Front lines aid: New gear, jobs, ambulances

Janet Imrick
Randolph Hub

ASHEBORO – The Randolph County Board of Commissioners considered multiple requests from departments that frequently find themselves on the front lines of a crisis.

Representations from the sheriff's office, emergency services and public health were on the agenda of the July 8 meeting, asking for vehicles, tests, staff reclassifications and guidance for new opioid settlement money.

Drug testing and funding

The Randolph County sheriff's office will buy a new narcotics analyzer. Chief Deputy Aundrea Azelton told commissioners, "We've also seen a lot of amalgamation of drugs, different combinations of drugs which make it very difficult for us in the field to file charges at that time."

The sheriff's office has been using a prototype for two years. Azelton said it will cost $37,066 using law enforcement restricted funds.

Associate County Attorney Aimee Scotton informed commissioners that the county is eligible for money from Kroger Grocery's settlement for its role in the opioid addiction crisis, the result of national litigation against distributors accused of getting many people addicted to opioids.

Scotton said North Carolina could get up to $40 million through 2034. Randolph County could receive up to $520,000.

The motion passed 4-1. Commissioner Kenny Kidd dissented, saying he did not want funding with the same restrictions as the money the county had already received. Commissioner Hope Haywood made the motion to opt in. She said she believes the funding is already effective, based on a conversation with a fire chief about a decrease in overdose calls since 2018.

Chairman Darrell Frye agreed to opt in. He said, "I think they are learning how to move around those restrictions or limitations in order to use those funds. It is being utilized to get some better outcomes. My problem is we're not acting fast enough to use the money."

More ambulances

Emergency Services Chief Donovan Davis secured approval to purchase two new ambulances. He said the 2024 Type I FORD F450 4x4 Medix ambulances will come through the Savvik Buying Group contract via the competitive bidding program, costing $650,000.

Davis said four other ambulances they previously purchased have not arrived yet, but he expects these to arrive before the end of the year.

New staff positions and contracts

The county will add a new social worker and change classifications of existing public health jobs to include an interpreter.

Public Health Director Tara Aker told commissioners that Medicaid could fully fund the additional social worker and reclassify a social worker II to a social worker III, which allows that employee to handle more supervisory tasks. Additionally, they will use the money to promote a processing assistant to a foreign language interpreter. Akers said that interpretation already takes up more than half of that employee's jobs.

Commissioners approved those changes, along with reclassifications of eight positions, including a public health nurse, processing assistants and public health educators.

Commissioners also approved a new contract for the fire departments. Among the changes, the new contract removes the 15 cent cap on the tax rate, which all the fire departments already chose to eliminate.