Pafford EMS now serves north Alexander

The Alexander City Council approved an ordinance that allows Pafford Medical Services, Inc. to serve both the Saline County and Pulaski County portions of the city. In July, 2021 the Saline County EMS Board selected Pafford Medical Services to provide ambulance and emergency medical services in both the rural areas and its municipalities. The contract went into effect January 1, 2022.

This new ordinance was introduced and had its first public reading at the February 20 council meeting. The second and third readings were held at the March 18 meeting with the required two-thirds vote of the council.

Before the vote, Fire Chief Ryan McCormick relayed an incident that occurred since the February 20 council meeting. According to McCormick a mother and father went to city hall to get medical assistance for their baby. Office Manager Jennifer Hill attempted to get MEMS out of Little Rock but was told it would be a 15-minute wait.

"We had a baby that showed up here having a seizure or not breathing before the call," McCormick said. "We had an ambulance sitting at our fire station that could not respond here. That's unacceptable, to my opinion, because we want to wait and read over and over, and we're dealing with life safety."

At the February 20 meeting Council Member Juanita Wilson had questions about how the franchise agreement would affect Alexander and if there was a financial component. To allow for time to have her questions researched by City Attorney Chris Madison the first reading was held at the February meeting. Wilson's concerns were discussed with her between the February and March meetings.

"There's franchises where we have franchise tax, utility bills, things like that," Madison explained at the February meeting. "And then there's a franchise where we allow someone to be within our city. That's what this is. I'm not aware of the monetary requirement."

Pafford has an ambulance stationed in the Alexander Central Firehouse on South Alexander Road. After the February meeting, McCormick explained how not much will change behind the scenes. Aside from MEMS taking on the mutual aid role instead of being the primary responder in north Alexander, everything else remains essentially the same. McCormick said the Pulaski County area of Alexander is already part of the Saline County 911 system. The only change will be that Pafford will be dispatched to north Alexander first.

Also at the March 18 council meeting:

Property For Sale

The Alexander City Council approved an ordinance giving Mayor Crystal Herrmann the authority to sell the parcel at 14805 Kent Drive. The property was voluntarily turned over to the city in 2018 when its owner no longer wanted to deal with the continual issuance of code violations by the city.

The ordinance specifies, "[T]he revenues generated from selling such property shall be used for the purchase of equipment, a vehicle, and other personal property type items necessary for a Code Enforcement and Animal Control Officer."

Mayor can apply for Community Development Block Grants

The Alexander City Council approved a resolution that gives Mayor Crystal Herrmann the authority to apply for grants through the Arkansas Community and Economic Development Program. Each grant has a maximum amount of $500,000.00.

The resolution does not specify what project will be used in the grant request. The two projects discussed were flood control and the Saline County Water Works and Sanitary Sewer Public Utilities Board's request to acquire a grant through the city to upgrade the sewer lines along Lyndsey Drive. For now the mayor will begin the application process.

Still no applicants for treasurer position

After three months the mayor still has not received any applications for the vacant treasurer's position. Former Treasurer JoAn Churchill submitted her resignation in December effective December 31.

City Attorney Chris Madison gave council members three options.

"One is continue looking to fulfill the vacant position," Madison said. "Two, and I haven't discussed this with Ms. (Sharon) Bankhead, but you can combine the recorder treasurer positions by council. And three is you can actually, by ordinance, have the city treasurer appointed."

This would be an appointed position ending the election process. Since the council won't be filling a vacancy in an elected position they won't be limited to residents of Alexander. And, this being an election year for the positions of recorder and treasurer the ordinance must be passed before election petitions are circulated this summer. Herrmann was given permission to advertise a Request For Qualifications to be submitted by interested individuals.

Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Alexander City Council is April 15, 6:00 PM at the Alexander Municipal Complex. The public is invited to attend.