Kossuth County approves $40,490 ZOLL monitor, offers older unit to Titonka; supervisors hear nonprofit funding requests and swear in new deputy

Kossuth County supervisors voted to buy a ZOLL X Series cardiac monitor for county emergency medical services for $40,490 and offered the county’s older monitor to Titonka EMS for the cost of refurbishment, the board confirmed at a public meeting.

The board also administered the oath of office to new Deputy Sheriff Tyler Harmon and heard a slate of budget requests from local nonprofits and county programs, including Healthy Harvest North Iowa, NIACOG’s Housing Trust Fund, RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program), the Care Team and Soil and Water Conservation.

Why it matters: The monitor purchase updates aging EMS equipment across the county’s ambulance fleet and keeps a refurbished monitor in-county for Titonka, a locality the presenters said previously lacked a monitor. Supervisors also used the meeting to hear program impact reports and funding requests that will be considered during upcoming budget workshops.

Purchase of ZOLL monitor

Phil, a county staff member who presented the EMS request, said the county has four monitors at the end of a 10-year life cycle and one unit “has been kind of giving us little problems.” He told supervisors the new ZOLL unit being recommended is priced at $40,490 and that the trade-in value for the existing machine is $5,000.

“I think it’s well worth the money to keep it in the community,” Phil said when discussing offering the old monitor to Titonka EMS with the requirement they pay the cost to refurbish it. The motion to purchase the ZOLL X Series monitor and offer the old unit to Titonka for the refurbishment cost passed unanimously.

The board did not specify a mover for the purchase motion in the public record; the motion was seconded by Wachter and recorded as carried unanimously.

Oath of deputy sheriff

Supervisors administered the oath to Tyler Harmon, who the board said is a certified police officer with roughly 10 years’ experience and who brings a K-9 dog to the department. Harmon was sworn in as a deputy sheriff during the meeting.

Nonprofit and county program requests

Supervisors heard presentations and formal funding requests from multiple community organizations. Speakers provided program descriptions, recent activity in the county and brief budgets or request amounts; no final allocations were made at the meeting.

- Healthy Harvest North Iowa: Andrea Evelsizer, director of Healthy Harvest North Iowa, asked for $2,175 to support outreach, market programming and a printed local food guide. “We work with local food farmers and consumers of local food,” Evelsizer said, describing farmers-market presence and a searchable online guide used by residents.

- NIACOG Housing Trust Fund: Maggie Nielsen, housing services director for NIACOG, described the housing repair program’s impact and requested $3,000 toward required matching funds. Nielsen said the program has produced nearly $8.0 million in home repairs across the eight-county region since 2012 and that in 2024 to date it had spent $199,392 on eligible home repairs in Kossuth County.

- RSVP (AmeriCorps Seniors): A program representative requested $2,000 to support volunteer coordination, newsletters and postage; presenters described RSVP’s role placing volunteers at local food pantries, Meals on Wheels and school reading programs and said the program logged thousands of volunteer hours valued at roughly $28.88 per hour.

- Care Team: Allie Studer, who leads the local Care Team, requested $15,000 to support clothing, household items and wraparound services. Studer said the program supplies free items to families, has recently lost storage/meeting space and has been purchasing gifts for families through an “Adopted Family” program for the holidays. “We supply breast pumps, which is a huge expense,” Studer told the board.

- Kossuth County Soil and Water Conservation District: Chair Nancy Boulbormann requested $5,000 for district programming, including a tree program that distributes a tree to every third grader and stream/road signage projects that identify local water features for public awareness. Boulbormann said the district successfully secured a DNR grant to install signage in parts of the county and is pursuing additional projects for 2025.

Other presentations included: Sean Noonan of Kossuth County Development Corporation requesting $125,000 for ongoing economic development operations and loan-fund support; Aaron McCartney and colleagues describing the long-running revolving loan fund that has supported local business projects; historical society and library association updates and funding requests; and a $1,500 request to support the Kossuth County Law Library.

Next steps and budget timing

Supervisors acknowledged the requests and told presenters that final funding decisions will be made during the county’s budget workshops, which the board said would be scheduled before the budget adoption timeline. Several presenters left printed materials and program summaries with the auditor’s office.

Votes at a glance

- Motion: Purchase ZOLL X Series monitor for EMS at $40,490 and offer county’s existing monitor to Titonka EMS for cost of refurbishment. Seconded by Wachter. Vote: unanimous; outcome: approved.

What board members asked for or directed

Supervisors asked staff to confirm that offering the used monitor to Titonka was consistent with the county’s procurement and gifting policies and noted that the county had alerted other area EMS services about the plan. For the funding requests, supervisors asked presenters for follow-up documentation, program metrics and formal budget sheets; no spending approvals beyond the EMS purchase were made on the record.

Closing note

The board opened the meeting with routine approvals of minutes and claims, and adjourned after the presenters concluded. Supervisors will consider these budget requests during the formal budget process and will post any hearings or action items according to county procedures.