Nathan Florian, the new director of the Ellsworth County EMS, said the service is on the mend after his first week on the job.
Florian, who was recently appointed director by Ellsworth County commissioners after Jeremiah Brown resigned several months ago, said at Monday’s commission meeting the department had been neglected.
During this first week, he has gone over the department’s budget and updated it.
Meanwhile, EMS personnel have stepped up, Florian said.
He noted state inspectors showed up this past week and found several discrepancies that have or are in the process of being corrected.
One of those is a wall in the upstairs classroom, which has exposed live electrical wires and needs to be covered. Florian is getting a bid
Florian said the entire list will be corrected within the 60 days allowed by the state.
Another structural problem is rain water leaking into the office. Florian is worried that if a severe rain storm comes, it could short out electrical equipment in the office.
“It’s something we probably need to look into,” he said.
Florian said the department needs to purchase another new ambulance soon because one was in the shop for repair last week.
He suggested a rotation be developed allowing the county to purchase ambulances on a schedule.
Stacie Schmidt, execu

tive director of the Ellsworth County Economic Development, encouraged Florian to apply for a portion of the $1.2 million in American Rescue Act funds the county is slated to receive over the next two years. Those funds could be used to help purchase a new ambulance.
Florian also is concerned about the state of the EMS command vehicle, which is used quite a bit and has high mileage.
Florian said the EMS fee schedule needs to be updated to capture insurance rates already being paid for ambulance runs more efficiently.
For example, the Ellsworth County EMS charges insurance carriers $9 per mile for ambulance runs. Florian said most other services charge between $15-20 per mile.
“We’re behind,” he said, adding the increase in funds would be a great way to offset some of the costs associated with updating the EMS.
“I think it bears looking into,” Commissioner Greg Bender said.
He encouraged Florian to return to next week’s commission meeting for a further update.
Florian said he is interviewing one full-time and one part-time EMS technician candidate this week, and two more people have applied for full-time employment slots.
“We’re moving ahead on that,” he said. “It’s going to be great going forward.”
In other business:
• After a 10 minute executive session with Paul J. Kasper, county attorney, to discuss non-elected personnel (a severance package) commissioners approved the settlement agreement of Aug. 9 for a former employee.
• Greg Heller, who works at the Fort Harker Guardhouse in Kanopolis, said the road and bridge department put a speed sign on the Low Road he requested and he has seen a definite decrease in speeding vehicles coming into Kanopolis, especially larger trucks.
“So good job, thank you,” he said.
• Carl Miller, county appraiser, asked about what he and other department heads should do in case there is a cyber attack on the county’s computers.
Shelly Vopat, county clerk, said the first thing she must do as elections officer is contact state officials.
“We do have some protection in our fire wall,” Kasper said.
Kasper said each department head has the discretion of who they get to maintain and repair their computers.
Miller asked whether he could bring back a part-time data collector position in his department to remain current with state compliance standards. The position was among several canceled 20-25 years ago.
Miller said the job would be more seasonal (summertime). He would like to find someone then come back to the commissioners for their approval. Miller noted he has enough money in his budget for a part-time person.
“I think we can move forward on this,” Bender said.
• Sharon Condit, office manager of the Post Rock Rural Water District, requested consideration for a portion of the county’s American Rescue Act funds. She said Post Rock is a 40-year-old system with deteriorating infrastructure. As such, Post Rock would like to install automated read meters in its eight county service area. Advanced software could detect water leaks in the system more quickly, saving water and money, plus customers would not have to read their own meters. System wide, the entire project will cost an estimated $500,000.
However, the cost to install 433 such meters in Ellsworth County alone, which is 29 percent of the total number of meters, is $146,694.
Bender asked Condit about Post Rock’s plan to expand into McPherson County. Condit said the expansion will not cost Ellsworth County anything. She noted three customers will get a water meter.
• Sue Arensman, county register of deeds, said the water fountain outside of her office ricochets water off the wall when used and water puddles on the floor. The upstairs water fountain does not work and the downstairs fountain has a very low flow.
It was suggested officials check with officials at the Ellsworth-Kanopolis-Geneseo USD 327 and Central Plains USD 112 to see where they purchased their new water fountains.
• Teresa Shute, supervisor of the county landfill, said a state inspector asked her about the old hospital and the city’s plan to condemn it and tear it down. She was told there is a man who would come in and remove everything recyclable from the structure, such as doors and door knobs. He would then sell those items and give the city a percentage of the sales.
Rusty Varnado, Ellsworth City administrator, said the Bureau of Environmental Remediation of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment has reported the building is asbestos free.
Commissioner Dennis Rolfs once again suggested stacking the bricks taken from the structure and selling them — not placing them in the county landfill.
However, Shute said the bricks may have lead paint on them.
Bender said further updates on the project would be welcome.