Carson & Coil Attorney David Wallis, who represented Osage County in the lawsuit filed and recently dismissed by Osage Ambulance District, told Osage County 911 Advisory Committee members on Thursday  that OAD has signed another contract, this time for a year, with Gasconade County E-911 to have OAD ambulances dispatched from Owensville.

"I know it's not ideal for Osage County," said Wallis. “But, hopefully that'll let everything calm down for a while."

Call-takers and dispatchers will still field calls from Osage County residents in OAD territory; but an extra step must take place as those calls are transferred to the Gasconade E-911 call center.

"That sounds like telephone tag," said resident Lucy Brenner.

Wallis clarified since the call is transferred, nobody repeats information. The caller is still speaking, after the transfer, to a 911 call-taker or dispatcher. The only possible lost quantity is time. Committee members unanimously hate that, but there is now no choice since OAD won't accept dispatches from the Osage County 911 call center.

Brenner, though, wants Osage County dispatchers to double the amount of time they take: trying to reach off-duty OAD crews, to have them stand by when all on-duty crews are dispatched. A radio notification and a text message are sent to every OAD EMT. Should another OAD crew answer that notification or text, OAD is on the next call. If two minutes go by without a response, Osage County immediately contacts neighboring ambulance districts. They then stand by for mutual aid. Brenner emphatically agrees with OAD. Time should be doubled with more calls and texts to get an OAD crew, instead of a crew from a neighboring district.

"What can happen in four minutes?"  Osage County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Supervisor Travis Holtmeyer asked rhetorically.

Spending the time is what Brenner believes would better serve Osage County residents. This is one of four issues not resolved from 19 which stem from a recent lawsuit filed by OAD against the county. These issues are cited by OAD as reason for contracting with Gasconade E-911. The committee stands unanimous in not conceding now. Their position requests time to test the ProQA program to see if OAD's request is workable.

"We've said absolutely 'no' to nothing," said Wallis.

"I appreciate your passion," said Griffin. He complemented Brenner for her advocacy of county residents' interests.

In other business, committee members discussed rescheduling town hall meetings to promote passage of the 911 Continuation Sales Tax, on the ballot June 2. Delayed from April, town hall meetings were planned in Linn, Chamois, Loose Creek, Meta, and Westphalia.

"I wouldn't worry about Meta any more," said Meta Fire Chief Kenny Helton.

A meeting there occurred before the COVID-10 Stay at Home Order took effect, but was poorly attended.

Osage County 911/EMA Director Andrea Rice asked, "Are you sure?"

Helton feels the population there is behind the issue.

Rice intends to schedule dates for the other four communities before the election. She urged the committee members to attend some of them.

Brenner questioned the wording in the committee's promotion of the sales tax issue. By statute, at least some of the revenue raised must go to law enforcement as well as 911 operations. The flyer originally did not emphasize this. There is, however, no set percentage required; so the committee approved language indicating some revenue will "supplement" law enforcement operations.

Osage County Sheriff Mike Bonham emphasized how, through its 20 years of existence, greater and greater amounts offset added costs to the EOC. This required the recent Proposition P sales tax to insure funding the Osage County Sheriff's Office. The EOC would cease to exist, especially the 911 call center, should the 911 Continuation Sales Tax not be renewed.

* The testing phase of new dispatching software has gone well.

"We are happy to report we have all passed with flying colors," said Rice, referring to the Priority Dispatch employee certification process. She still expects a target date of May 27 for "going live" with the ProQA program. "We're basically testing every function we can right now," said Holtmeyer, "so there are no errors." The process has been much more difficult due to COVID-19 restrictions; so there's a little pride involved in how much the EOC staff has overcome. There were a lot of man-hours consumed with the training process.

* One recently-hired employee is leaving the EOC staff for personal reasons. "This has nothing to do with us," said Rice. "We made sure to ask him that." It seems the job doesn't agree with him as much as he thought it would. Unavoidable night shift work was a major consideration.

* Rice spoke about how revenues from the 911 sales tax are not down, even in the face of the COVID-19 crisis. Osage County residents may be shopping locally, rather than driving to neighboring counties. There are aspects of the EOC budget running ahead of pace, but she sees no need to panic. One of the line items, due to the OAD lawsuit, is for legal counsel. This is due to the recent lawsuit.

* Rice announced a delay in using the emergency mobile unit due to ordered phones not arriving yet. She still hopes to utilize it for crew separation during the remainder of the COVID-19 crisis.

* Some antenna repair is currently necessary, so some maintenance costs will occur.

* The contract with new medical director, Dr. Joseph Rakestraw, has been signed by the county commission.

* Rice noted there is still a leak on the west wall of the EOC basement.

Osage County Presiding Commissioner Darryl Griffin said Verslues Construction has yet to submit a recommendation for fixing it. Therefore, the commission is not ready to ask for contractor bids to make repairs.