Kent County proclaims National EMS Week and Public Works Week

The Kent County Board of County Commissioners on May 13 issued proclamations recognizing National Emergency Medical Services Week (May 18'24, 2025) and National Public Works Week (May 18'24, 2025).

Commissioner John F. Price read the EMS proclamation and invited representatives from the county Office of Emergency Services and the EMS division to accept it. "It's a dedicated time to honor and recognize the important work of emergency medical services professionals," said Glenn, identified in the record as the director of the Office of Emergency Services. Logan Quinn, the county EMS chief, joined him. Glenn noted recent local emergency responses and said first responders had "done a great job in responding to that incident," referencing calls the previous day that resulted in hospital transports. The proclamation signed by the commissioners recognized EMS professionals'paramedics, EMTs, 9-1-1 specialists and others'for their service and named May 18 through May 24, 2025, as National EMS Week in Kent County.

The board also issued a National Public Works Week proclamation. Dan Matson, identified as the director of public works, described the scale of the county's public-works operations: he said county roads include "over 275 miles of roadway" and that the roads division replaces about "50 culvert pipes a year." He said environmental operations sold nearly 2,000 boat-trailer permits and manages about 20 boat slips and more than 400 mooring leases; the county sold almost 1,700 disposal coupon booklets and handled nearly 9,000 tons of solid waste across various programs. The water and wastewater division was described as operating nine plants, six water tanks and 26 pump stations; Matson said public works maintains more than 360 acres of parkland and 13 county buildings and that the department has nearly 80 employees who perform around-the-clock duties.

Matson used the proclamation to emphasize that public-works services often go unnoticed precisely because they function reliably: "one of the greatest compliments we can have, is to be taken for granted," he said, and thanked staff for keeping the county's infrastructure functioning.

Both proclamations were read aloud and signed by the commission; the meeting record shows several public-works staff members introduced themselves to the commission during the recognition segment.

Context: The EMS proclamation referenced recent local emergency calls and hospital transports; the public-works remarks included operational statistics provided by the director of public works. Both proclamations were ceremonial recognitions and did not, by themselves, authorize funding or policy changes.