31 calls by themselves.  Of those 20 calls, 14 were transports and 6 were cancellations.  Out of those 14 transport calls, rescue squad volunteers were also on the scene for 12 of the calls.  Rescue squad volunteers answered 4 calls alone and a combination of volunteers and paid staff answered 7 calls.  Fialo said if the volunteers answered a call alone, it was because the paid staff had an empty shift or was out on a call.    He said he has hired the last full-time person and now county EMS will be fully staffed, as of December 18, when every shift will have two providers.  With additional staff training that is planned, in the future a paramedic will be on every shift.  Fialo also reported that the used ambulance purchased by the county should be in service before the end of December.  A new county ambulance that has been ordered should be ready by mid to late January.  Fialo said all calls are being answered, but not as quickly as he would like.  If there is no paid staff available, volunteers travel from home to get an ambulance to answer calls.  He plans to work with the volunteers on ideas to cut down response time.  He said currently the volunteers have two vehicles in service, two out of service, and a recently purchased new ambulance that should be inspected soon.  As of December 5, there have been 322 calls so far in 2023.

The Board approved a contract with Allegheny Disposal, LLC for solid waste collection and hauling services.  The company has been hauling trash for the county on an interim basis since the summer, when the previous hauler no longer provided the service.  As part of the agreement, the county will buy new compactors and Allegheny Disposal will buy new receiver boxes.  The new compactors and a pre-crusher will be installed by the end of next year.  The current 40 yard compactors and receiver boxes will both be replaced by larger 60 yard sizes.  The county will provide installation for Wi-Fi service and Allegheny Disposal will provide Wi-Fi equipment at each collection site.  The Wi-Fi connection will allow  Allegheny Disposal to be notified electronically when receiver boxes need to be picked up.  For the first year, the cost for hauling from all county collection sites is $172,466.  The contract is for seven years, with options to renew.

To hear part two of this story from the Highland County Board of Supervisors December meeting, stay tuned to Allegheny Mountain Radio.