County Approves LiveWell Phys Ed Contract, Hires New VA Administrator
Russ Baldwin | Jan 25, 2013 | Comments 0
The Prowers County Commissioners had a diversified agenda for their Thursday meeting, January 24. Talara Coen, Alta Vista Charter School Administer, requested support from the county to act as a financial pass-through agent allowing the school to receive a $100,000 grant to fund playground equipment upgrades. Coen explained that she has full approval from the Lamar RE-2 District as well as the matching funds required by GoCO. By that state agency’s statutes, the school must partner with a third party which will handle the funds.
Coen said the Alta Vista Charter School has the necessary funds for the 25% match, some of which may be in-kind contributions for the playground equipment. Because the grant is a reimbursable type, the money is paid out first by the pass-through agency and then reimbursed by GoCO at a later time period. Commissioner Joe Marble said he had no problem with acting on Alta Vista’s behalf, but had a concern regarding some of the contract obligations and wanted to consult with county attorney, John Lefferdink, before making a commitment. Coen said the current playground equipment is anywhere from 50 to 70 years old and the new items will be geared for use in two student age groups.
The Prowers County LiveWell contracts between Prowers County Public Health and Holly, Wiley and Granada School Districts was approved for funding of equipment and Wellness teams which will work with students. Justin Lee, Public Health and Environment Director and Keith Siemsen, Environmental Health Manager reviewed the contracts which will provide a coordinated school health program from January 17 through June 15, 2013. Each school will receive funding based on student population as well as the number of physical educators used at each school. Holly will receive $29,987.39 for software and physical education equipment, Wiley will receive $26,813.47 and Granada will receive $1,760. Progress reports for students in the course will be periodically submitted for evaluation. The county accepted a $337 bid for the private purchase of a used vehicle used by the environment health department.
The mutual aid agreement for emergency services among Baca, Bent, Crowley, Kiowa, Otero and Prowers Counties was approved for another year. A listing of all equipment in these counties is being compiled so each can be familiar with resources that can be used in time of other non-fire emergencies such as tornadoes, blizzards or other catastrophies. Staffon Warn, Prowers County Rural Fire Chief updated the commissioners with a year end operations report. Warn said the department responded to 73 calls last year of which seven were building fires, eleven were vehicle fires and 24 were of other categories. The county responded to 18 Hazardous Condition events, two rescue calls, one for the spring tornado two for special events and there were two false calls made to the department last year. Of the 73 calls, eight were from Granada and the rest in Prowers County. Warn said the newly revised alignment of responders for 2013 is working well. “We have 23 firefighters and of those, 20 will respond to county calls. One recent call had eight turn out which usually saw only three or four.” Of the 23, Warn said half of the fire fighters are now Wildland Fire certified and are receiving continuous training. Six are Haz-Mat certified, two are at EMT level and one is EMT-I and there are five members in the auxiliary. Warn added he intends to begin training in February for first aid certification from about 30 applicants. The first responder training has a forty hour course. “These aren’t EMT levels,” he explained to the commissioners, “But can provide first aid and can often be on the scene before an ambulance arrives and the EMTs take over.” The class will be comprised of residents from Wiley, Bristol/Granada, Holly and Prowers Rural members.
In other action, the commissioners waived the fairground fees for the second annual First Responder Appreciation Event, organized last year by Doug Harbour and held at the County Courthouse. Harbour said earlier he wants to hold a broader-scaled, regional level event at the fairgrounds. It is scheduled for September 14 of this year. The commissioners approved underground permits for CenturyLink of Eagle, Inc. and for Josh Weimer, approved credit card authorization for Kirk Powers, Building Operations Supervisor and approved the fairgrounds for the Southeast All Stars Rodeo Team for May 16-19. The commissioners also approved an independent contractor agreement for Carol Grauberger through the end of the year to act as Vital Statistic Registrar and VA administrator. She will be replaced in that position by Jeremy Miller who was recently hired by the county after Grauberger announced her resignation last year. Commissioner Henry Schnabel was approved to serve on the Holly Senior and Community Senior Center Board.
By Russ Baldwin
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