[0:00] We're trying to get worked out, so I've
asked Chairman—
[0:04] Commissioner Stovall if he would say the
prayer— pledge— I mean, say the prayer,
[0:10] and Commissioner Hollinsworth will lead us
in the pledge.
[0:14] My Heavenly Father, it's me, me again,
standing in the need of prayer.
[0:19] But we come this evening asking for your
guidance and your direction.
[0:24] That you would lead us, dear Lord, in this
meeting.
[0:28] Help us to conduct it decent and in order.
[0:32] Well, we pray a special blessing upon
everyone that's represented in here
[0:37] everyone that's represented in here
tonight.
[0:38] We pray a special blessing upon those that
know you're not in the pardon of their
[0:44] many sins. Well, we ask you just to help
us because we need you.
[0:49] We can't do anything without you.
[0:51] Amen.
[0:52] Well, we pray a special blessing upon our
first responders,
[0:56] and we pray a special blessing upon our
young men and women in the militaries as
[1:01] they protect us and enabling us to
assemble freely as we do.
[1:04] And we ask a special blessing upon those
that may be going through sickness.
[1:09] Yes, Father.
[1:10] Those we know and those we know nothing
about.
[1:12] And another special blessing as well, dear
Lord,
[1:14] those may be going through bereavement.
[1:16] We ask you to give them strength where
they may be weak and pick them up where
[1:20] they may be weak and pick them up where
they
[1:20] may be torn down. Father, things that I
failed to ask you for,
[1:23] please fail not to grant.
[1:25] These and all blessings we ask and we pray
in your name, the mighty name of Jesus,
[1:29] thank you, eternal God. Amen.
[1:30] Amen. Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge of
Allegiance.
[1:36] To the flag of the United States of
America and to the republic for which it
[1:43] stands, one nation under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all.
[1:50] Okay. Let the record show that all members
are present,
[1:55] and I will now entertain a motion from
Commissioner Strand.
[2:00] So I've got a— you didn't even let me get
out the chairman thing there, Mr.
[2:07] Strand. So nomination for chairman.
[2:10] Has been made by Commissioner Strands,
Gary Stovall. Is there any others?
[2:17] It don't need a second.
[2:19] I can— so I can entertain a motion to
cease nominations and accept by
[2:25] acclamation. All right,
[2:27] so it's been moved that nominations cease
and Gary Stovall be elected by
[2:34] acclamation. All those in favor, please
All those in favor signify by saying aye.
[2:41] Aye.
[2:42] All those opposed? It's yours,
Commissioner Stovall.
[2:47] Thank you, Chairman Grooms. Thank you,
sir.
[2:51] I'd like to thank everyone for placing
their trust in me again,
[2:58] and I will try to do the best I can, the
best I possibly can,
[3:04] with the help of the good Lord on my side.
I can't do nothing but good.
[3:11] So if he's leading me, I know I'm gonna do
right.
[3:16] So I appreciate everybody, and thank you
for trusting in me.
[3:22] Uh, as we continue on with the agenda, we
got an election of the vice chair.
[3:30] Can I get a motion to Commissioner
Hessler?
[3:34] Patti Hollinsworth.
[3:35] Patti Hollinsworth has been nominated for
vice chair.
[3:39] Are there any other nominations?
[3:43] No?
[3:43] If there are not, then we move that Patti
Hollinsworth, by acclamation,
[3:47] will be our vice chair of the Health and
Environment Education Committee.
[3:50] All right.
[3:51] Thank you, Patti. All in favor?
[3:54] Aye.
[3:55] Aye is had. Patti, you're it. Yeah, all
right.
[3:59] Can I get approval of the agenda?
[4:03] Commissioner Hollinsworth? Commissioner
Hestla?
[4:07] Seconded? And all in favor say aye.
[4:11] Aye.
[4:12] The agenda has been approved.
[4:14] Do anyone have any— had a chance to look
at the prior minutes from August?
[4:19] If there are any deletions, corrections,
[4:21] or anything that need to be taken off or
added to this agenda?
[4:25] Uh, have you had a chance to look at it?
Everyone has.
[4:29] So we'll let those meetings stand as read.
[4:32] Okay, we come to the part of our meeting
now for the public comment section.
[4:37] Has anyone signed up for the public
comment? No one has signed up.
[4:41] But anyway, I'll just read this just in
case.
[4:44] Public comment note: to provide public
comment germane to specific agenda items,
[4:50] please complete and return a public form
Available in person immediately prior to
[4:55] the scheduled meeting.
[4:57] Additionally, there are 2 defined public
comment periods whereby no sign-up is
[5:02] required. At the discretion of the
chairperson,
[5:05] public comment is limited to 30-minute
aggregates and 3 minutes per speaker
[5:10] distributed across the 3 sessions:
[5:12] the outset of the meeting during specified
agenda items and at all—
[5:17] and at the conclusion of the county
business.
[5:20] All comments shall be addressed to the
body rather than any one member,
[5:25] and there will be no rebuttals thereafter.
As we move forward, Mr.
[5:29] Kenny was here, but he had to leave, but
he has some— what is it—
[5:33] budget items that would need to be passed
over to the budget.
[5:38] He's just transferring money. Mayor, do
you have anything to add on to that? No.
[5:44] Just a transfer.
[5:44] Just a transfer of money. Okay, all in
favor? Commissioner Strand.
[5:50] Second by Commissioner Hessler.
[5:52] Any questions about the transfer to the
Budget Committee? No questions.
[5:58] All in favor? Every number aye.
[6:01] We'll pass this on to the Budget Committee
then for the Health Department.
[6:06] Solid Waste, Mr. Turner, you're in the
house tonight.
[6:12] Welcome back. Good evening.
[6:17] Good evening, sir. So I sent out a couple
of
[6:21] Excel spreadsheets with some of the—
[6:24] What is that?
[6:26] Making sure you're paying attention.
[6:29] All right.
[6:37] Let's see.
[6:38] Uh, which is some of the data and
financial things that we've discussed in
[6:42] previously, uh, meetings.
[6:44] Uh, added the customer, uh,
[6:45] customer list as into when they were
recently added on there also.
[6:49] So you'd have that for your reference.
[6:52] Um, it came up in last meeting and then,
um, like I said,
[6:55] the financials just continuing to grow
there, looking positive trends.
[6:59] So that's good. Um, and then one
announcement, which is, September 19th,
[7:03] which isn't this Saturday,
[7:05] but next Saturday is our Household
Hazardous Waste Day event.
[7:09] That is, that will be at our main
location, 1233 Lawson White Drive from 8
[7:13] location, 1233 Lawson White Drive from 8
to noon.
[7:14] That is a state-sponsored event.
[7:15] So we'll be out there for those 4 hours to
accept any household hazardous waste that
[7:20] the folks might have. We're putting flyers
out today, trying to get the word out.
[7:25] So help spreading. That's helpful.
[7:27] Okay.
[7:30] Is that all you have? That's all I got.
Any questions for Matthew? No questions?
[7:35] Is that the 19th?
[7:37] 19th, yes.
[7:38] The 19th, thank you.
[7:41] Commissioner Hestla?
[7:43] Thank you, Chair. Matt,
[7:45] would you mind going over what would be on
a list of hazardous
[7:49] waste? Is it paint or— So since we take—
[7:52] I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off.
[7:53] No, that's okay, go ahead.
[7:55] Since we take paint on a normal basis,
[7:57] the state doesn't like to see paint on
Household Hazardous Waste Day events
[8:01] Household Hazardous Waste Day events
simply
[8:01] because We take that throughout the year,
[8:04] so they don't want to be bogged down with
it on that particular day.
[8:08] So we're looking at aerosol cans,
cleaners.
[8:10] If you've got old gasoline you'd like to
get rid of,
[8:13] automotive additives that you add to your
fuel, or those kinds of things.
[8:17] Cleaners, pool chemicals, that's a common
one that we see.
[8:20] Those kinds of items,
[8:21] things that you would have in your house
that are really kind of dangerous
[8:25] chemicals, it's an outlet for you to get
rid of those rather than just dumping
[8:30] rid of those rather than just dumping
them.
[8:30] What about oil from—
[8:33] So I did look on their website.
[8:35] They don't explicitly list motor oil as
accepted or unaccepted.
[8:39] I've seen it go both ways. So I can't say.
[8:42] Normally what we recommend to people is
NAPA, Advance, O'Reilly's.
[8:46] These kinds of places provide homes for
that material.
[8:52] So do we, are we supposed to be keeping
our empty aerosol cans off to the side and
[8:56] not just throw them in the trash with
everything else?
[8:59] Because I've always done that.
[9:01] No, no, if it's totally empty, it doesn't
have any hiss left in it,
[9:04] that's okay to go in the regular trash.
[9:06] What they're talking about is things that
are actually still pressurized containers.
[9:11] They're hazardous because if that
container were to get punctured, it can
[9:15] container were to get punctured, it can
explode.
[9:15] So some of them can be hazardous from the
chemical that's in them,
[9:19] so it's very much case by case. Other ones
are simply hazardous Interesting.
[9:23] Okay. What about Freon?
[9:25] That would be in the cans, right?
[9:28] The aerosol, would that be considered?
[9:32] Yeah, they would take that material, I
would assume, at that one.
[9:34] Car refrigerant type stuff, yes, I believe
they would accept that there.
[9:37] Like I said, they've got a full list on
their website.
[9:40] I don't have it memorized, unfortunately.
[9:41] The flyers that we put out have a QR code
on it that will take you to the website.
[9:45] to that.
[9:45] Okay.
[9:46] Um, I could probably put a link on our
website too. Let me remember to do that.
[9:50] That'd be great. Then, uh, Commissioner
Hestla. Yes, thank you.
[9:54] Thank you.
[9:54] Mr. Markham. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[9:56] Uh, what about batteries, used batteries,
uh, car batteries and that kind of stuff?
[10:02] We take those at the centers every time,
every day.
[10:05] Yeah, all, all throughout the year.
[10:07] Yeah, that's, that's one of the things
that we moved to the convenience centers.
[10:12] So that goes in our electronic bin. Okay.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[10:17] All right, anybody else? Nobody else?
Okay, Matt, I think that's it.
[10:22] Nobody else want to say anything to you
this evening. Have a good evening, Matt.
[10:27] All right, thank you. You too. Water
Department, Mr. Schultz. Thank you, Mr.
[10:31] Chairman. I just wanted to congratulate
everyone on your election and wanted to
[10:37] thank you also for your Uh, commitment to
our county and your service.
[10:41] Um, with that being said,
[10:43] I would entertain any questions that
anybody might have for the Water
[10:47] anybody might have for the Water
Department.
[10:48] Anyone have any questions for Mr. Schultz
pertaining to water? Commissioner Spann.
[10:53] Thank you, Chair. How you doing, my
friend?
[10:56] Hey.
[10:56] When are we going to have water coming in
here?
[11:00] Hopefully, uh, by the end of September.
[11:03] Uh, everybody—
[11:03] In a month? Well, everything will be
complete as far as the installation.
[11:09] Our connection should be sometime in
October.
[11:12] We've got the plans for the actual
connecting to our system there at TDEC
[11:18] connecting to our system there at TDEC
right now
[11:18] awaiting approval. So as soon as we get
that back from them,
[11:23] we'll go to bid and get that part of it
done. Got her done, didn't you, buddy?
[11:29] Yes, sir.
[11:30] Thank you. Thank you all for your support
too.
[11:34] Thank you, Chair. All right, any other
questions?
[11:37] Commissioner Markham?
[11:39] Yes. Commissioner Markham.
[11:42] Todd, I want you to kind of talk just a
little bit about how long you've had an
[11:49] application in with TDEC to draw water and
some things that maybe have happened
[11:56] since you applied That, that are— didn't
go our way.
[12:01] Uh, I guess if you start and you don't say
what I want you to say,
[12:07] I'll ask you a different way. Okay.
[12:11] We actually started the process in 2017,
and we do have quite the timeline.
[12:18] We come all the way through the process
down to 2023.
[12:23] We were actually issued a Draft permit in
2023,
[12:27] and basically it has sat there since 2023.
And where would that intake be?
[12:34] Uh, the intake itself would be over here
by the—
[12:38] but in between the animal shelter and the
emergency management building.
[12:45] So I guess my addition to that is Columbia
Power and Water applied for theirs before
[12:53] or after that? I know it got approved
before. You know, ours hadn't been
[13:00] before. You know, ours hadn't been
approved.
[13:00] Or what's holding it up?
[13:03] You said— Well, it's TDEC's decision to
approve or deny the permit.
[13:09] And they have not taken any action since
the draft permit was issued.
[13:15] So I guess my comment is they approved for
Columbia Power and Water to take 12
[13:23] million gallons. We were asking for 3. Is
that correct? That is correct, yes, sir.
[13:30] They've ignored our request and granted
Columbia Power and Water.
[13:36] That's the point I'm trying to make.
[13:42] Same river. Yes, sir.
[13:44] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Todd.
[13:46] Yes, sir. Commissioner Grooms.
[13:49] Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[13:51] Todd, everybody that's requested an intake
up and down the Duck River has,
[13:57] has been approved but ours, right? That is
correct. There's been 2 new intakes.
[14:03] The rest of them have been an increase To
the withdrawal permits.
[14:08] So there's actually been 2 brand new
straws in the river,
[14:13] but the rest of them have been increases
to their permit.
