The Gilmer County Board of Commissioners debated new proposals during their meetings on Wednesday the 10th and Thursday the 11th.

One major proposal would change the county’s EMS services. Though no formal approval has been made, consideration is underway for the Gilmer County Emergency Medical Services Division to begin charging a fee for repeated EMS calls to locations. EMA Director Tony Pritchett stated the need for fees were due to some citizens of the county continually calling 911 to receive certain medications without going to a doctor’s office.

The structure of these fees were discussed for several different possibilities, but the more probable structure may look somewhat like the following when citizens are calling 911 repeatedly for the same issue every time:

1st Call: No charge
2nd Call: a $75 Fee
3rd Call: a $100 Fee
Further Occurrences would also generate $100 fees and could be investigated for 911 Abuse

While citizens questioned the fees, Director Pritchett assured the citizens that they would not be liable as a 3rd party caller, or “Good Samaritan” situations, where they call 911 because they witness or come upon someone in need. The fees also seem to only be charged on repeat calls that do not result in Ambulance transportation as the effort is to recoup financial expenditures for the medications used.

In addition to the EMS Proposal, the Commissioners also heard a proposal from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Gilmer County. Requesting a lease property, Bill Slaughter, Treasurer, and Michelle Bracken, Director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of North Georgia, represented the organization and its effort to expand the Gilmer County branch due to a lack of space to support the increasing number of enrollments.

Currently, they have 125 children enrolled with an average daily attendance of 83. Bracken also stated the Club has had to turn away prospective students due to the limited space. The proposed solution is the construction of a new 4,000 square foot building across from the clubs current location. They would then remodel the current facility to house the enrolled teens. The building would be constructed by the Boys & Girls Club Board and only needs the County to lease the space for them.

When asked about the continued growth for the club, Bracken assured the citizens the proposal is set to cover the current needs under a two-year-plan. However, “We won’t abandon the building.” Bracken did not speak to a specific future plan, but did say that consideration to add on to the new facility later could be a possibility.

Another proposal before the Board on Wednesday came from Gilmer ARTS. President of Gilmer ARTS, Sharon Watkins came before the Board speaking of security in the their future. Many will recall that former President John Rathbone, also in attendance, has spoken with the Commissioners before about establishing a formal agreement with the County to include support in both public and financial forms. Watkins said the agreement would provide sought after security and “a better platform” as they requested Grants and Donations by allowing others to see the County officially in support of the arts in the community.

While Gilmer ARTS has been included in the County’s budget before, there has been no formal agreement between the two for the support. Watkins’ proposal did include financial support in the form of a proceed from the hotel-motel taxes, though discussion was raised if the county could allocate those funds to the Association.

Currently, the Board of Commissioners indicated they would support some form of agreement and are consulting with Gilmer ARTS and the County Attorney David Clark to formalize the agreement before officially voting on it.

Two final proposals were approved by the Commissioners to abandon a portion of River Hill Road where the bridge washed away and to close a 100 ft section of Kells Ridge Drive due to the December 2015 flood. Director of Public Works and the Road Department for Gilmer County, Jim Smith suggested closing the road instead of repairing due to estimations for repairs ranging into several hundreds of thousands.

To watch the two meetings click on the videos below for the Commissioner’s Work Session and Regular Meeting.