County commissioners agreed Thursday to use a $62,000 budget surplus from Southeast Ohio Emergency Medical Service to offset construction costs of the service’s new Chesapeake and Ironton stations.

Friday, October 29, 1999

County commissioners agreed Thursday to use a $62,000 budget surplus from Southeast Ohio Emergency Medical Service to offset construction costs of the service’s new Chesapeake and Ironton stations.

SEOEMS ran about $70,000 under budget in 1998 and requested that carryover be used for new equipment and to repair an ambulance chassis in Lawrence County, district director Eric Kuhn said.

"Because our construction costs came in higher, the station chiefs agreed to postpone the rechassis," Kuhn said.

The district had anticipated construction in Chesapeake to cost about $187,000, but bids came in at $216,000, he said. The Ironton building has not yet gone to bid.

SEOEMS wants to use some cash for employee protective gear, additional equipment and the first responder program, while dedicating the remainder, about $61,900, to the construction projects, Kuhn said.

Commissioner George Patterson agreed, adding that the money can be kept in the county’s SEOEMS account and used to offset costs later.

"We would like to thank you and the station chiefs and employees for looking at ways to save and put money in for us to build these stations," commission president Bruce Trent said.

In other action, commissioners:

– Heard a request from Union Township trustees and Bragg subdivision residents to vacate township roads 340, 341 and 342 in the subdivision at the point where the blacktop ends.

The roads were only meant to serve subdivision homes, residents say. George Black, a property owner adjacent to the subdivision, wants to use the public streets as access to his property.

Black said the streets are dedicated for public use, and he had assurance from trustees that they would give him access to his property.

At the request of trustees, commissioners agreed to set dates for public hearings and viewings as required by state law. The dates will be announced.

– Reviewed the status of the Aid ambulance/fire station project.

Attorneys for the Ironton-Lawrence County Community Action Organization expect to finalize next week a lease agreement with the county for property. By March, a permanent foundation and a steel fabricated building will become a station to house Southeast Ohio Emergency Medical Service ambulances and Aid fire trucks, commissioners said.

– Asked the county engineer’s office to install a stop sign at the end of a Sharp’s Creek bridge.