The Shadow
Covington Fire Department Chief Wes Walker and Covington Rescue Squad Captain Tim Dick asked Covington City Council Tuesday night to modify a city job description that would allow an EMT to be available to answer daytime first aid calls.
During council’s regular November work session, council learned that John Chittum, who works at the Covington Firehouse on Hawthorne Street performing custodial duties, emergency vehicle maintenance, and equipment inspections, announced he will retire at the end of December.
“This potentially puts Station One as becoming an unmanned station,” Walker said.
“We’re not having problems handling calls here,” Dick said. He said having an EMT at the station during daylight hours would significantly decrease response times. Optimally, a unit should be able to respond within four minutes of being called.
The proposal is to modify the job description that in addition to regular duties at the firehouse, the employee would be trained as an EMT as well as having a certification to allow him to drive emergency equipment.
When a daylight call occurs, the employee would respond if there is a delay in getting a unit to respond.
The EMT would work in the back of the ambulance Walker said In the event of a first aid call, the fire department would be called as well to get a member to respond to drive the vehicle.
“I’m not crying hard times,” Dick said. Membership in the squad is strong and only a small fraction of the city’s EMS calls are answered by mutual aid.
“There is a misconception that we call Westvaco all the time,” Dick said.
Dick said the modified job description would add value to the citizens of Covington.
Fifty-five percent of the rescue calls occur during daylight hours. Seventy percent of the Covington Rescue Squad members work during daylight hours, according to figures submitted by Dick.
“We feel like it will be a benefit immediately,” Walker said.
Covington Councilman B.B. Bryant asked if having a paid emergency response staff member would affect the city’s liability. Walker said that it would not.
The employee’s salary would not change. Salary and benefits for the position would be approximately $35,000 annually.
Covington City Manager John Doane said he had planned to leave the position unfilled and utilize the savings to balance the city’s budget. “I think we need to take every opportunity to save what we can,” Doane said.
However, he said he would “vigorously” pursue council’s wish.
“When it comes to the lives of our citizens, I don’t want to save money on public safety,” Bryant said. He added that he was happy with the proposal.
The item was placed on the agenda for council’s Nov. 10 regular meeting.
Teresa Hammond, executive director of the Alleghany Highlands Chamber of Commerce, asked council for a resolution of support in their request to pass state legislation to allow localities, including Alleghany County, to raise lodging and transient taxes.
Money from the taxes then could be used for tourism marketing initiatives.
“I want to reiterate that we are not asking for a tax increase at this time,” Hammond said.
Doane pointed out the money from the transient and lodging tax goes into a municipality’s general fund and tourism dollars would be allocated in the budget process. “I want to be clear. This is not a request, stated or implied, that the money would be allocated for tourism,” Doane said.
Hammond said a tourism assessment and marketing plan is due to be completed in December and the chamber hopes to move forward with the plan after the holidays.
Covington officials, however, appeared lukewarm to the proposal. There are only two motels within the city limits and Covington’s two percent lodging tax brings in little revenue.
Hammond will make the proposal to the Alleghany County Board of Supervisors during their meeting tonight.
Bryant told Hammond the proposal may be a hard sell to county officials. “They (Alleghany County) really beat us up in consolidation talks about our meals tax,” Bryant said.
Dave Kleppinger, executive director of the Alleghany Highlands Economic Development Corporation, gave council an update on economic development activities.
He said over the past 10 years, the U.S. economy has not grown jobs. He said this recession is a bit more severe since it has resulted in job losses much greater than in previous recessions.
The Alleghany Highlands has lost one-third of its manufacturing sector jobs over the past six years.
Citing the devastating loss to Franklin with the closure of the International Paper plant, Kleppinger said, “We can never be too good to MeadWestvaco.”
He said the trend that automobile manufacturers are requiring their suppliers to be much closer to the plants has resulted in communities losing jobs, namely Dana and Lear in Virginia.
Items to be placed on the Nov. 10 meeting agenda include:
– awards recognition to members of the Covington Rescue Squad;
– authorization to pay consolidation expenses to Robinson, Farmer, Cox and Associates and to S. John Davis Associates;
– to consider a resolution regarding a MeadWestvaco land exchange;
– consider first reading of an ordinance to abandon certain streets and alleys;
– consider first reading of an ordinance regarding weeds and grass;
– to consider first reading of an ordinance regarding derelict buildings;
– to consider on first reading an ordinance regarding tax exemptions for demolished or renovated buildings;
– to consider a resolution regarding a Bryne Justic grant of $1,061. No city moneys would be used;
– to consider a resolution regarding stimulus money in the form of a $356,914 grant to install a methane recovery system at the sewage treatment plant.