[14:18] But ours is the only one that hadn't been
permitted.
[14:22] Thank you.
[14:24] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. All right, sir.
Commissioner Sumner. Thank you, Mr.
[14:30] Chairman. Congratulations, sir.
[14:32] Todd, can you give me an update on the
double branch line upgrade?
[14:38] They are, as of today, looking for another
leak.
[14:41] Okay, so it hasn't been— It has not been—
it hasn't made the pressure test yet.
[14:48] Okay.
[14:49] So they're— I mean, and they're actively
working, but today they've—
[14:54] they're looking for something else. It
won't hold. How many leaks have they had?
[15:00] This will be the 3rd one. Wow. Okay. Thank
you, sir.
[15:04] Yes, sir.
[15:04] Can you keep us up— at least keep District
5 updated on that process? Absolutely.
[15:09] Thank you.
[15:10] Absolutely. Mr. Schultz, I think that's
about it. No one else is— All right.
[15:15] Hold on.
[15:16] You almost got away. It's all right. Mr.
[15:18] Ronsberg, I've got a question, and you may
not have an answer for this.
[15:23] But I'm going to go back to a long time
ago before you even took over.
[15:28] Originally, Upper Duck River charged
everybody a nickel a thousand gallons to
[15:33] everybody a nickel a thousand gallons to
build
[15:34] a dam here so we would have a water issue—
I mean, wouldn't have a water issue.
[15:39] They're still collecting that nickel a
thousand.
[15:43] Uh, I don't, I don't get why we're still
paying a nickel a thousand when we already
[15:48] paid off Normandy and they're not going to
give us a dam.
[15:52] I mean, it should already been paid. Can
you give me some information on that?
[15:58] Well, that would be better answered by the
Duck River Agency,
[16:02] but they are still collecting that nickel
per thousand from every water user on the
[16:08] Duck River. I know, and that's— I've just
got— I've got a major issue,
[16:12] and I know it's not with you, but I
thought being with water, you might have—
[16:18] might have a little bit of an idea.
Because I, I, that gives me a lot of
[16:23] Because I, I, that gives me a lot of
heartburn.
[16:23] It's, and it's not aimed at you, it's
aimed at the Upper Duck River Agency,
[16:29] because that should have been sunsetted a
long, long time ago. I appreciate it.
[16:34] Thank you, Chairman. All right, Madam
Mayor.
[16:37] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to
shed a little light on that 5 cents.
[16:42] For all these years, it had been
voluntary.
[16:45] But in the past 2 years, I guess just last
year or the year before,
[16:50] it was made mandatory.
[16:51] So without getting into anything else,
[16:54] I'm just going to say there were a lot of
politics involved in making that
[16:59] mandatory. So that's my comment. It's now
mandatory. Thank you.
[17:03] Mr. Schultz, I think that's it.
[17:08] Thank you very much. All right, have a
good evening, sir.
[17:09] Have a good evening. Mr. Ray Parks. Thank
you, Mr. Chairman. All right, sir.
[17:15] Been saying that a long time to get to say
it this morning.
[17:21] What I have on the agenda is 2 things.
[17:24] One is an ag grant that we were successful
Yes.
[17:28] This is a contract that we were successful
on to go toward the,
[17:34] the new stall barns at Murray County Park.
[17:38] There's the contract attached and a budget
amendment attached,
[17:43] but it doesn't require any new money on
our part.
[17:48] We appropriated out of our fund to do the
barn.
[17:52] This will help us to complete the project.
It's $150,000.
[17:57] dollars from Tennessee Department of
Agriculture.
[18:01] So the contract is there and a budget
amendment to take care of it,
[18:07] and I guess we're asking to forward that
on to budget.
[18:12] Okay, can I get a motion to move that
forward to budget? Commissioner Hessler?
[18:19] Commissioner Strahan? All in favor?
[18:22] Any, any questions before you We move it
forward.
[18:27] Anybody have any questions about that? Can
you get an all in favor then?
[18:33] All in favor? Aye. All right, move
$150,000 to budget. Yes, sir, please.
[18:40] $150,000 to budget. Yes, sir, please.
Thank you.
[18:41] All right, and, um, Doug will be here then
if there's any questions about it,
[18:47] and if I need to be, I'll be, but it's a
pretty simple grant.
[18:53] It's, uh, $150,000 go toward that project,
so That was nice to get.
[18:59] Oh, the only other thing we have is an
announcement that a park board member's
[19:06] announcement that a park board member's
term
[19:06] expires in October. So just for
announcement this month.
[19:11] Okay.
[19:13] They're meeting this month, so I will—
[19:17] if they have a recommendation, I'll bring
that.
[19:21] After that meeting, the 22nd, I think,
their meeting. That's Mr.
[19:27] Marbut, right? Yeah, it's Mr. Marbut's
position that is expiring.
[19:33] Okay. And that's a formative announcement.
[19:38] All righty.
[19:39] Anything else with us? All I have.
[19:42] I'd be glad to try to answer any questions
if anybody has any. How did the fair go?
[19:47] Went well. Yeah. I think they had a good
one.
[19:50] It was a hot one, but, you know, usually
is. So, yeah, but I think it went well.
[19:56] All right. Commissioner Strahan, you got
anything? Yeah, a quick one.
[20:01] This commission gets criticized a lot for
not reaching out to communities,
[20:06] and I could throw up hearing this word
transparency all the time,
[20:10] as though we don't communicate with our
neighbors and our friends.
[20:15] Don't let anybody know what's going on.
[20:17] Let me tell you how something works, and
it worked really well.
[20:22] Wayne and Al very recently had a meeting
with a neighborhood that lives across—
[20:27] lives on Casey Lane,
[20:28] which is across the street where they're
going to put the new maintenance building.
[20:34] That neighborhood was very concerned about
having an entrance off Casey Lane across
[20:40] the street from them.
[20:41] There's a really bad curve There's going
to be more traffic,
[20:45] and they're also dealing with a
subdivision that could possibly go in
[20:50] subdivision that could possibly go in
there.
[20:50] Wayne and Al had a meeting with that
entire neighborhood,
[20:54] and there were a bunch of people there,
weren't there? And there was a lot of
[21:00] weren't there? And there was a lot of
input.
[21:00] The ladies had a whole lot to say about
their homes.
[21:03] And when those people left, they all left
as friends.
[21:07] They were told exactly what was going to
happen, not what was rumored.
[21:12] They were told— and it will happen exactly
like they wanted.
[21:16] They were perfectly content and walked out
of there saying thank you because those 2
[21:22] folks took the time to talk to the
neighbors. That's real transparency.
[21:27] When you get to know the person you're
talking to,
[21:30] next time they probably won't even ask or
they'll call out because they know who he
[21:36] is. They know he's an honest man. Thank
you, guys. Appreciate that.
[21:40] Well, thank you, but that segues, and I
keep mentioning this, but now we,
[21:45] we have half the body is new now.
[21:48] We will soon be updating our system-wide
master plan.
[21:51] Supposed to do it every 5 years.
[21:53] We're a little bit behind,
[21:55] but you need to keep those things up to
date for it just because you need to,
[22:00] but it's also Very helpful in the pursuit
of grant dollars.
[22:04] So y'all will get notification of that.
[22:07] There'll be several opportunities for
people to have public input because we,
[22:12] we believe in, you know, as much of that
as we can get.
[22:16] We want to know, you know,
[22:18] what people want and what we can do better
and all that sort of thing.
[22:23] But this is a, you know, an organized
effort at that.
[22:26] And then when it's over, we'll have an
updated plan.
[22:30] Our last one was 2019,
[22:31] and we'll be looking at that because we've
checked a lot of things off that list.
[22:37] And that's with the commission's help and
the mayor's help and everybody's help,
[22:42] the highway department's help.
[22:44] And, you know, go down the line of folks
that help us do the things we do.
[22:49] So, but you'll get plenty of notice about
when that's going to be happening.
[22:55] I just want to throw that out there and
thank you for your kind words.
[22:59] All right.
[23:02] Mr. Rayon, I believe you're good. Y'all
have a good evening. All right, you too.
[23:09] Thank you, sir. Animal Shelter, Ms. Kim
Ralphoff. What you got for us, Ms. Kim?
[23:16] Hi, welcome everybody.
[23:19] All right, hopefully my thing— All right,
small victories.
[23:27] This month, for the numbers, we took in
455 animals.
[23:34] 437 found homes. 323 cats came into the
shelter and 305 out.
[23:42] 132 dogs and 132 out. Animal Control has
been really busy.
[23:50] 169 calls for various reasons,
[23:54] which you can see that is broke down on
the side.
[24:01] Our average length of stay is 16 This is,
um,
[24:07] our volunteer hours, banked 1,206 hours
this month.
[24:14] Attorney Dobis and I have worked on a TNR
resolution which
[24:22] we'll talk about. Kennel sponsorship,
[24:27] we'll begin that again this year starting
this month.
[24:34] Last year we were able to bring in $25,000
to $30,000 to the
[24:42] county.
[24:43] Thank you.
[24:44] For sponsorship on the new kennels, and
that stays up for the year.
[24:48] And each year we go out and sign people up
to do that.
[24:52] Some people do it in memory of, some
people do their business,
[24:56] but it's just a great way to bring some
extra money back to the county.
[25:01] When I send you these slides,
[25:02] you'll be able to zoom in a little bit
more because they're on display,
[25:07] but that's our new volunteer application.
We are getting digital.
[25:12] Because I have nowhere to store everything
that comes in for paper.
[25:16] So we have a volunteer application.
[25:18] It can go on your phone, and then we have
boards in the back.
[25:22] It'll bring up the animal that they can
only handle or work with,
[25:27] which is great from a safety perspective,
[25:29] and there's a lot of good information on
there.
[25:33] The other thing that I did talk about a
while back was A rabies application.
[25:38] When I came in 2 and a half years ago,
[25:40] we would get these reports from every
vet's office,
[25:44] and they send you all these rabies reports
from all the stuff that they do.
[25:49] We created an app to scan those all in,
[25:51] so everything is centralized along with
our software to know right up to date if
[25:56] our software to know right up to date if
an
[25:57] animal is up to date on vaccines, who the
person is who owns it, and so forth.
[26:02] The other thing is our website is up and
running.
[26:05] It has really helped down with our phone
traffic a ton because everything that you
[26:11] need to find is on that application—
rabies microchip clinics,
[26:15] spay and neuter opportunities, adoption
events, what animals are available.
[26:20] I mean, we're just living in a digital
world, so that helps a lot.
[26:24] Does anybody have any questions?
[26:26] Does anyone have any questions from SCAM?
[26:30] So one of the things I do have on is a TNR
resolution.
[26:34] Attorney Dobies and I have worked on this
for quite a few months.
[26:39] When I came in, I had experts that came in
from the University of Florida,
[26:44] And other shelters in different areas like
Williamson County.
[26:49] And each of those areas recommends doing a
cat resolution.
[26:53] What does that mean to the average person?
[26:56] You know, everybody spays and neuters
their pets. Unfortunately, they don't.
[27:02] And we have a lot of stray cats in Murray
County.
[27:06] And if you go through right now on I Heart
Columbia or whatever else,
[27:11] all you see is cats after cats after cats.
[27:14] What this ordinance is, is just basically
saying anything that's free roaming,
[27:20] that we can bring that in, fix the animal,
and be able to return it to the field.
[27:26] So if it's a stray cat, a feral cat,
[27:29] we can get it fixed so it doesn't continue
to reproduce and cost taxpayers money.
[27:35] 323 is up by almost 100 cats from last
year.
[27:38] And we are going to get to the point where
we don't have enough homes for all these
[27:44] cats because they just keep multiplying
year after year,
[27:48] actually months after months. So this is
what this resolution is.
[27:53] I'm assuming it was attached in
everybody's packet.
[27:57] We would microchip these animals to be
able to give a 1-year report so the
[28:02] commission could see the difference and
then the impact it would have on the area.
[28:08] The other thing is I'm looking at this for
our expansion process.
[28:13] You know, we, we don't want to fill it
before we even get it built,
[28:18] so we have to do something proactively.
[28:21] We're never going to adopt our way out of
an animal crisis.
[28:26] We can only fix the animals.
[28:28] So the more that we can offer free or
reduced-cost services or fix animals that
[28:34] reduced-cost services or fix animals that
are
[28:34] just roaming, it's a win for Murray
County. Does anybody have any questions?
[28:40] Commissioner Hollinsworth from the
committee.
[28:43] Hey, Kim. How is the— thank you, Mr.
Chairman. How is the building going?
[28:49] We break ground next Monday, the 14th.
[28:52] We just had a, um, we just had a meeting
about that today.
[28:57] I do need a storage facility with 2,500
square feet,
[29:01] and if anybody has any ideas, I would love
to hear from it.
[29:06] Because that would save $125,000 on the
building process if we can purchase the
[29:12] equipment by the end of the year. So—
[29:15] Define that.
[29:18] We need to purchase all the kennels by the
end of the year,
[29:21] so when they're delivered,
[29:22] we just need a place to store it until
they can be installed into the new
[29:26] they can be installed into the new
building.
[29:26] But it would save $125,000.
[29:27] How many square feet?
[29:31] 2,500 square feet. I know.
[29:32] So that's why I'm bringing that up, so
everybody can put their thinking caps on.
