Commissioners approve purchase of Imperial, Wauneta EMS ambulances

New ambulances are on the way for Imperial and Wauneta EMS.
Craig Loeffler with the Imperial crew and Leanne Klein with Wauneta reviewed their specs for each ambulance with Commissioners Kurt Bernhardt, Jacci Brown and Duane Dinnel.
Though both Wauneta and Imperial have received grants for the ambulances and equipment, the commissioners took time going over what it will take to pay the remaining balance on each vehicle based on state bids.
Orders have to be placed by Dec. 31, 2023 and the ambulances must be delivered by Sept. 30, 2026.
With a change in government regulations, all EMS departments must have one unit that meets those requirements within the next five years. ARPA funds were made available to help pay for the new ambulances.
Following approval of the ambulance purchases, the commissioners reviewed the proposed changes to the county handbook’s shared vacation and sick time policy.
Dinnel maintained his stance that any employee taking advantage of the policy should be a county employee for 12 months rather than the proposed 90 days.
After changing the cap from 1,040 hours to 12 weeks, Brown and Bernhardt approved the Catastrophic Illness Leave Donation Policy, while Dinnel voted no.
The commissioners fielded questions from Blake Moreland about the grandfather status of the Schilke/New Wave Inc. Feedlot that sits outside Imperial.
County zoning regulations were established in 2015 and Moreland questioned what capacity the feedlot was at in 1999. The feedlot was in compliance when part of it fell within Imperial’s one-mile corporate city limits for which city zoning regulations apply. That occurred when the city annexed property.
A portion of the feedlot remains outside city limits and is under county zoning.
The commissioners encouraged Moreland to go to the county zoning board to help track down the information he was interested in, such as building permits.
The next meeting of the commissioners will be May 23.