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what he can see because there is so much uncertainty. He does not want to raise any <br />expectations by promising something that he cannot deliver. <br />Commissioner Carey said that he agrees with the uncertainty and he is <br />committed to implementing Phase I. <br />John Link said that on June 16t", the staff would project for the Board how to <br />accomplish the housing issue effective July 1St if the Board wishes. <br />A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiatis, seconded by Commissioner <br />Carey to authorize Phase I implementation salary administration effective April 14, 2003 <br />as follows: <br />Authorize increasing the salaries of employees in permanent positions whose <br />salaries are below the new salary range minimum for the new salary grade <br />assigned to his or her position to the new salary range minimum. <br />In addition, for those employees in permanent positions as of April 14, 2003, <br />grant a 2.5 percent service-based salary increase. <br />VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br />The staff will come back with scenarios for addressing the hauling wage issue <br />on June 16tH <br />3. Emergency Medical Services Transportation -Service Delivery Change <br />Jahn Link said that the County would assume responsibility for the transportation <br />function services for EMS. This was formally supported by the rescue squad. The <br />rescue squad is having a hard time finding volunteers and has to rely on paid staff and it <br />will be more cast effective to bring it in-house. <br />Assistant County Manager Rod Visser said that this is a service delivery change <br />only. He made reference to the letter from the rescue squad, which indicated that they <br />could na longer do this and the status quo was not an option. The County's transition <br />team {includes Nick Waters, Elaine Holmes, Donna Dean, Pam Jones, etc.) has been <br />working to make this transition smooth. They are recommending that the County take <br />this over as of June 30, 2003, which is a pay period beginning date and the permanent <br />employees with the squad can transition over to the County at that time. He gave the <br />specifics of the transition plan far employees. The permanent positions will come an <br />gradually with temporary employees as needed. There will be a recruitment process for <br />the permanent employees. There are seven full-time employees that work for the squad <br />and they are going through the application process. In terms of cost, they will start out <br />gradually with the permanent positions and then will come back with more formal options <br />next week. <br />John Link added that the management and staff and Board of County <br />Commissioners would need to decide how many permanent staff would be needed for <br />this change in service delivery. We will need to use temporary staff at first but the <br />transition will be the Board of County Commissioners' good judgement on what type of <br />services it wants to provide. <br />EMS Director Nick Waters said that this squad has provided a valuable service <br />over time but the use of volunteers has not been operationally sound for the squad this <br />past year. He echoed that to bring this back in-house is the best option. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that it is more difficult to attract volunteer firefighters <br />lately and the day is coming that the mare the County is growing and the less volunteer <br />firefighters you have, the more dangerous it is. He hopes that we list the number of paid <br />