[29:38] If you have any ideas, please reach out to
me. I also will post.
[29:43] Maybe I have a good Samaritan who wants to
volunteer up some space.
[29:47] That's great.
[29:49] I'm sure I have to do some kind of
insurance waivers and so forth, but, you
[29:53] insurance waivers and so forth, but, you
know,
[29:54] I'm going to try my best to make that
happen.
[29:58] Commissioner Strang. A couple questions
about that.
[30:02] You know, I'm sorry, I'm— it's okay. You
need 2,500 square feet.
[30:07] It doesn't have to be, uh, climate
controlled?
[30:10] Nope, it's just going to be metal kennels
and kind of a barn-like thing or
[30:15] something, right? Yeah.
[30:16] And you'll actually— you'll access that.
[30:19] What was that? I was just saying,
[30:20] obviously it needs to be like where
nothing can get damaged or so forth,
[30:24] but It does not need to be climate
controlled.
[30:27] And you'll access it just during regular
working hours or something?
[30:31] Correct.
[30:32] Because it'll probably be sitting on some
private property someplace.
[30:34] Yeah. And every one of my ideas was a—
[30:38] is a dead end because the courthouse
needed a lot
[30:42] of storage.
[30:43] We'll find something.
[30:47] Okay.
[30:47] And when?
[30:47] Yeah, we— I just need to find somebody
ASAP by the end of the month.
[30:53] By the end of this month?
[30:54] Yeah.
[30:54] Can we do it sooner?
[30:57] That would be great.
[31:00] How many kennels?
[31:02] Um, there's cat kennels, there's parts,
you know what I mean?
[31:06] Everything will be boxed up.
[31:07] It just needs to have a space to be able
to store it.
[31:11] 40 by 40, 4 by 16.
[31:13] I have surgery tables in my food trailer
right now.
[31:16] We're, we're trying to make everything
work.
[31:20] Well, I've got a— and I'll quit with this—
[31:24] I've got a feeling what our next project
is going to be out
[31:28] there. 2,500 square feet.
[31:30] Thank you, Chair.
[31:30] Commissioner Burford, did I pronounce your
name right? Yes, sir.
[31:35] I just have a question for Kim.
[31:37] And going back to the conversion to
electronics, I commend you for it.
[31:41] I once took over an office of It was all
paper and had to convert it to
[31:46] paper and had to convert it to
electronics.
[31:46] It's a great idea. I just have a question
on data storage.
[31:50] You know, where, where the data is going
to be stored,
[31:54] and what's your data security plan for
that as far as, you know, hacking and,
[31:59] and as well as preservation for it won't
be lost if a server goes down or
[32:03] be lost if a server goes down or
something?
[32:04] Well, currently everything is paper,
[32:06] so it's all in boxes throughout the
shelter on top of kennels, kitchen, so
[32:11] shelter on top of kennels, kitchen, so
forth.
[32:12] Everything is stored on the Murray County
government website,
[32:16] so I would not be in charge of any kind of
security. Yes.
[32:21] All right, thank you very much. All right,
Commissioner Markham. Thank you, Mr.
[32:27] Chairman. Kim, on this TNR agreement, is
it something that—
[32:32] is this resolution similar to some other
counties?
[32:36] It's absolutely identical to Williamson
County.
[32:39] They mirrored it from South Carolina.
[32:41] It will take up to 5 years to really see a
difference,
[32:45] but every community has had the same thing
that we have.
[32:48] You know, there's just so many cats, so
many that are wandering and reproducing.
[32:53] This way it just fixes them without having
to do the 3-day hold,
[32:57] putting them back to the area they belong,
ear tipping them,
[33:01] and then we would use a special microchip
that we Fix them as a community cat.
[33:07] And you pick them up, you don't know where
their home is,
[33:10] so you can't contact the owner, correct?
[33:12] Right.
[33:12] And but then they have no legal grounds to
come back in.
[33:15] That's correct. It's basically an
insurance policy. Okay.
[33:20] All right.
[33:20] And sometimes we have that now where we
pick up cats or people pick up cats.
[33:26] I had one today. It's a premium example. A
gentleman brings it in.
[33:30] And their dad was moving, and he's had
this cat for a year, and it was
[33:35] this cat for a year, and it was
microchipped.
[33:36] I'm like, your dad has somebody's cat for
a year in his house.
[33:40] It was a community cat that was fixed
through Williamson.
[33:44] We were able to locate it through there
and then bring it back to Williamson
[33:49] and then bring it back to Williamson
County
[33:50] to do that.
[33:51] Okay, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
All right, Commissioner Barnes.
[33:56] How you doing today? Good.
[33:57] How are you?
[33:58] Good, good. I just got some quick
questions here.
[34:01] When looking at this resolution, it's
called the TNR program,
[34:04] and it talks about the trapping of the
animals.
[34:07] Who actually does the trapping,
[34:09] or do you take those animals from people
who bring them in?
[34:12] So there's, there's several ways you can
do it.
[34:15] If we trap in an area, we need permission
from the property owner,
[34:19] but we would be able to have animal
control go out,
[34:22] especially if there's a colony in a set
area.
[34:24] And be able to trap those animals, fix
them,
[34:27] and return them to the area in a timely
fashion by the next day.
[34:31] The reason why I say trap is because if
you've ever worked with a feral cat,
[34:35] they will bite you, scratch you before you
can even react.
[34:39] So by putting them in a trap, it works.
[34:41] But you can only have them in there for 24
hours,
[34:44] which is why this quick turnaround works.
So we would trap in areas right now.
[34:48] We currently rent out traps to people if
they need it in their own private property
[34:53] or if they have a nuisance and they can
bring them in for surgery and we have them
[34:58] fill out a TNR application.
[34:59] And then obviously if people find strays
or want to bring them in as well,
[35:04] we can move them through the shelter a lot
quicker that way.
[35:07] Okay. Thank you for that answer.
[35:09] Under Section 2, it talks about community
cat and it talks about free-roaming cat.
[35:15] Feral, we understand, is a little more
difficult to deal with.
[35:19] Under this section and this definition,
[35:21] what protocols would be in place if this
resolution comes to fruition?
[35:26] That would protect a normal household cat
from getting away from the house,
[35:31] being trapped, and then falling into this
TNR program before the actual owners would
[35:36] realize that that's going to happen?
[35:38] Well, any animal that's unaltered, first
off, should not be free roaming,
[35:43] so it would fall under this program.
[35:45] Number 2, sometimes people don't get them
altered because they don't have the means
[35:50] to do that. And if they were microchipped
or any of the vetting,
[35:53] because rabies is a law,
[35:55] they should be up to date on their
vaccines or they should not be out free
[35:59] vaccines or they should not be out free
roaming.
[36:00] Every animal under this program would be
vaccinated,
[36:03] which is another reason why it's very
important.
[36:06] You saw like the goats, the petting zoo,
[36:08] 2,000 cases of rabies of people that were
exposed to it. It can happen.
[36:12] And a lot of people just skip that because
they don't want to take the time to So
[36:17] really, if it's a pet that's out roaming,
[36:19] it should already be fixed or vaccinated
or proof of ownership.
[36:23] If not, it would be subject to that.
[36:25] And obviously, you know, we just want to
put it back in the area.
[36:29] Cats have a homing device like a sea
turtle. They know to go back.
[36:33] They know where they live. They know where
they get food.
[36:37] So if you ever feed a cat, they never go
away.
[36:39] Okay.
[36:42] It's the truth.
[36:44] So the understanding is that if a child
loses a pet and it runs down the road and
[36:49] gets trapped, that it would probably get
neutered then if it came in on that
[36:53] program?
[36:53] Yep, it would. And then it would go back
to the area so they would know where it
[36:58] lives. I mean, we don't want to keep
people's pets.
[37:01] Obviously, if we also, though, too, if you
get an animal in in a trap,
[37:05] you can tell when it's friendly or it's a
pet or Or whether it's something that you
[37:09] fix and just put back out.
[37:11] We don't want to have an animal be
susceptible, you know what I mean,
[37:14] that they don't belong there. Because
obviously accidents can happen.
[37:18] But the odds of it are not as great as
just free-roaming cats.
[37:22] I know there's a lady today on I Heart
Columbia that she's had 3 litters and she
[37:26] just can't afford to have them spayed, but
they keep getting with each other.
[37:30] And then, you know what I mean, that's
what we're looking to prevent. All right.
[37:35] Under this resolution,
[37:36] if somebody did notice that their pet was
missing and they were able to,
[37:40] to get down there, can they take the,
[37:42] the pet back home with them without them
being spayed or neutered first?
[37:46] If they've got proof of ownership.
[37:48] Proof of ownership is vet records showing
that it's vaccinated.
[37:51] If it's vaccinated, I have no problem
giving it back, you know what I mean?
[37:55] Or microchipped or so forth. But the goal
is vaccinations.
[37:59] Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Anything else you
got for us, Kim?
[38:04] Yes, I just need a motion to— on my
resolution.
[38:09] Can I get a motion for that?
[38:11] Commissioner Hollinsworth and Commissioner
Hessler. All in favor?
[38:16] All right. All right. Any questions?
[38:20] Okay. No, you're fine.
[38:26] How long will we need this warehouse?
[38:28] Um, good question. I will need to find out
the answer for that.
[38:34] Yeah, because I'm gonna have to— if I can
find a place, okay,
[38:37] it'll probably be for sale.
[38:39] I will get you an answer.
[38:41] Okay. Yeah, just call me or something.
Okay. Yeah, thanks. Thank you, Chair.
[38:46] Okay, so we're moving this forward, this—
the resolution forward.
[38:50] for a commission vote. Anything else you
got for us, Kim?
[38:54] That's it. I'm pretty simple this month.
All right.
[38:58] Thank you.
[38:59] Thank you.
[38:59] All righty. Education Director, Mr.
Ventura, welcome.
[39:06] Mr. Chairman? Yes, sir.
[39:09] I had a message from a friend of mine a
minute ago that's watching the live feed,
[39:14] and they're having a hard time hearing the
audio.
[39:17] I was just going to pass that along.
[39:19] I didn't know if there was anything y'all
could do It's been like that for a while.
[39:24] Beyond my control. Yeah, yeah, I think
he's working on it though.
[39:28] There you go. He was correcting that, but
it's been like that for months.
[39:31] Okay.
[39:32] I can't hear him.
[39:33] I don't know why. All right, Ms. Ventura.
[39:36] Well, good evening and welcome to the new
commissioners,
[39:40] and congratulations on being elected and
some of you that were reelected.
[39:46] In school board news, On September 1st,
[39:49] Madam Mayor came and swore in our existing
and new members,
[39:54] and we welcomed Chris Gouldstein into
District 2 and John Lawson into District
[40:00] District 2 and John Lawson into District
7.
[40:00] We did our elections on that night. Mr.
Moore remained our chairman.
[40:05] Our vice chair is now Sue Stevenson, and
our chair pro tem is John Lawson.
[40:11] So that was an exciting night for us.
[40:14] For those of you new to the commission,
normally what I tell you is our numbers,
[40:20] because that is where our state funding
comes from and a little bit of our federal
[40:26] funding. Our average daily membership,
which is our current enrollment—
[40:32] it's the average enrollment that began on
August 3rd—
[40:37] is 12,857 students.
[40:40] Wow. And our average daily attendance is
12,046 today.
[40:44] And I pulled those numbers right before I
came up here at about 4:07,
[40:49] so those are today's numbers.
[40:51] As far as staffing, we currently have 9
teacher openings throughout the district.
[40:58] We have 3 educational assistant openings.
[41:01] We have 5 food service openings, and
currently we have 8 transportation
[41:07] currently we have 8 transportation
openings.
[41:07] We usually like to hire a lot more in
transportation than we have openings for.
[41:13] So when I say that, I mean that 8 routes
are currently being covered by either
[41:20] office staff or sub drivers. So we have 8
open routes.
[41:25] And I'd be happy to answer any questions
anybody has. I got one question for you.
[41:32] I've had several bus drivers ask me about
air conditioning in the buses and stuff.
[41:39] I know we provide air in the special needs
buses and we provide heat for all the
[41:46] other buses, but why come we don't—
[41:49] Correct. The cost differential for a bus
with air conditioning— first of all,
[41:55] the big yellow cheese is probably the
least efficient as far as temperature
[42:02] control. So even when they have air
conditioning, it's not very—
[42:08] it's not as efficient as your vehicle.
[42:11] However, it's really a cost thing in this
district.
[42:16] If we were to convert to air, you know,
[42:18] we're already talking about $187,000 a
bus.
[42:21] You would be talking about between $30,000
and $60,000 more per bus.
[42:26] Depending on whether it's a 90-passenger,
a 60-passenger,
[42:31] or a special needs bus.
[42:32] But it is required in special needs buses.
[42:35] Okay. So out of a fleet of 150 buses, you
know,
[42:41] you would be talking a very costly
increase.
[42:47] I was just wondering, because I mean,
[42:52] it's been pretty miserably hot.
[42:56] Absolutely. Absolutely.
[42:58] And if I could, I would, you know,
[43:01] and I say this in every state meeting that
I'm in,
[43:05] I would love for the great state of
Tennessee to move to a September to June,
[43:12] as our temperatures seem to be, you know,
August is getting hotter.
[43:18] You know, September, we started with some
heat.
