JCBOCC approve JCFR requests
By: Shelia Mader
County Administrator Jim Dean asked for Board approval of educational reimbursement contracts for Jackson County Fire Rescue employees attending the upcoming paramedic program.
Dean said, “We are asking for board approval of educational reimbursement contracts for fire rescue employees that will be attending the upcoming paramedic program at Chipola College. If you remember, we just modified that agreement where if for some reason the paramedic individuals going to the school did not follow through as well with the employment requirement, then we have a little bit more teeth to recapture and call back the funding that we provided. We're asking for the commission to approve the contract for these individuals.”
Commissioner Dr. Willie Spires made the motion to accept the request. Commissioner Paul Donofro said, “I’ll second with a question. Michelle (Jordan, county attorney), you feel pretty comfortable with the fact that we tightened up the reimbursement, the regulations or restrictions will hopefully do a little better job making sure that we get paid back.” Jordan said that if we send them through it, they come back and work two months, then we can prorate it. The motion passed unanimously.
The next item on the agenda was a request for approval of utilizing Life Scan Wellness Centers to complete annual Firefighter Physical exams.
Dean told the Board, “According to National Fire Protection Association) NFPA 1582, all firefighters will receive a firefighter medical physical exam. This is an annual comprehensive medical examination with blood work, cardiac testing, cancer screening, and more in details. According to NFPA each firefighter is required to have a physical. We're asking the board to allow us for feedback on the City of Clear Waters contract that they already have with these folks. And I'll let Mr. Brunner chime in if he wants to, but we have used them in the past and potentially will be doing an RFP ourselves in the future.”
The Board passed the motion unanimously.