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By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

AKRON — An update on Fulton County’s negotiations with Lutheran EMS for ambulance services was shared during the Fulton County Chamber of Commerce and Fulton County Farm Bureau’s final Legislative Breakfast.

With state legislators representing the county unable to make it to the breakfast Saturday, March 2, at the Akron Community Center, breakfast organizers pivoted to have other leaders in attendance speak.

Some of those were Fulton County Commissioners Bryan Lewis, Rick Ranstead and Dave Sommers.

Ranstead mentioned the EMS negotiations, which include having Lutheran staff three ambulances in the county, including putting one back at Akron.

“Lutheran got the contract on Jan. 20 from (commissioners’ legal representation) Ice Miller,” said Ranstead. “(On) Feb. 21, Lutheran sent us (communication) wanting to extend the date to April 1. They needed more time to look over the contract.”

“On Feb. 27, we responded back saying that we would give them 60 days’ extension as long as they put the third ambulance back in Akron March 1,” Ranstead continued.

He said Lutheran hasn’t since responded, and no ambulance has yet been put in Akron.

“We hope to hear back from them,” said Ranstead. “We’ve got Plan B (just in case).”

Ranstead said after the breakfast that Heartland Ambulance Service out of Muncie, which also bid on providing ambulance service in the county, was the backup plan.

Courthouse Repairs

Another topic commissioners touched on Saturday was repairs at the Fulton County Courthouse.

Lewis said the county would probably need to fix the roof on the building and replace windows in it in the next few years. He estimated the cost at “$2.5 to 3 million dollars.”

He noted the courthouse had been recognized as one of the aesthetically pleasing ones in the state in the last decade.

“We have a historic building there that’s beautiful,” he said, noting the county was working to figure out funding for repairs.

Other Updates

Others who spoke Saturday were Woodlawn Health Chief Marketing Officer Khrista Boster and Fulton Superior Court Judge Greg Heller.

Griffin Nate, who serves as a local representative for U.S. Rep. Rudy Yakym, also talked on behalf of the congressman.

He mentioned Yakym had “been appointed … as the leader of the budget form task force.”

“Believe it or not, the budget process, the way in which we make our federal budget, has not been changed since 1970, so it’s a little outdated and so the congressman amongst his colleagues is working on making sure that we get that updated,” said Nate.

He also said Yakym was focused on security at the U.S. border with Mexico.

Regarding the delay in Congress completing a funding package for 2024, Nate said Yakym was “opposed to … continuing resolutions.”

“He believes we need to finalize a funding package for the year and it needs to be fiscally responsible,” said Nate.

Nate said Yakym had also just introduced the Sgt. Ted Grubbs Mental Healthcare for Disabled Veterans Act. The bill aims to allow veterans who struggle to get mental health care right away at a Veterans Affairs health facility to go to “a community-based clinic and receive those services.”

After Nate spoke, certified public accountant Tom Bauters from Akron was one of the audience members who asked a question or commented.

Bauters noted some locally who filed for the federal Economic Retention Tax Credit had still not gotten money through it.

He later provided information explaining the credit through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act of 2020 was meant “to enable employers to continue to pay employee wages despite government-ordered business shutdowns and travel restrictions or a significant decline in gross receipts during the eligibility periods.”

Bauters noted he knew the Internal Revenue Service had delayed paying the credit due to fraud concerns.

“Good hard-working taxpayers here in Fulton County and the general community haven’t got their money because they’ve been put on hold, and I’m very interested to see if your boss and your team can go through and take a look at what the IRS is doing,” said Bauters.

“Nothing’s progressed for a year and a half on one client,” he added.

Nate said Bauters was welcome to communicate with a representative from Yakym’s office who dealt more specifically with that issue.