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Ellsworth County raises EMS director salary to $70,000; new ambulance due Feb. 11
Summary
At its Jan. 12 meeting the Ellsworth County Commission approved raising EMS Director Nathan Florian’s salary to $70,000 after executive sessions and granted permission to order another ambulance; Florian reported 1,099 calls last year, up 220 from three years earlier.
At a Jan. 12 meeting at the Ellsworth County Courthouse, the Board of Ellsworth County Commissioners voted to raise the county EMS director’s salary to $70,000 a year and authorized the county to order an additional ambulance.
Nathan Florian, Ellsworth County EMS Director, told commissioners the service had “a busy year” with 1,099 calls, an increase of 220 calls compared with three years earlier, which he attributed to an aging population and greater health needs. Florian also said a new ambulance will be ready by Feb. 11.
The board held two brief executive sessions with Florian to discuss non‑elected personnel wages — from 11:05 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. and again from 11:16 a.m. to 11:20 a.m. After returning to open session, Commissioner Shawn Thomas moved to increase the EMS director’s salary to $70,000; Commissioner Gregory C. Bender seconded. The motion carried 2-0. (Commissioner Dennis L. Rolfs had left the meeting earlier.)
Commissioners gave Florian permission to order another ambulance; the minutes record the authorization but do not record a formal roll‑call motion or seconder for that specific action. The meeting minutes state the county expects the new ambulance to be ready by Feb. 11 and also list a delivery date for an additional ambulance as "January 2030" in the minutes; that latter date is recorded as written in the minutes and appears likely to be a clerical error but was not corrected during the meeting.
Florian framed the increased demand as a local demographic trend and emphasized the county’s need to maintain vehicle availability and staffing. The board’s next stated procedural action was to approve routine agenda items and other county business before adjourning at 12:37 p.m.