[43:22] And I'm very prayerful that the cooldown
that we are hoping comes next week
[43:28] stays.
[43:29] It arrives and it stays. Hopefully.
[43:33] Any other questions for Ms. Ventura?
[43:37] Madam Mayor, you got anything?
[43:41] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You might mention
Dolly Parton Day.
[43:44] Absolutely. I wasn't sure if you wanted me
to yet. So I am working with Mayor Butt.
[43:51] We are going to declare 9/25, 9/25,
[43:54] Dolly Parton Day across Murray County
Public Schools.
[43:59] We are going to dedicate that day to
obviously her love of literacy and
[44:05] obviously her love of literacy and
Imagination
[44:06] Library and really, really follow up with
the kindness and compassion that Dolly
[44:13] exemplified.
[44:14] Thank you.
[44:15] So I am really, really excited.
[44:19] The mayor and I are going to work up a
proclamation and it will be
[44:23] forevermore, I hope,
[44:24] Dolly Parton Day in Murray County Public
Schools on 9/25.
[44:28] Sound good.
[44:29] Thank you.
[44:30] In this room on the 15th?
[44:32] Yes. Yes. All right.
[44:37] I'd like to proclaim it early so that
schools have a chance to really Spread the
[44:42] word and, and get everybody excited about
it.
[44:45] Any other
[44:49] questions for
[44:56] Ms. Ventura?
[45:03] You got it
[45:08] going.
[45:11] Thank you. Dr.
[45:19] Chaney.
[45:23] Good evening,
[45:30] and—
[45:32] Good evening.
[45:33] I just want to add to the congratulations
on the election for everyone,
[45:37] and congratulations, Mr.
[45:39] Stovall and Commissioner Hollingsworth,
for continuing to chair this committee.
[45:44] Certainly, it's a committee that's very
important to us at Murray Regional,
[45:48] and I thought today what I would do—
first, I'll start with this invitation.
[45:53] So when I stepped in as CEO about 5 years
ago as interim,
[45:57] I felt that what we really lacked was a
time for the commissioners to get to know
[46:02] Murray Regional, felt a disconnect.
[46:04] So we started at that time what we call
the Murray Regional Murray County
[46:08] the Murray Regional Murray County
Leadership
[46:09] Dinner, and that's a chance for you all to
come on campus and have dinner with us,
[46:14] our Board of Trustees, our senior
leadership team,
[46:17] for us to answer any questions you have
about hospital service lines.
[46:22] We usually get a good tour in. So you can
see the spaces.
[46:25] We've set it this year for October 7th.
[46:28] There will be official invites coming out,
I understand, tomorrow for everyone,
[46:32] and it will be in our auxiliary conference
room,
[46:35] which is our Building A main hospital
building.
[46:38] It's also a time— I think after the last
election,
[46:42] we had several commissioners that had
never been in Murray Regional before.
[46:46] They had never really been there.
[46:48] That's right.
[46:49] And so important time to just get the
glimpse of the breadth of the care that we
[46:54] provide. So I wanted to go ahead and
invite everybody to that.
[46:59] So, uh, we started a journey.
[47:01] I'm not going to go— some of you are the
new commissioners,
[47:05] I'm not going to go deep into this,
[47:08] but about 4 years ago we started a
strategic plan as we came out of COVID and
[47:13] strategic plan as we came out of COVID and
we,
[47:14] as our Board of Trustees and senior
leadership, got together and thought You
[47:19] leadership, got together and thought You
know,
[47:19] our county's grown a lot,
[47:21] and the healthcare needs of our community
have significantly grown.
[47:26] So we launched this as a 5-year strategic
plan centered on how we can build trust in
[47:32] care to stay local with your care, how we
can improve access to care,
[47:37] and certainly very centered on that
patient experience. What's the center?
[47:42] The patient experience.
[47:44] experience of our patients,
[47:46] and this reimagined patient care has been
somewhat of our logo through this.
[47:51] So when we look at what we have done, we
are still committed to this.
[47:56] We are now entering year 4 of that 5-year
strategic plan,
[48:00] and I'll give you an update on where we
are in just a minute,
[48:05] but we have done a lot of things in
addressing medical staff growth and
[48:10] addressing medical staff growth and
recruiting
[48:11] doctors, certainly, you know, our access
to our campus,
[48:15] which I'll show you some pictures and
update you in a minute,
[48:19] just that patient-centered care.
[48:21] But I thought tonight I would let you get
a glimpse of some of our technological
[48:27] advancements, one in particular that
happened on August 6th when Dr.
[48:32] Jan Fries performed the first what is
called Ion Endoluminal Robotic System
[48:37] procedure. And so what this is is Is we
all know that cancers,
[48:42] especially cancers like lung cancer and
breast cancer, if found very early,
[48:47] they have a much higher cure rate than
late stages.
[48:51] So our goal is always to find them at
stage 1 and 2.
[48:55] By the time they're stage 3 and 4, they've
often spread,
[48:59] sometimes to distant organs, and the cure
rate goes down significantly.
[49:04] So with this new technology, It is based
on—
[49:07] it remodels a 3D map of a patient's airway
and allows our pulmonologist, Dr.
[49:12] Fries, and other pulmonologists will be
trained in this,
[49:16] to go down in a minimally invasive way,
[49:19] navigate a small flexible catheter down
into the lung where there may be a small
[49:25] lung nodule way out in the outside of the
lung peripheral fields.
[49:30] Okay.
[49:30] That you don't know whether it's cancer or
not,
[49:33] and you have to find out whether it is to
see if the patient needs further
[49:38] treatment. So with this procedure, you can
go and just with light sedation,
[49:42] it's an ambulatory outpatient procedure,
the patients go home, and navigates down,
[49:47] biopsies the nodule. And Dr.
[49:49] Frills has now done about 20 of these
procedures over the past month and has
[49:53] procedures over the past month and has
gotten,
[49:54] I understand, 100% yield.
[49:55] Yeah.
[49:56] yield as to what the nodule was. Very
important.
[49:59] So if it's cancerous,
[50:00] it gives you a great opportunity to
intervene on that patient with thoracic
[50:05] intervene on that patient with thoracic
surgery
[50:05] and, and, you know, excise this, this area
before it has a chance to spread.
[50:10] So just incredible technology.
[50:12] It is AI, it's robotic, it's skilled
physicians being able to do this.
[50:16] I will say in my medical training, This
would have required an open lung biopsy,
[50:22] which is where a thoracic surgeon would
have to go through the chest wall into the
[50:27] lung. Clearly, the recovery time was a day
or two in the hospital after that,
[50:32] if not longer, and much more just time to
heal,
[50:35] and the complication rate is much higher.
[50:37] So just an incredible technology,
[50:39] and glad to be bringing these type things
to our community so patients do not have
[50:45] to travel north to get these things.
[50:47] So we also on August 11th cut the ribbon
on our GME space.
[50:51] As I've mentioned, our residency program
stood up with the University of Tennessee
[50:56] affiliated graduate medical education.
[50:58] That's what GME stands for,
[51:00] where we're now training resident
physicians at Murray Regional.
[51:04] This space was not ready on July 1st when
the residency program started,
[51:09] but we did about a month behind there able
to cut the ribbon on this incredible
[51:14] Incredible new space for, for our
residents to spend a lot of time at the
[51:19] residents to spend a lot of time at the
hospital.
[51:19] That's what residents do.
[51:21] They, they are there and present,
[51:23] and there's teaching spaces and call rooms
and places that they can chart and learn.
[51:28] So very excited to be bringing this space
onto our campus.
[51:32] So just a quick look at our timelines.
There's lots of projects.
[51:36] I won't go into them.
[51:37] Several of the green ones here are now in
the rearview mirror, which is good.
[51:42] We do have 3 very active projects that are
significantly impacting wayfinding on our
[51:48] campus. One is the ED renovation, the
other is what we call Access Murray,
[51:52] and then we have now just started the main
hospital lobby project.
[51:57] So let's talk just a minute about that
because that's probably one of the most
[52:02] disruptive to wayfinding on the campus.
[52:04] This is, of course, to bring a new modern
entrance to the hospital that's usable,
[52:09] which is a Admitting will be there.
[52:11] Patients can come in, register for their
procedures,
[52:15] and not have to go elsewhere as they come
in.
[52:18] We'll have security and, of course,
weapons detection in this space.
[52:22] So when we look at our artist's rendition
of this,
[52:25] this is a significant upgrade from the
1953 look.
[52:28] That 1953 marble is valuable and very
precious to people from a sentimental
[52:33] standpoint. We will preserve some of the
legacy of that as we think about moving
[52:38] forward in this project, but nonetheless,
we need a more functional,
[52:43] usable space in our lobby.
[52:44] So this is the artist's rendition I've
shared with you, and this is now underway.
[52:49] Our old lobby is closed.
[52:51] People have been entering the hospital
that way since 1953, so now after 73
[52:56] that way since 1953, so now after 73
years,
[52:56] there's alternative entrances,
[52:58] and I'll show you some of our wayfinding
You'll be finding a glimpse of that in a
[53:03] minute. So we try to help people get to
where they need to go as quickly as
[53:08] possible. But this is what our final
version, we hope,
[53:11] will look like in 12 to 18 months from now
as we rethermal package and put a vapor
[53:17] barrier and weather barrier up on the
front part of the old hospital building.
[53:22] More modern look, but definitely more
efficient.
[53:25] Thank you.
[53:25] So part of that look, and if I went back a
slide,
[53:28] you can see this big fountain area out
here.
[53:31] That is an expansion,
[53:32] gives us a space for outdoor activities
within the organization.
[53:36] It is now pretty much done.
[53:37] There's still some work around it to be
done, but the pavers are laid,
[53:42] and so it is now prepared. And you can see
the flags are at half-staff.
[53:46] This was taken last week in honor of Dolly
Parton.
[53:49] Okay, so this will be done in phases, and
I won't go deep into this slide,
[53:53] but just let you know you'll see this
happening in various parts of the front of
[53:58] that building over the next six months or
so.
[54:01] With that right side, as you're looking at
the building,
[54:04] being the first several phases that will
you'll see the brick coming off of that
[54:09] before too much longer. So let's talk
wayfinding just a second.
[54:13] So one of the greatest challenges we have
right now with all this.
[54:17] Yes.
[54:17] —construction is making sure patients can
find their way to where they need to go,
[54:21] and so what we are doing is we are now
looking at our campus across the board,
[54:25] and we're thinking of our buildings in
terms of letters.
[54:28] It gets confusing when people—
[54:30] when people are told you need to go to the
hospital to get this test.
[54:33] Well, what building, and where do they
need to go,
[54:36] and they very often show up in the wrong
lobby,
[54:38] and they need to be in a building 3
buildings away, and Some are frail,
[54:42] and so they then have to, you know, be
shuttled over there, or it's a long walk,
[54:46] or they've walked to the wrong place, have
to go back to their vehicle,
[54:50] drive around. We're trying to avoid all of
that as best as we can.
[54:53] So now we are naming our buildings,
[54:55] and all of the wayfinding will be based on
Building A will be the main hospital
[54:59] building, Building B the medical office
building, which is the middle one,
[55:03] and I'll show you another picture of this
in just a minute.
[55:06] Building C, outpatient position.
[55:08] Outpatient position.
[55:09] Pavilion building, and Building D is
urgent care.
[55:12] Building E is actually the old Centerstone
behavioral health building that's behind,
[55:18] which is our Human Resources Center now,
[55:20] and so you will see these kind of
wayfinding markers up.
[55:24] So we've also taken the parking lots and
assigned them to the openings.
[55:29] So if your entrance is A2, you're going to
park in parking lot A2.
[55:34] Okay.
[55:35] And so there's banners up on all the new
light poles and as you enter the campus
[55:40] showing you which parking lot you park in
for the entrance you need to enter.
[55:44] All right, so this is how the campus is
broken up and each entrance now has these
[55:49] big signs saying this is A2.
[55:51] A1 is the main hospital entrance that is
closed and will be closed for the next
[55:55] closed and will be closed for the next
year
[55:56] or so, and then you have all these other
entrances, so patients are being
[56:00] entrances, so patients are being
wayfinded.
[56:01] You You can go on our website, it will
have pictures.
[56:04] If I need to get my mammogram, you're
going to go to Building C,
[56:08] you're going to parking, you're going to
enter C1 entrance,
[56:11] you're going to go and park in Parking Lot
C,
[56:14] and so all this is out there to try to
wayfind for our campus,
[56:18] not only during these projects, but
looking as we grow in the future,
[56:22] and then these are just examples of all of
the signs that are throughout the
[56:26] building on the internal, external spaces,
[56:29] and when you pull into the parking lot to
help you find your way.
[56:33] I will say since we've closed the lobby,
we were very concerned.
[56:37] This is working, and it's working in a
great way,
[56:39] and I take my hat off to our volunteers
because they are still wayfinding a lot of
[56:44] people from those spaces up to where they
need to go.
[56:48] All right, so this is of course the
Reimagined Campus vision that we We set 3
[56:52] Reimagined Campus vision that we We set 3
and a
[56:52] half years ago now. That's what it will
look like when it's all done.
[56:57] We are getting close to this but need one
more year to get there.
[57:00] So another area, emergency care.
[57:02] Emergency care is probably the one thing
that all community hospitals should do and
[57:07] do well, and we focus on just the volumes
increases that we've seen since we started
[57:12] our renovation a couple years ago in our
ED.
