The Henry County Board of Commissioners voted at its April 7 regular meeting to approve the purchase of six Ram ambulances, seven auto pulse systems and five AirPak systems for the Henry County Fire Department at a total cost of $1,503,545. The vote to approve was unanimous. The move was noted by county staff as an operational need due to the department’s aging fleet, and deputy county manager Brad Johnson pointed out that their future goal is to begin a replacement-remount plan for county ambulances.
“We are behind on our replacement plan and it has been about two years since we have ordered ambulances,” said Johnson. “Our goal is to get into a replacement plan for all our vehicles. For the replacement-remount plan, it is just a matter of taking the unit back and replacing the box with a new one, refurbish it and send it back for half the cost.”
The price of the Braun custom ambulances is $1,359,240; the auto pulse systems from the Zoll Medical Corporation cost $99,540; and the AirPak systems cost $44,765.
In other business, the board appointed James Chafin III to the McIntosh Trail Community Service Board, effective immediately. He will fill an unexpired term that ends April 2, 2022. According to the resolution that was approved by the commissioners, three representatives from Henry County serve on the board, which governs behavioral health services for a seven-county area.
Chafin, who served 16 years as a Henry County State Court judge before retiring at the end of 2018, grew up in Henry County and is a West Point graduate who served three decades total on active duty and in the Air Force Reserves, retiring as a colonel in 2004.
A resolution was approved noting the recent $14,500 purchase of a morgue cooler for the coroner’s office. The resolution identifies the location of the cooler as 108 Vincent Avenue in Stockbridge, about two miles from Piedmont Henry Hospital.
The acquisition was made in March as an emergency purchase, and the listed reason was the possibility that the hospital might not have enough space on its own campus due to a potential escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purchase amount was low enough that it did not require board approval, but the commissioners made their vote official “to perfect the record,” according to a staff document.
The board approved the reallocation of $17,093 in SPLOST funds from various completed projects to the Moseley Park project account. The money is coming from the East Lake Road improvement, Rock Quarry Road widening and Kelleytown Park accounts. The vote was unanimous.
Also approved was a budget amendment and contract to extend an existing methane venting trench at the county landfill on Windy Hill Road in McDonough. The extension is being installed to reduce migration of gaseous contaminants to maintain Georgia Environmental Protection Division regulatory compliance. A bid of $119.875 was awarded for the project.
