Dunkirk dispatch problem noted (12/8/03)

A representative of the Dunkirk Fire Department says the department is having trouble getting dispatches for emergency runs.

Ferrell Wells told Jay County Commissioners this morning that members of the department are receiving the tones on their pagers, but those tones are often not followed by voice directions from dispatchers at the Jay County E-911 center.

“It’s a system that needs to be worked on,” Wells told Commissioners Mike Leonhard, Gary Theurer and Milo Miller Jr. “You waste two or three minutes trying to get your message, and you could be there.”

Wells said several attempts to contact 911 director Bill Baldwin about the problem have been unsuccessful, and that Baldwin has not returned phone calls. Wells said he would attempt to talk to Baldwin after leaving the commissioners’ meeting.

Jim Bruner, who was appointed last week as the interim director of the county emergency management agency and who is director of Rescue 19, confirmed Wells’ account, saying he had heard Dunkirk paged several times with no voice instructions following.

Bruner, who was appointed last week as a volunteer fill-in for former director Tami Mann, came to Monday’s meeting to check in with the commissioners and ask if they had any instructions.

The commissioners plan to interview applicants for the position next week and hope to make a decision by Dec. 22.

Also this morning, the commissioners discussed a variety of issues with their (Continued on page 5)

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contract human resources consultant.

Jonna Reece, an HR specialist with Muncie-based Associated Payroll Plus Inc., was asked to consult with the commissioners about records turned in by Mann when she resigned.

Although the commissioners had considered Mann an exempt employee not eligible for overtime or compensatory time, her records showed she had worked 365 hours in excess of normal scheduled time.

Mann has not specifically asked to be paid, but Reece said that all exempt employees should be clearly told, in writing, that they will not be receiving overtime or comp time.

According to information read by Reece from U.S. Department of Labor standards, all elected and non-elected county department heads appear to be eligible for exempt status.

Commissioners’ attorney Brad Burkett said that he believes the fact that Mann never claimed overtime pay or hours in the past is evidence she knew she was not eligible.

Mann was out of town today and unavailable for comment.

Reece, who is used by the commissioners on an on-call, hourly basis, recommended that the status of each county employee be recorded on their job description, that all exempt employees be asked to sign off on a form acknowledging that status.

In other business this morning, the commissioners:

•Heard, while meeting as the county drainage board, a northern Jay County farmer request help with several different issues.

Kevin Yoder, who lives northwest of Bryant, asked the commissioners for a possible solution for a drainage issue on a farm he cash rents in section 7 of Bearcreek Township.

While all of the 40-acre farm owned by Harold Keller is located in the Limberlost Watershed, the north 10 acres actually drains to the Loblolly Watershed, Yoder said.

Yoder said that connecting to a county-controlled drain would require going across land owned by another owner.

He was told he would have to work out that agreement with the property owner.

Yoder also requested that a logjam be removed from Bear Creek near county roads 50 West and 800 North in section 1 of Jackson Township, and that the creek be cleaned north of Ind. 18.[[In-content Ad]]