[57:15] Our ED is seeing about 3,000 more visits a
year than what it did at that time.
[57:20] And you think 3,000 a year is not much.
[57:22] That's 10 more patients a day though,
almost, that's coming in there.
[57:26] And so it does add up to more people that
have to be seen with a length of stay of,
[57:31] you know, 3 to 4 hours in the ED total.
[57:33] It does create some challenges when you're
renovating the space where more people
[57:38] are coming to seek emergency care.
[57:40] And we get that and we work through that
every day.
[57:43] With throughput and lots of other
measures, but at the end of it,
[57:47] we're just trying to bring more spaces so
we can treat more people and treat more
[57:52] people in high acuity.
[57:53] So we have exam rooms and we have trauma
rooms that are, that are being built.
[57:58] We have, we have 3 more phases to go.
[58:00] Phase 4 will start hopefully this week or
the next,
[58:03] and I'm not going to go over what each
phase is there,
[58:07] but you can see we'll work through it, and
we're looking at by May Uh,
[58:11] to June of next year,
[58:12] we'll be done with this project and our ER
will be fully renovated, updated,
[58:17] and have lots more treatment spaces for
patients to be seen.
[58:20] And these are just some pictures of the
finished spaces,
[58:24] which are being very well received with
the patients seeking care there. All
[58:28] the patients seeking care there. All
right.
[58:28] So Access Murray, this is our parking. How
do you get in and out of our campus?
[58:33] How do you park? Of course, the goal has
always been to bring more parking spaces,
[58:38] more ADA parking, and a greener campus
when it's all said and done.
[58:42] And then the infamous traffic light
project.
[58:45] And this is, uh, this is the overall
parking plan,
[58:48] and all of it's done except for the right
lower left-hand corner,
[58:52] which started in July, and that's the last
phase.
[58:55] So hopefully we will lay asphalt there
before the asphalt companies close in
[58:59] December, and we will have the full slate
of the extra 200 spaces.
[59:03] And, and we won't have all of the ADA
spaces until the lobby area is done.
[59:07] Okay.
[59:08] But certainly our parking will be much,
much better,
[59:11] and we hope to bring employees back soon
that have been parking at Graymere Church
[59:16] of Christ and being shuttled over because
of just all the challenges of these
[59:21] construction projects. So lots going on.
[59:24] Just a quick update on the spend, which
I'm very transparent about these numbers.
[59:29] We've spent to date about $60 million of
the bond money and have about $40 million
[59:34] left to to allocate.
[59:35] Some of the allocations are still in
projects that are finishing.
[59:39] Some are just those last finishing
invoices as they come in on the previous
[59:44] projects, but we're pretty much on budget
with everything.
[59:47] There have been a few changes to the scope
just as we learn more about renovating a
[59:52] 73-year-old building.
[59:54] There's always fun behind the walls, as
Deborah and her team can attest to.
[59:58] So That's the glimpse of the spend,
[1:00:00] and of course we're spending a lot of
money locally.
[1:00:04] We want as much of these dollars to go—
this is a little bit old.
[1:00:08] I hope to update this one.
[1:00:09] I think we're well over $10 million of a
local spend at this point.
[1:00:13] Not going to go over all of the projects
we have planned for this fiscal year,
[1:00:18] but you're going to see that these aren't
the only things we are doing.
[1:00:23] We're updating linear accelerators for
radiation treatments in our cancer center,
[1:00:28] building spaces, refreshing our rooms.
[1:00:30] optimizing basically all the spaces that
we have for the growth of healthcare for
[1:00:35] our community. And so with that,
[1:00:37] I will pause and answer questions before I
let Deborah come up and talk about EMS.
[1:00:42] Dr. Chan, I got one question for you.
[1:00:44] Yes, sir.
[1:00:45] With this construction going on,
[1:00:47] is there any other areas of the hospital
being Worked on older part of the building
[1:00:53] such as the second floor? Because I've had
some complaints about that.
[1:00:58] Yeah, so the second floor of the old
hospital is where we have currently
[1:01:03] hospital is where we have currently
outpatient
[1:01:03] surgery beds where patients come in,
they're checked in for their surgeries,
[1:01:09] they stay in that room until they go to
surgery.
[1:01:12] Sometimes they come back to those rooms
and then are discharged home If it's an
[1:01:17] outpatient surgery or they'll be
transitioned inpatient from the recovery
[1:01:22] transitioned inpatient from the recovery
room.
[1:01:23] It is in the oldest part of the hospital,
[1:01:25] and we do have plans to do a significant
upgrade to that area.
[1:01:30] Those plans are being made right now.
[1:01:32] We talked about them earlier today at a
leadership meeting of just—
[1:01:37] there's a couple directions we need to go.
[1:01:40] It will be, I think, the next big
construction renovation site we need to
[1:01:45] construction renovation site we need to
address.
[1:01:45] I, I, we, we want to do everything.
[1:01:48] You just can't do everything at once
because of the disruption that we already
[1:01:53] because of the disruption that we already
have
[1:01:53] on our campus with the lobby closed, the
ER under construction.
[1:01:58] You know, we've had all the other areas.
[1:02:00] We're putting a new roof on all the
hospital that's being impacted,
[1:02:05] about to take the whole front wall off of
those rooms,
[1:02:09] which will be impactful of those rooms.
[1:02:11] So we still got to care for patients
during this process.
[1:02:15] And even though the spaces in some of
those areas are old and,
[1:02:19] and well used through the years, and
they're showing their age,
[1:02:24] it still comes down to making sure
patients can be seen and we can do
[1:02:28] patients can be seen and we can do
surgeries that
[1:02:29] need to be done without being disrupted.
So we'll come back soon.
[1:02:34] I think within the next 3 to 4 months, we
will know what that next phase will be.
[1:02:39] And, and it will probably involve brand
new experience for surgery patients in a
[1:02:45] new experience for surgery patients in a
lot
[1:02:45] of different ways. Good question though.
Mr. Strahan. Thank you, Chair. Dr.
[1:02:50] Chee, how do you dictate and monitor local
spend? I, I need to be taught that.
[1:02:56] We have developers that from Denver using
people out of California How did you
[1:03:01] dictate that early on when you sat with
them? We absolutely did.
[1:03:05] When we did the pro formas for all the
construction companies,
[1:03:10] I think that we had about 4 come on site
and present, you know, their plans,
[1:03:15] how they would do things, kind of their
budget and spend.
[1:03:19] We made it very clear that we wanted as
many dollars to stay local as possible.
[1:03:24] I think what you will see is this number
will Climb,
[1:03:28] and that Turner Construction does the big
things,
[1:03:31] but the local contractors are really
valuable in the finished products,
[1:03:36] the drywall and the finishing and all of
that.
[1:03:39] So what you see is with these projects,
you don't see a lot of local spend early
[1:03:45] you don't see a lot of local spend early
on,
[1:03:45] but as they come to, you know,
[1:03:47] the final stages of getting it ready for
patient care and all,
[1:03:51] those local contractors have been just
valuable.
[1:03:54] And we We just asked Turner to prioritize
local contractors.
[1:03:58] They still bid it out, and there's a
budget to the bottom line of this,
[1:04:03] but we want as many as possible. How do
you monitor that? Do they do that?
[1:04:08] They do that in concert with multiple
committees with our senior leadership
[1:04:14] committees with our senior leadership
team.
[1:04:14] Yes, sir. Good. Thank you. I will give a
shout-out to Smith Construction
[1:04:19] shout-out to Smith Construction
Excavating.
[1:04:20] They've done a lot of the parking lot
work, and They've done a wonderful job.
[1:04:25] work, and They've done a wonderful job.
Good.
[1:04:25] I got to watch it out of my window over
the past several months, really 6 months,
[1:04:31] as they scooped up the old and laid down
the new with the drainage and everything.
[1:04:36] Just safe process, efficient. They did a
very, very good job. Thank you, Dr.
[1:04:42] very, very good job. Thank you, Dr.
Chaney.
[1:04:42] Thank you, Chair.
[1:04:43] Commissioner Hestla.
[1:04:45] Good job. This is terrific.
[1:04:49] It's beautiful. It looks— the inside
looks,
[1:04:53] and the pictures reminds me of Tennessee
Orthopaedic Alliance, those slick lobbies,
[1:04:59] you know, that kind of weave around a
little bit and everything's real sparkly.
[1:05:05] It looks terrific. It's really— it's
beautiful.
[1:05:09] Thank you.
[1:05:10] I remember asking you last year when you
were showing us the specs And what the
[1:05:14] outside would look like and all that. I
was asking you about painting the outside.
[1:05:19] Is it going to be a different color? Are
you going to keep everything the same?
[1:05:23] And you mentioned if you could just
sandblast it, it would probably do the
[1:05:27] sandblast it, it would probably do the
job.
[1:05:27] Is that still in the picture?
[1:05:29] So we did pressure wash basically every
blonde brick you see has been pressure
[1:05:34] washed in the past 3 or 4 years.
[1:05:36] Some brought out a much, much Some of them
have a much cleaner look.
[1:05:40] Some are just 70-something-year-old brick
that have absorbed a lot of weather
[1:05:45] through the years. I think on the front of
the hospital,
[1:05:49] what we have decided is that the old brick
behind that layer is built in 19—
[1:05:54] between 1949 and 1953, when asbestos was a
common insulation product.
[1:05:58] So behind that old brick, if you don't
disturb Serve as best as you find.
[1:06:03] But once we start tearing those windows
out and replacing the windows,
[1:06:07] which have to be replaced, it came— became
very clear.
[1:06:11] And this is where the scope changed in
that project a bit,
[1:06:14] that if we're going to do it, we ought to
do it right.
[1:06:18] And so we are taking off the front side
all of the old brick that's on the
[1:06:23] all of the old brick that's on the
southwest
[1:06:23] side of the building.
[1:06:25] So it has borne the brunt of most of the
weather on that side of your house,
[1:06:29] the wind and the rain.
[1:06:31] Mm-hmm.
[1:06:32] And so it needs to be taken off.
[1:06:33] There are moisture penetration problems
with that brick and the limestone around
[1:06:38] with that brick and the limestone around
the
[1:06:38] windows that's cracking.
[1:06:40] So we're just going to take it off, do a
complete new vapor thermal barrier,
[1:06:44] and then weather resist it with those
metal and glass panels that are much
[1:06:49] metal and glass panels that are much
easier to
[1:06:49] keep clean through the years.
[1:06:51] So that around the sides of that,
[1:06:53] which is not So weather-beaten and the
brick is in better shape.
[1:06:57] We are looking at probably staining that
brick a different color brown,
[1:07:01] but within the color scheme of the rest of
the blonde brick.
[1:07:05] And that's not the big tower, we're
talking still the old part of the
[1:07:09] talking still the old part of the
hospital,
[1:07:09] and replacing those windows.
[1:07:11] So you'll see that picture I showed you of
kind of the metal glassed-out front,
[1:07:16] modern look, but then around the sides you
will see some staining of the brick.
[1:07:21] Stain lasts much much longer than paint,
and you can pressure wash it,
[1:07:25] and it'll withstand a couple pressure
washings.
[1:07:28] So we feel that that's probably the way to
go and try to preserve some of that brick
[1:07:33] that's not so weather-beaten.
[1:07:34] That's interesting about the asbestos.
[1:07:38] It's in everything that was built before
1970.
[1:07:41] But all that will be alleviated within all
this process? It'll just be—
[1:07:45] We will abate all the asbestos layers.
[1:07:48] I mean, I'm You know, in the guts of an
old hospital like that,
[1:07:51] there are still pipes and things that are
not exposed to air that I'm sure probably
[1:07:56] still have asbestos. Every old building
has it, but we, we know where those are.
[1:08:01] And then when we, when it's time that we
have to disturb those areas in any way,
[1:08:06] we do the full abatement per protocol as
we need to, to go ahead and replace it.
[1:08:11] Sounds good. Thank you. Good job.
[1:08:16] And I will say that all the new stuff just
makes— to Commissioner Gary's comment—
[1:08:22] makes the older stuff look maybe not so
new. Looks less new. All right.
[1:08:28] Commissioner Combs? Thank you, Chairman
Stovall.
[1:08:33] My name is Greg Combs, and we haven't met
before.
[1:08:37] But, and this, I don't want to take you
too far off of where you're at in your
[1:08:43] discussion, but I'm curious.
[1:08:46] I thought while I had you here, I would
like to ask you a question.
[1:08:51] Sure.
[1:08:52] My first job was helping start Life Flight
for Vanderbilt Hospital back in the '80s,
[1:08:58] so that tells you how old I am.
[1:09:00] I have a question about when patient
delivery comes through Air Ambulatory,
[1:09:05] where is that patient delivered to?
Currently, which helipad?
[1:09:09] So we utilize the helipad that's in front
of our Plaza building,
[1:09:13] in front of the Election Commission. Okay,
that's the main helipad.
[1:09:17] Okay, I just want to make sure that I had
that correct.
[1:09:21] Yes, that, that is really the only one
that we use.
[1:09:24] So we have entertained bringing that on
campus,
[1:09:27] but those high-voltage wires that go
across the front part of our campus
[1:09:32] across the front part of our campus
parking lot
[1:09:33] make that very challenging, and then
there's not a place on the backside that,
[1:09:38] there's not a place on the backside that,
that,
[1:09:38] that needs the space to land a helicopter.
