Richland County committee advances ambulance staffing, budget work and facility projects; radio tower change order flagged

The Richland County Executive & Finance Committee on Monday moved a package of personnel, purchasing and policy items to the full county board while staff reported schedule and cost risks on the county radio system and said the county’s preliminary 2026 budget is not yet balanced.

Committee members voted to forward a request to create a sixth full-time emergency medical technician position and to create a standalone ambulance service director post, both intended to reduce overtime costs and improve long‑range management of ambulance services. The committee also approved issuing a request for proposals to replace the leaking roof at the county ambulance garage.

Administrator Barb reported that the county has hired a new finance director, Leanna Pick, and that several payrolls have been consolidated. Barb also told the committee the draft 2026–2028 capital improvement plan is in the administrative documents folder and that the preliminary 2026 operating budget assembled so far is not balanced; staff have asked departments to identify reductions and plan to present a draft at the committee’s Aug. 25 meeting.

Why it matters: The ambulance staffing and director actions are intended to address rapidly rising overtime costs in emergency medical services and to free administrative staff for grant writing, compliance and budgeting. The radio tower change order could require significant contingency funding and affect the project cutover timeline.

Ambulance staffing and director

The ambulance service presented financials showing overtime is projected to rise well above the 2024 budget. "We have budgeted $55,000 for overtime for this year. We're projected to go to $110,000," Administrator Barb said, urging the committee to add a full-time position immediately and to fund it by reducing paid-on-call allocations. Barb said county emergency medical services handle about 1,700 calls a year and that adding a sixth full‑time EMT would allow crews to operate with regular staffing and reduce overtime pay.

The committee voted to forward the staffing request to the full county board for final approval. The committee also approved creating a separate ambulance service director position, separating it from emergency management; the change was built into the draft 2026 budget and will be forwarded to the full county board.

Radio tower project and contingency risk

On the county radio project, staff said most frequency approvals are now in place and the system cutover is targeted for Dec. 15, but civil work at the Yuba tower site remains behind schedule. Barb told the committee the county will need a substantial change order for construction at the Yuba site "because they have to build a retaining wall," and estimated that the change order will be "about $250,000" and will come to the committee for approval.

Administrator Barb said there may be an additional change order from the contractor Gencom; the county’s program manager is seeking clarifications. The committee asked that the technical reports prepared by Jason Marshall be uploaded to committee materials so members can review the monthly radio project updates.

Ambulance garage roof RFP

The committee approved putting an RFP back out for replacement of the ambulance garage roof after members said prior 2024 bids are likely expired and patches have failed. Supervisors discussed alternatives (including changing roof slope) and asked that the new RFP include prior bid documents, full written quotes and alternate roofing options. The motion to issue the RFP will be forwarded to the full county board.

Personnel handbook — holidays

A member of the public, Shirley, addressed item 10, expressing concern about a resolution to add two additional holidays to the personnel handbook. Shirley urged the committee to reconsider a Whereas statement that the change would be a "low to no cost benefit," saying the county could incur overtime and service‑delivery delays: "I don't believe it's a true statement to say that 2 holidays would be a low to no cost benefit. I think that there are financial impacts," she said.

Committee members debated options for treating 12‑hour and other shifts, and whether to instead grant 11 holidays countywide by taking one from Pine Valley. Rather than decide, the committee voted to postpone final action until the next meeting so staff can report how many employees currently receive 12 holidays, and estimate how many staff would have to work on those days and the likely overtime impact.

Reimbursement policy changes approved to go to county board

The committee approved proposed revisions to the reimbursement section of the personnel handbook and agreed to forward a resolution to the full county board. Key changes include increasing per‑meal reimbursement (current meal per‑day and per‑meal references reviewed against state rates), adding flexibility to the lodging policy to better match conference and resort pricing, and moving expense reimbursements from payroll to accounts payable with a uniform expense voucher process for all departments. The administrator framed the change as reducing the burden on employees who currently pay expenses out of pocket and then reclaim them via payroll.

Fees, mission statement, donations and facilities planning

- Certified survey map (CSM) review fees: The zoning office proposed increasing the minimum fee to cover a contracted surveyor review. Staff said outside plat review providers will no longer accept these reviews and a local surveyor has quoted roughly $200 per CSM review; the committee approved forwarding the revised fee schedule to the county board. Staff estimated the county receives about two to three CSMs per month.

- Mission statement: Committee members favored a shorter draft county mission statement developed during prior staff/board workshops and voted to send the shorter version as a resolution to the full county board.

- Donations for recreation facilities: The committee recommended approval of several equipment donations (a replacement treadmill at $5,700; miscellaneous weight equipment at about $1,000; three portable pickleball nets) and will forward acceptance to the county board. Staff said the foundation's donations this year have brought the foundation's total to slightly more than $50,000.

- Facilities committee: The committee discussed creating an ad hoc county facilities committee for long‑range facilities planning but amended the proposal to designate the existing Public Works standing committee to handle long‑range county building planning and directed staff to take that amendment to the full county board for consideration.

Procedural and budget context

Barb noted that departments have submitted proposed budgets that include step increases but that the county currently does not have a balanced 2026 operating budget. She said staff will ask departments to find reductions without cutting services and plan to use some fund balances in non‑lapsing funds rather than general fund levy to bridge gaps. The executive and finance committee will next convene on Aug. 25 to review a draft budget and the postponed holiday proposal.

Ending

Most items on the committee agenda were moved to the full county board for final action or formal approval. Committee members asked staff to provide the radio project reports, updated RFP documents and more detailed staffing counts and cost estimates at the next meeting.