Edgar County board reviews ambulance contract timing, airport apron funding and county operations

EDGAR COUNTY — County board members reviewed several operational items, including an upcoming ambulance/EMS contract, an airport apron project, the jail move, broadband mapping and animal-shelter activities.

Ambulance contract: members noted the EMS contract is up in July and agreed to assemble a committee to review the contract, solicit bids and involve the county’s state's attorney and Jeremy (participating director) in the process. "The board needs to decide whether we are going to bid," Speaker 1 said; Speaker 2 volunteered that Jeremy should be part of the discussion and that members should submit suggested contract changes.

Airport apron and FAA testing: Speaker 1 described a planned apron project and said the FAA will run a navigation-system test that costs $18,000 up front but is refunded after the test. Local matching funds for apron work will usually come from the FAA and state aeronautics program (90–95% typically covered), with the county share funded from the aviation fund, airport rentals and farm-ground income.

Other business: Speaker 3 reviewed the animal-shelter annual summary (about 52 animals currently in care and plans for a spay/neuter clinic pending grant-funded equipment). Speaker 2 summarized 911 coordination for moving from the old jail to the new one and expected upcoming vendor meetings; the board scheduled a construction-trailer walkthrough and expected a cash-flow update via email.

Next steps: the ambulance contract review committee will prepare materials for the county attorney and the board; staff will circulate cash-flow pages and follow up on broadband and community-solar decommissioning conversations.

No formal votes were recorded on these items during the meeting.