Okay.
[1:09:41] That's the perimeter that has to be set
up. That's probably the answer.
[1:09:46] I was just curious, had any thought been
given to bringing the patient to delivery
[1:09:51] to the rooftop of the hospital so that
they can be delivered directly into trauma
[1:09:56] center? It talks about that, but I can't
remember what that limitation was,
[1:10:01] whether that was structural or not. I can
get back with you on that question.
[1:10:06] Elevators, yeah, we'd have to redo all the
elevators too. Okay. All right.
[1:10:11] Thank you.
[1:10:12] Commissioner Markham.
[1:10:15] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Dr.
[1:10:16] Chaney, this, this new lung scope, I'll
call it—
[1:10:20] I can't pronounce what you said it was.
[1:10:22] Is it going to be preventive medicine just
like colonoscopy?
[1:10:26] At a certain age, you can have this lung
scope?
[1:10:29] All right, so the scope is only if
something is found on imaging.
[1:10:33] So there, there is a new protocol called
screening lung CTs.
[1:10:37] If you have been a smoker in your past or
have, you know,
[1:10:41] family history of lung cancer.
[1:10:43] I don't remember all the parameters,
[1:10:46] but insurances are now covering for you to
have a surveillance lung CT every so
[1:10:51] often to look for early lung cancers.
[1:10:53] And so if you qualify, you could have one,
or if you have a CT for another reason,
[1:10:59] which we do all kinds of CTs in our
emergency department— trauma,
[1:11:03] you come in and you fall and break a rib
and we need to, you know,
[1:11:07] X-ray you or CT you.
[1:11:09] All of those are potential also screening
tests for other things.
[1:11:13] Like, we may be looking for a broken rib,
but it may find—
[1:11:17] you may find an early nodule in your lung
that you didn't know was there,
[1:11:21] nobody knew, and we just incidentally
found it.
[1:11:25] We want to make sure that we have the
opportunity to not only capture all of
[1:11:30] opportunity to not only capture all of
those
[1:11:30] incidental findings,
[1:11:31] but also through a screening program with
your primary care physician,
[1:11:36] That can get chest x-rays regularly or
these lung CTs,
[1:11:39] that we can start identifying these, very
similar to how women get mammograms,
[1:11:45] where it's slated at a certain time, where
you get these every so often,
[1:11:49] and hopefully can detect, when it's very
small,
[1:11:52] a potential early malignancy that could
then be, through this, biopsied.
[1:11:57] So, you've got this, let's say it's the
size of a marble,
[1:12:01] and it's It's not really big yet, but we
don't know, is it cancer?
[1:12:05] You can wait, you can see if it grows,
[1:12:08] but that's got risk involved in it by
waiting.
[1:12:11] So now, if it looks suspicious in any way,
you can get this test.
[1:12:15] They can sample the core of that thing and
say, no, it's not cancer,
[1:12:19] or it was some fungal infection you
breathed when you were a child.
[1:12:24] And certainly anything new on chest x-rays
that have changed from time to time,
[1:12:29] that's a good sign that you need to go and
figure this thing out.
[1:12:33] And so it is a procedure that's, that's,
[1:12:36] that's then designed to get early answers
to findings on lung chest x-rays and lung
[1:12:42] CTs. Thank you. Appreciate it.
[1:12:43] That's probably more than you wanted, but—
No, that's good.
[1:12:47] I had to take my doctor hat off sometimes.
Thank you, Mr. Stovall.
[1:12:52] Mr. Ronsberg.
[1:12:54] I want you to know I'm a supporter of
Murray Regional,
[1:12:57] but I have some concerns and I want to ask
you about them real Sure.
[1:13:02] One of the biggest problems I have with
all this construction we've done,
[1:13:06] did we think about any of using any of
that money to improve services like
[1:13:11] that money to improve services like
bridging
[1:13:12] the— we— the hospital years ago burnt
bridges with Columbia Pediatrics.
[1:13:16] Now they ship all their patients to
Williamson.
[1:13:19] Williamson is getting ready to be bought
by St. Thomas.
[1:13:23] Well, Vanderbilt has Williamson's
pediatrics.
[1:13:26] There won't be a pediatric unit now
between Huntsville and Nashville for us.
[1:13:31] Have we thought about using any of that
money,
[1:13:34] or have we thought about expanding to
another— going back to a pediatrics unit?
[1:13:39] Because we lost one years ago. We had a
top-notch one. But I have several
[1:13:43] top-notch one. But I have several
concerns.
[1:13:44] This is one I just want to bring up right
now.
[1:13:47] Do we have any future looking at a
pediatric unit?
[1:13:50] Because as many people as we have moving
in this county, we're going to need it.
[1:13:55] So I'm a pediatrician by training. Not
sure if you knew that.
[1:13:59] Worked with Commissioner Hollingsworth
many,
[1:14:02] many years in treating kids at Murray
Regional.
[1:14:05] I think my very first call in 2002 when I
started at Murray Regional was to
[1:14:10] resuscitate twins that were 16 weeks
premature at 24 weeks and weighed about a
[1:14:15] premature at 24 weeks and weighed about a
pound
[1:14:15] and a half each. So I've been very
involved with the pediatric journey of
[1:14:20] involved with the pediatric journey of
Murray
[1:14:20] Regional for a long time.
[1:14:22] Thank you.
[1:14:24] And I will also just say that I think
what's changed the landscape is the
[1:14:28] subspecialization of medicine.
[1:14:30] It used to be that general pediatricians
handled a lot of sick kids in the
[1:14:35] handled a lot of sick kids in the
hospital.
[1:14:36] That has changed in the training of
pediatricians.
[1:14:39] It's trained in the comfort level and the
expectations of society and the community
[1:14:44] of needing pediatric specialists to be
involved in a child's care.
[1:14:48] So, well, what— to answer your question,
it really comes down to,
[1:14:52] it's not about spending the money to build
the space.
[1:14:56] It's, do we have enough volume of a
certain type of pediatric patient illness
[1:15:00] certain type of pediatric patient illness
that
[1:15:01] would justify having pediatric specialists
practicing at Murray Regional?
[1:15:05] So, So take critical care. So we've done
this pro forma with critical care.
[1:15:10] I think the first thing I would like is
eventually to have a pediatric critical
[1:15:15] eventually to have a pediatric critical
care
[1:15:15] unit. We would keep a lot more kids at
Murray Regional if we knew we had that
[1:15:20] backup. And I will say,
[1:15:22] we always have a board-certified
pediatrician in-house at Murray Regional
[1:15:26] pediatrician in-house at Murray Regional
24/7 every
[1:15:27] day of the year. There's always a
board-certified pediatrician to handle
[1:15:32] board-certified pediatrician to handle
pediatric
[1:15:32] admissions, We have the neonatal intensive
care unit with neonatal nurse
[1:15:37] practitioners and neonatologists because
there are enough babies.
[1:15:41] We have 8 babies right now in our nursery.
[1:15:43] There are enough babies in our NICU that
it justifies having those pediatric
[1:15:48] specialists, those neonatologists there.
[1:15:51] The math, if we kept every critical care
patient that we ship out of this area,
[1:15:56] which we would not keep all of them
because some are definitely going to have
[1:16:01] because some are definitely going to have
to go
[1:16:01] to Vanderbilt, right?
[1:16:02] But even if we kept all of them at Murray
Regional with a pediatric intensive care
[1:16:07] unit, the last performance showed we would
still not have enough patients to have 3
[1:16:13] critical care doctors, which is how many
you have to have to stand up 24/7 service.
[1:16:18] Well, if we lose Williamson Medical,
that's going to increase—
[1:16:22] that could increase your business
drastically.
[1:16:25] That could, that could change the
landscape, no doubt.
[1:16:28] Growth of our community— at some point we
might be big enough to definitely,
[1:16:33] and we to do this math every so many years
to check and see.
[1:16:37] I don't know what's going to happen at
Williamson.
[1:16:40] I've heard that Ascension is going to
honor the pediatric unit there and keep it
[1:16:45] open. That's— I've just heard that
probably through the press or something.
[1:16:50] I have no insider information on that. So
we are— you know, I'm a pediatrician.
[1:16:55] I want great care. But I also want— when a
child is really sick,
[1:16:59] and needs to be in the hospital, which
doesn't happen like it used to,
[1:17:03] you have to have the full weight of
specialists to bring to that child's care
[1:17:08] specialists to bring to that child's care
when
[1:17:09] they need it and not have to then transfer
from the hospital to a Vanderbilt when
[1:17:14] the child is sicker.
[1:17:15] And that's why we're always weighing, is,
is, is this,
[1:17:18] is this patient potentially going to need
a higher level of care?
[1:17:22] It's a tough question, and I, I hear you.
I absolutely do.
[1:17:26] Well, I have several others,
[1:17:28] but we'll bring that up over the course of
the next year or so.
[1:17:32] But I appreciate it because I probably
wanted to ask him more about EMS because I
[1:17:37] was 33 years with the fire department,
also 31 years with Murrayville Fire.
[1:17:42] You're going to hear a good EMS update
here in just a minute, sir. Thank you.
[1:17:47] Thank you, Chairman. And thank you for
calling.
[1:17:50] My colleague from the 3rd District,
Commissioner Harlan. Good evening, Dr.
[1:17:54] Commissioner Harlan. Good evening, Dr.
Chaney.
[1:17:55] The question I have is very elementary,
uh, and I'm curious,
[1:17:59] and maybe the county commission can ask,
uh, help with this, uh, answer.
[1:18:03] Okay, say for instance, uh,
[1:18:05] $80 million bond and the hospital has
completed $75,000 million,
[1:18:09] so we got $5 million left. So What is done
with the $5 million?
[1:18:13] Are you— is the hospital able to use the
money, or is the city, the county?
[1:18:18] So that's my question.
[1:18:19] Basically, do the hospital able to use the
rest of the $5 million?
[1:18:23] So, you know, I'm just using that example.
[1:18:26] No, no, it's a great example, and it's a
good question. It absolutely is.
[1:18:30] Um, first off, I doubt if there's going to
be that much left over as When we get to
[1:18:36] the final of all this, we want to stay
under budget. Of course we do.
[1:18:40] We just don't know how much we will be
under budget.
[1:18:43] There are parameters of what we can use
that money for,
[1:18:47] and it has to be spent in Murray County
for—
[1:18:50] We have borrowed the money through the
county's bond agency and rating,
[1:18:54] which gives us a good rate on getting
capital to make improvements.
[1:18:58] Murray Regional right now Is 100%
responsible for paying that back.
[1:19:03] And we have done this for 73 years.
[1:19:05] There have been bonds every few years that
come before the county because everybody,
[1:19:10] every hospital system gets capital from
Wall Street. It's just how you get it.
[1:19:15] If for-profit's going to get it through
investors,
[1:19:18] we use municipal bonds and we're very good
and happy with the relationship.
[1:19:23] So we, we would have a choice if we have
it left over.
[1:19:26] If there's another project that meets the
The parameters that the bond agency
[1:19:31] allowed us to borrow this money to do,
[1:19:34] because they want to know what you're
going to use it for.
[1:19:37] They want to know there's going to be a
return on this investment.
[1:19:42] If it's within the parameters,
[1:19:44] we can expand the scope and get permission
to do it if there's a surgery area that
[1:19:49] we need to upgrade, or we could just pay
off some of the bond notes.
[1:19:53] We have less to pay off in the long run,
which is the choices I think we would
[1:19:58] which is the choices I think we would
have.
[1:19:58] Do we use it for another project that
improves improves healthcare for Murray
[1:20:03] County, or do we go ahead and just shorten
our overall debt for the long term so
[1:20:08] that our bond payments over the next 20
years or less?
[1:20:12] Okay, so the bond is completely Murray
Regional responsibility?
[1:20:16] This, this part of the bond is our
responsibility to pay back.
[1:20:20] Okay.
[1:20:21] All right, all right. Thank you. Thank
you, Sheriff. All right, Dr.
[1:20:25] Chaney, I don't see anybody else.
[1:20:27] Just willing to ask you any questions or
speak on anything. All right.
[1:20:31] Well, I will introduce Ms. Deborah
Lumpkins, our Chief Operating Officer.
[1:20:35] Deborah is also Chief Nursing Officer of
Murray Regional for 15 years, uh,
[1:20:39] before she moved into this role.
[1:20:41] And she has oversight of our ambulance
service, EMS service.
[1:20:45] And so I'm gonna turn it over to her.
[1:20:47] Deborah, you can just click on the slides
and you should be good to go.
[1:20:52] Thank you for the opportunity tonight.
[1:20:56] I am most excited to share our newest—
let's see if I can get my slides—
[1:21:03] my newest department director at Murray
Regional.
[1:21:08] And this is Greg Johnson,
[1:21:10] who is assuming the administrative
director role of our EMS.
[1:21:16] Greg comes highly decorated and respected.
[1:21:20] I mean, he has an associate degree, as you
can see,
[1:21:25] in emergency medical services, bachelor's
degree in business,
[1:21:31] master's in administration, 15 years of
experience,
[1:21:36] most recently as the program director for
the Columbia State state EMS program
[1:21:44] there. And interesting that he has served
as a previous elected county official
[1:21:52] in Ohio, if I am correct.
[1:21:54] So we're so proud that he is here, and he
has— this is what, week 3?
[1:22:01] Starting today.
[1:22:02] Yes, week 3. So he definitely has hit the
ground running and is really doing a
[1:22:09] fantastic job for us.
[1:22:11] So I look forward to future reports that
Greg will give to this commission.
[1:22:18] One other point that I want to make that I
didn't feel like for week 3 that it's
[1:22:26] fair just for Greg to give you the annual
report for EMS,
[1:22:31] so I am going to share that, but then he
is going to share, you know,
[1:22:37] some His vision and just plans as we move
into the future.
[1:22:43] So I want to share for those that are new
to the commission that just where our EMS
[1:22:50] stations are located.
[1:22:52] So 3 stations here in Columbia, Maine,
near the election One at Tom J.
[1:22:59] Hitch, one at Neapolis, one at Mount
Pleasant, one at Hampshire,
[1:23:05] and then there are 2 additional peak
trucks that are staffed 6 to 6 and/or 9 to
[1:23:12] trucks that are staffed 6 to 6 and/or 9 to
9 so
[1:23:12] that we can, again, meet those peak
volumes that we have. Staffing.
[1:23:19] We have 52 full-time positions. And that
is a wide variety of EMTs, paramedics.
[1:23:26] We have critical care trained paramedics.
[1:23:30] We also have dispatch there,
[1:23:32] as well as a whole host of PRN staff that
can help when we need extra staffing
[1:23:40] and/or cover vacations, sick leave.
[1:23:43] Current vacancies right now, 3 full-time,
and then we have We have 4 PRN vacancies.
[1:23:50] I want to share about volumes because
we've already heard from Dr.
[1:23:57] Chaney just how the growth of healthcare
in, you know, in our community,
[1:24:03] you all see that, just the growth of
census in our community.
[1:24:09] So I wanted to give you kind of a look of
our current fiscal year that ended in '26.
[1:24:17] Thank you.
[1:24:17] That ended in June compared to the
previous fiscal year.
[1:24:21] So the total number of calls that— for the
911 calls,
[1:24:25] we had over 17,000 compared to 14,000 the
previous year.
[1:24:30] Transfers to a higher level of care,
again,
[1:24:33] we want to keep patients in our community,
[1:24:36] but there are those patients that need to
be transferred. So 2,300 were transferred.
[1:24:42] Okay.
[1:24:43] This past year compared with 4,000 the
previous.
[1:24:47] And then you can see then that total
transport of over 19,000 compared to
[1:24:53] transport of over 19,000 compared to
18,000.
[1:24:54] So over the previous year, the transports
increased 8.2%.
[1:24:59] And again, that's just driven by a growth
in, in our community.
[1:25:04] Frequently asked, and a lot of times there
are discussions regarding response times.
[1:25:12] You know, what are those average response
times?
[1:25:16] And again, you all know the geographic
range that our county— that, you know,
[1:25:22] we have rural compared to, you know, here
in the city proper of Columbia.
[1:25:29] But in our most recent fiscal year that
ended,
[1:25:33] the average time was 10 minutes and 22
seconds. Again, average time.
[1:25:39] And this graph, you can see where it gives
you the whole variance there.
[1:25:45] And then the— compared to last year, which
was 10 minutes and 2 seconds.
[1:25:51] So again, very close year over year.
[1:25:54] And I'll just share kind of that benchmark
we're often asked.
[1:26:00] So in rural areas, about 15 minutes is
that average response time.
[1:26:05] Urban is a 9-minute response time.
[1:26:08] So, you know, our times remain within that
rural benchmark while maintaining a good
[1:26:16] city performance here in Columbia.
[1:26:19] And then we do break down that average
response times by city.
[1:26:24] And just again, year over year, that
comparison.
[1:26:28] These are average times in minutes, and
then the number of calls.
[1:26:34] So you can see there Columbia here at the
main being the— again,
[1:26:39] that average time in the 9 minutes,
[1:26:42] and roughly about 10,000 calls coming here
from the city.
[1:26:47] And then all the way to where our lower
volume is going to be,
[1:26:53] There at Williamsport with a longer
response time.
[1:26:57] Mm-hmm.
[1:26:57] I mean, it, you know,
[1:26:59] it just takes longer again geographically
to cover the mileage.
[1:27:04] But we look at these literally on a
monthly basis.
[1:27:08] We see if there's any outliers and, you
know, where does this, you know,
[1:27:14] leave us for potential growth,
[1:27:17] certainly in the future as our county
continues to grow.
[1:27:21] And then I want to share the financial
summary. I like, you know, Dr.
[1:27:27] Chaney with the bond and construction, I
mean, transparency.
[1:27:32] And this is just a snapshot.
[1:27:34] Our CFO meets regularly with Doug
Loukonen, you know,
[1:27:38] shares the operating reports at a very
detailed level.
[1:27:43] Just want to highlight here on a—
[1:27:45] One slide.
[1:27:46] Again, just to highlight the financials,
[1:27:50] and this is probably an easier way to
think about it,
[1:27:55] but our revenue declined 6% year over year
as reimbursement pressures— I mean,
[1:28:02] we see that. Our reimbursement pressures
increased. We had higher payer denials.
[1:28:09] That's not just— in EMS.
[1:28:12] I mean, we see that across numerous
service lines at the hospital,
[1:28:18] and there were stricter contract terms.
[1:28:21] Just again, you know, payers don't want to
pay,
[1:28:26] and that's just a struggle that we often
face in healthcare.
[1:28:31] However, on a positive, our operating
expenses were reduced 2%.
[1:28:37] That's good.
[1:28:38] And I credit the team with that.
[1:28:41] And that was through disciplined just
management of labor and administrative
[1:28:48] costs. We meet every 2 weeks, again,
[1:28:51] looking at staffing and when the payroll
ends, the volumes, the numbers,
[1:28:57] and how can we continue to be and put
forth operational efficiency.
[1:29:03] So, however, despite these cost-saving
measures, our operating loss increased.
[1:29:10] So we had the previous year,
[1:29:13] our operating loss was $3.1 million
compared to $3.4 million.
[1:29:18] And that was largely due to escalating
maintenance costs. Our EMS fleet is aging.
[1:29:26] Some of our equipment is aging.
[1:29:28] Yes.
[1:29:29] Fuel costs are up. I mean, not, you know,
that's not, you know,
[1:29:35] it's not unique just to us personally,
but, you know, for the fleet as well.
[1:29:41] And so we completed a record number of
transports during our fiscal year while
[1:29:48] maintaining strong expense controls and
operating performance.
[1:29:54] I will share that although it may be a
little challenging to find Nationwide data
[1:30:01] that for county-owned EMSs, more than 70%
operate at a loss.
[1:30:06] And I know all of our counties around
here, including Williamson,
[1:30:12] have substantial operating losses for
their EMS.
[1:30:16] And there's several reasons for that.
[1:30:19] Just again, payer contracts, I mean,
[1:30:22] they just We don't pay what it costs to
conduct an ambulance run.
[1:30:28] But again, we had— we continue to look at
our operational efficiencies,
[1:30:34] and I'm very proud of the work that our
team has done this past year.
[1:30:40] With that, I'm going to turn it over to
Greg,
[1:30:44] and then we will answer any questions here
in just a moment.
[1:30:51] Thank you. And before I start, just again,
congratulations to all of you.
[1:30:55] I know what it means to get elected and be
in these roles, so congrats to you.
[1:31:00] And I'm happy to be here and serving at
Murray Regional.
[1:31:03] I feel like I've been a part of the Murray
County family for a long time serving at
[1:31:08] the college, so it's neat to be in just a
different role with Murray Regional.
[1:31:12] I'm excited to be here. Just a few points
on our education and public events.
[1:31:17] We do now have a full-time training
manager.
[1:31:20] At the EMS service, and so that's allowed
us to increase the amount of training that
[1:31:24] we're putting on for our employees.
[1:31:27] We also have a new collaborative training
that's happening with the county's
[1:31:31] athletic trainers at the high schools, so
that's been an improvement.
[1:31:35] A couple of public events that we've
supported: Mule Day, the county rodeo,
[1:31:39] and then the county fair that just
happened recently.
[1:31:43] I got, I got my first fair experience. I
grew up in Rutherford County.
[1:31:47] We don't have fairs, so I got my first
fair experience,
[1:31:50] and that was an this past weekend, so I
enjoyed that.
[1:31:53] And then we put on here, we were
recognized again this year.
[1:31:57] This is multiple years in a row now that
we've received the American Heart
[1:32:01] Association Lifeline Award for a lot of
the work that we've done through our CPR
[1:32:06] training efforts. For fiscal year '27,
some of the priorities:
[1:32:09] we want to expand educational outreach to
our first responders in the community,
[1:32:14] those that serve alongside us, and the lay
rescuers in our community,
[1:32:18] the that want to help and respond. We want
to be out there and help educate them.
[1:32:23] We want to increase special event coverage
throughout the county with our ambulances
[1:32:28] and our UTV to meet the needs that are
there.
[1:32:30] We want to execute some departmental goals
as we start on this journey.
[1:32:35] With my leadership, I've been meeting with
our team to focus on some short-term and
[1:32:39] long-term goals for the EMS agency, and so
we're going to start executing on those.
[1:32:44] We want to evaluate service expansion
opportunities.
[1:32:47] Where else in the county might benefit
from having an ambulance need in place.
[1:32:52] And so we'll work with county leadership
and our leadership to determine those
[1:32:57] areas. And then we have this next year,
[1:32:59] we have the Murray County contract coming
up again for renewal.
[1:33:03] And then I just want to take a second and
recognize we had on Friday morning,
[1:33:07] as we were in a meeting,
[1:33:08] our teams were called to a local middle
school for a 10-year-old that was in
[1:33:13] school for a 10-year-old that was in
cardiac
[1:33:13] arrest. And I just want to take a second
to recognize the school officials that
[1:33:18] to recognize the school officials that
were
[1:33:18] there at that, the teachers, the
principals that responded as well.
[1:33:22] We had members from our team, from the
Sheriff's Department,
[1:33:26] Tennessee Highway Patrol, Columbia Fire
and Rescue,
[1:33:29] and then obviously our Mercy Department
teams at Murray Regional for the response
[1:33:33] that led to a resuscitation of that
pediatric patient that day.
[1:33:37] That patient is still alive and is in
Nashville,
[1:33:40] and we pray and wish them all the best.
[1:33:42] So we're thankful for that response, and
again,
[1:33:45] I just want to send as many kudos as I can
to our school system.
[1:33:49] It was kind of a weird setup.
[1:33:51] They actually had a fire alarm that was
happening at the time,
[1:33:54] so the fire department was on scene when
that, that happened,
[1:33:58] so it couldn't have been better for that
individual to have had those rescuers
[1:34:02] there, but just a great coordinated effort
throughout all the responding units and
[1:34:07] our emergency department crews to get that
patient resuscitated and thankfully to
[1:34:12] Vanderbilt where he's getting care now.
[1:34:14] And then last but not least, just again,
we're proud to be here,
[1:34:18] proud to serve Murray County.
[1:34:20] We are recognized as a leading ambulance
service provider in Tennessee.
[1:34:24] We are what's called the RMCC, a
communication center hub for our EMS area.
[1:34:28] And so all the different counties around
us rely on us for our EMS leadership,
[1:34:33] for our communication efforts. We use
evidence-based clinical protocols.
[1:34:37] We do what's best for our patients.
[1:34:39] And so we provide comprehensive initial
and continuing education for our staff and
[1:34:44] community partners. We continue to partner
with our Murray County Fire partners and
[1:34:49] Columbia Fire partners to make sure that
they've got ongoing continuing education
[1:34:54] they've got ongoing continuing education
as
[1:34:54] well. And then we continue to deliver that
high-quality, patient-centered care.
[1:34:58] I love our goal at the,
[1:35:00] at the hospital is the clinical excellence
and compassionate care every patient
[1:35:04] every time. And I truly feel like since
day one working with these responders that
[1:35:09] that is their mission every single day.
And it's neat to see that on display.
[1:35:14] And so as Ms. Lumpkins alluded to,
[1:35:16] we've continued to see this growth in
service demand.
[1:35:19] We've tried to keep our response times
down and meet the need established from
[1:35:23] national benchmarks and by the residents
of this county.
[1:35:27] We continue to hope to proudly serve this
county as we move forward.
[1:35:31] So thank you all again, and I appreciate
your time with this presentation.
[1:35:35] All right. We've got a couple of
questions. Commissioner Markham, you're
[1:35:39] questions. Commissioner Markham, you're
going.
[1:35:40] Thank you. Probably for Deborah, the
question.
[1:35:42] Although you're If your total transports
was up, let's say 1,500 calls per—
[1:35:47] over the last year, but your transfer to
higher care was down,
[1:35:50] does that mean more admittance or more
treat and release or both?
[1:35:54] Both. And I don't have the total breakdown
of that,
[1:35:59] but we've We've seen an increase in our ED
volume and in our overall inpatient
[1:36:07] volume, so it would be good.
[1:36:10] So even though you have more calls that
you responded to,
[1:36:15] less people gone to Nashville, say,
[1:36:18] there is opportunity for Murray Regional
to make money in the ER
[1:36:24] or admittance? Is that correct?
[1:36:27] Yes, I mean, yes, there is.
[1:36:29] And I mean, again, without knowing their
payer mix, but, you know, yes.
[1:36:34] And of course there's— Greg mentioned
protocols.
[1:36:37] I mean, there's those protocols where, you
know, you have to— the level of care,
[1:36:42] take the patient to the nearest ED and
those type of things.
[1:36:46] And again, another question, the Spring
Hill response time,
[1:36:50] I think was about 16 minutes without
flipping back to that slide.
[1:36:55] And that station is right next to Spring
Hill High School, correct?
[1:37:00] Yes.
[1:37:01] And then now, are you guys not covering
Spring Hill?
[1:37:06] We still— I mean, we still have the
Neapolis station that covers there.
[1:37:11] But I know that the city of Spring Hill,
[1:37:15] which is the Port Royal site and the
Campbell— the Campbell Station site,
[1:37:20] that is where there are those discussions
occurring.
[1:37:25] But currently they're being covered inside
the Spring Hill city limits.
[1:37:28] Your calls in Spring Hill are to Carter's
Creek or—
[1:37:31] Correct.
[1:37:32] To Greens Mill Road or more of a rural—
[1:37:35] Yes.
[1:37:36] Outside the city limits of Spring Hill.
[1:37:39] Correct.
[1:37:39] Okay. Thank you.
[1:37:40] Yes. Mr. Strahan.
[1:37:45] Thank you, Chair. There's certain phrases
that trigger a
[1:37:52] little anxiety to this group.
[1:37:55] One of those phrases is escalating
maintenance and fleet
[1:38:01] equipment costs. Are we—
[1:38:04] can we expect a request for something to
make up for that
[1:38:10] loss?
[1:38:13] I think what makes up for that loss,
[1:38:16] or what would make up for that loss, as we
add new ambulances,
[1:38:22] and I know we've added one this year,
there's still a time delay on—
[1:38:29] a production delay on getting ambulances.
[1:38:33] Yeah.
[1:38:34] But again, as I mentioned, fuel costs have
escalated.
[1:38:38] And just, you know, there's other aging
equipment.
[1:38:41] I mean, and Greg can go, you know, in
depth on a lot of the equipment,
[1:38:46] but life-saving equipment, those, you
know, ventilator-type supports.
[1:38:51] Is there something you need from the
commission?
[1:38:55] I mean, I understand things age. I do.
[1:38:59] We have a new guy on the block,
[1:39:02] and I'm sure he's going to be ready to fix
everything that's broken.
[1:39:09] Congratulations and thank you. Ohio, huh?
Indiana.
[1:39:14] The commission has a budget. Dr. Chaney
has a budget.
[1:39:19] He's not afraid to ask us for things, and
we respect that.
[1:39:25] Can we anticipate something, a request of
significance?
[1:39:30] Or just another day?
[1:39:32] Yeah, that will be, will be coming as we
work toward those contract renegotiations
[1:39:37] with the mayor and the ambulance
committee.
[1:39:40] Our goal is to, you know, have that by
the, you know,
[1:39:43] by the end of the year because we know you
all enter into the whole budget cycle.
[1:39:48] So today I don't know what that number
would, would look like.
[1:39:52] Yeah, we, we'll talk. Yeah, no surprises,
right?
[1:39:57] Right.
[1:40:00] Look at that smile. God bless you. Thank
you very much.
[1:40:03] Thank you for the job that you do and for
the people that you do it for. Thank you.
[1:40:08] Thanks, Chair. Mr. Rosberg. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
[1:40:12] Greg, first thing I want to say is
congratulations to you.
[1:40:15] You're probably going to get some
questions you're going to have to think
[1:40:20] questions you're going to have to think
about,
[1:40:20] but you got Ms. Lumpkins up there that can
help you.
[1:40:23] One of my— I've got a couple questions.
First one will be, uh, on the Peak
[1:40:28] First one will be, uh, on the Peak
Command.
[1:40:28] Those units are still stationed at
headquarters, right? Station 1.
[1:40:33] I know at one time when the Culeoaka Fire
Station was built,
[1:40:36] it was built to support an EMS unit.
[1:40:39] I didn't know if you thought about maybe
having one down there to cover that area
[1:40:44] because it has a lot more calls than what
I'm seeing that we're going to Spring Hill
[1:40:49] with right now. And my other question,
[1:40:51] I was wondering about where are we with
Spring Hill,
[1:40:55] because I know Williamson Medical does not
want to come into Murray County anymore,
[1:41:00] but Spring Hill signed a contract with
Williamson Medical to— for that to happen.
[1:41:05] Are we having to go into Spring Hill a lot
right now or not?
[1:41:09] We're not going in any different. We've
not seen any trends.
[1:41:13] I mean, Williamson is still Okay.
[1:41:15] And back to your other point, yes, that is
one of the things when Greg and I met,
[1:41:21] looking at those, you know, 12-hour
trucks.
[1:41:24] I mean, you being in the business all
those years now,
[1:41:28] it's easier to staff a 24-hour truck.
[1:41:31] Oh, yeah.
[1:41:32] You know, and, you know, for lots of
reasons.
[1:41:35] So, yes, I think that is one of the things
looking at,
[1:41:40] can we redeploy our resources to even
improve these numbers.
[1:41:45] So I appreciate it. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman. Mr. Morrow. Thank you, Mr.
[1:41:50] Chairman. Mr. Morrow. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
[1:41:50] Do we currently have any open orders for
ambulances that haven't been fulfilled?
[1:41:55] I know there's a wait time usually when we
purchase.
[1:41:58] I didn't know if we had gotten all of them
we'd ordered or if we were still waiting
[1:42:03] on some.
[1:42:04] It is on, on its way.
[1:42:05] That is, and I don't have a timeline in
front of me, but it is,
[1:42:10] so in essence that order is being
fulfilled because then it has to be
[1:42:14] fulfilled because then it has to be
outfitted and
[1:42:15] wrapped and those type of things.
[1:42:18] Yeah.
[1:42:18] And we, you know, go before our capital
committee even to, you know,
[1:42:22] think ahead that we know, you know, how
can we, you know,
[1:42:26] get these ordered even though you don't
have to pay, you know,
[1:42:30] for them until they arrive.
[1:42:32] So we don't wait until it's like, oh, we,
you know, for the year to transpire,
[1:42:37] knowing that it's still that, you know,
9-plus month lead time.
[1:42:41] What about remounts?
[1:42:43] I know at one point, not too awful long
ago, there was discussion on remounts.
[1:42:48] They'd found a good source for remounts.
It was pretty, very competitive
[1:42:53] It was pretty, very competitive
money-wise.
[1:42:54] Have we done any further dealings with
that?
[1:42:57] Have we— You may— I don't know that you
know a lot of specifics, but we—
[1:43:03] anytime we can remount and use that
option, absolutely.
[1:43:07] Look, you know, we do that.
[1:43:10] Okay.
[1:43:10] And there's only— and you may know how
many times you can remount.
[1:43:15] I mean, there's only so many times that
that can happen.
[1:43:19] And then you've got all of the engine and
the transmission and, you know, Issues.
[1:43:24] And so we also follow the state guidelines
in doing that as well.
[1:43:29] When I remount, doesn't that consist of
actually taking the ambulance body and
[1:43:32] putting it on a new chassis?
[1:43:33] It does. It does.
[1:43:36] I was thinking the company that they had
talked to,
[1:43:39] and I don't remember enough about it, had—
[1:43:41] they actually would mount on a new
chassis,
[1:43:44] but I think they refurbished the ambulance
body as well while they had it off.
[1:43:48] So that sounded like a pretty reasonable
deal to me. All right.
[1:43:52] Thank you and welcome aboard.
[1:43:53] Mr. Bonds.
[1:43:56] Good afternoon. First, I'd like to say
thank you to Dr. Chaney.
[1:44:01] I really enjoyed the presentation and I
think it was very informative. Thank you.
[1:44:08] You did a really good job. Director,
congratulations. And Ms. Lumpkins, thank
[1:44:14] congratulations. And Ms. Lumpkins, thank
you.
[1:44:15] You did a great job today.
[1:44:17] I do have some questions on The
understanding of the year '26 volumes
[1:44:22] understanding of the year '26 volumes
overview.
[1:44:23] When I look at that, I see the total
number of calls for 911 EMS is 17,388,
[1:44:29] the higher level of care transportation at
2,369, with a total transports of 19,757.
[1:44:36] What number of that total call volume and
total transport is related to actual calls
[1:44:43] that no transport occurred?
[1:44:45] I don't know that I know.
[1:44:47] I don't have the exact number, but there
is a certain percentage.
[1:44:52] And off the top of your head, I don't know
if you know, like 20%?
[1:44:56] I mean, we do have, you know, a percentage
that—
[1:44:59] because at the time when you're
dispatched, you don't know, or the patient
[1:45:05] dispatched, you don't know, or the patient
refuses,
[1:45:05] and, you know, we don't make the patient
again go if again they're not in a
[1:45:11] life-threatening, you know, situation.
[1:45:13] Of course, and I understand that it's
their, uh, their decision most of the
[1:45:19] their, uh, their decision most of the
time,
[1:45:19] but when it talks about the total number
of 19,757 with that 2,000 in a higher
[1:45:25] of 19,757 with that 2,000 in a higher
level
[1:45:25] of care, I would be very curious, you
know,
[1:45:28] what that actual number is and how that
relates to total call volume.
[1:45:33] Because if there is no transport,
[1:45:36] that ambulance itself is then available
for a response call somewhere else at that
[1:45:42] time. And I'd like to know what that
timeframe would be so that we could all
[1:45:47] understand what the allocation of these
ambulances and the needs are based on that
[1:45:53] call volume in actuality, not just the
total number of calls,
[1:45:58] but how many are actually transports of
patients. I can't tell you the exact
[1:46:03] patients. I can't tell you the exact
number.
[1:46:04] I know it's around 25,000. So you think
some 6,000 or so? Okay. Thank you.
[1:46:09] Great suggestion. We will add that data.
[1:46:12] I think it just increases the
understanding.
[1:46:16] Thank you. Is that all, Commissioner? Is
that all you have?
[1:46:26] Okay.
[1:46:27] All right, Miss Lumpkin and Mr.
[1:46:32] Johnson, appreciate your report. And Dr.
[1:46:39] Chaney, thank you guys.
[1:46:43] All righty, any old business to be taken
[1:46:49] care of? Thank you, Sherry.
[1:46:54] I was getting a little nervous there.
[1:47:00] I know, in a new business.
[1:47:05] Okay, Madam Mayor.
[1:47:08] Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[1:47:09] I just want to put on this committee's
radar and those of you who are here,
[1:47:13] we are in negotiations with Williamson
County.
[1:47:16] They have actually decided they don't want
to do the ambulance service anymore
[1:47:20] unless we subsidize them. And so we're
negotiating cost.
[1:47:24] Will it cost more to subsidize them or for
us to do it ourselves?
[1:47:27] So this needs to be on all of your radar
at this point.
[1:47:30] We'll have to make some kind of decision.
[1:47:33] We are going to try to hold this off until
next budget cycle,
[1:47:36] but they don't have to do that unless we
can negotiate that.
[1:47:40] It falls to Murray County.
[1:47:41] So we're hoping to negotiate the extra
time for the next budget year,
[1:47:45] but we will have those discussions in the
next week.
[1:47:48] So I just wanted you to know where we are
on that because that will come before the
[1:47:53] County Commission. Also, another thing I
wanted to mention,
[1:47:56] that we will be naming an interim director
for planning and zoning to get us through
[1:48:01] these next committee meetings and be able
to work through that, hopefully.
[1:48:05] And we have a projection to work through
that by the end of the year.
[1:48:09] with a new interim director.
[1:48:11] The third thing is I have placed on your
desks the report of the Data Center
[1:48:15] Frontier Report, which tells the trends of
data centers in the next year, in 2026,
[1:48:20] and moving to 2027. So I hope you'll read
that information.
[1:48:23] It's very important because these things
are going to come before us,
[1:48:27] and we're going to need to know what we're
talking about.
[1:48:30] There are AI factories, and then there are
data centers.
[1:48:34] There are all these different variations.
[1:48:36] We need to be knowledgeable so when we
have to make those decisions, we can do
[1:48:40] have to make those decisions, we can do
that.
[1:48:41] So I'm going to start sending things in
writing because I know sometimes when it
[1:48:45] comes in the email, it's kind of hard to
get to and read all of that.
[1:48:49] I'm kind of— I'm the person that passed a
cursive writing bill, right?
[1:48:53] So I believe it's a lot easier when you
have writing and paper and you look at it.
[1:48:58] I even retain things better that way.
[1:49:00] So I will be handing out information like
this so we can all stay on top of the
[1:49:04] things that are going to be coming before
us in the next year. Thank you very much.
[1:49:09] All right. Anybody else? Commissioner
Saunders?
[1:49:12] I'm good.
[1:49:13] You good? Good. All right. All right. We
got some new business. Public comments.
[1:49:19] Anybody got any signed up for public
comments back there? No public comments.
[1:49:25] Any announcements? Commissioner Groom?
[1:49:28] Budget meeting is going to start at, uh,
[1:49:31] Building committee is going to start at
6:30 or 6:35. 6:35. All right. All right.
[1:49:37] Uh, that's it. Um, can I get a motion for
adjournment?
[1:49:41] Commissioner Hessler and Commissioner
Grooms and all of them second.
[1:49:47] And we out of here.