4A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, April 27,2022
Commissioners OK contract for paramedic class
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
The need for more first responders
has been a consistent public concern
in recent months, and paramedics are
a crucial part of that equation. With
that in mind, the Board of
Commissioners unanimously approved
a collaborative agreement between
Dawson County’s Fire and Emergency
Services and Faithful Guardian
Training Center during their April 21
voting session.
The latter is a medical training busi
ness based out of Carroll County.
During a short presentation to the
board, Fire & EMS Chief Danny
Thompson revealed the critical need
to recruit and grow the department’s
own paramedics closer to home, at a
time where there’s only one program
within 25 miles of Dawson County.
“I found out last week that they only
have one instructor there, and that
program is dead in the water as we
speak today,” Thompson said.
The contract with the training ser
vice is in effect for the next three
years. Regular sessions would be held
in Fire Station 7’s classroom space
and with the plus of an on-site,
Dawson-based instructor and updated
equipment and furniture. EMS is pro
viding the teacher, said Thompson,
and funds from the training budget
enable her to teach the program.
Overall, each course will last 15
months, and individual sessions will
happen about once every three days on
B shift, Thompson said. His depart
ment has moved people around so
none of the participants are working
overtime.
Those people have also already
signed on to paramedic contracts.
BOC Vice-Chair and District 4 com
missioner Emory Dooley asked what
the three free spots in the contract
meant. Because Dawson County will
host the classes, three selected county
paramedics a year will be able to
attend without paying student fees.
Thompson said he had the language
changed to reflect that his personnel’s
student fees will be free or paid for
courtesy of the agreement. This
amounts to a savings of $15,000-
$18,000.
Faithful Guardian will be responsi
ble for medical equipment, staffing
clinical transports, filling out state and
accreditation paperwork and manag
ing clinicals contracts with multiple
medical facilities.
If either Fire & EMS or Faithful
Guardian wants to exercise the termi
nation part of the agreement, 60 days’
written notice would be required. Any
group of students taking a class then
would still be able to finish it.
There will also be a leadership
group composed to help oversee the
program and help guide it as needed.
Faithful Guardian’s employees will
remain their own, and vice versa.
Initially, 15 people were all that was
required to start offering the course,
and the cap was at 30.
Twenty-six people have expressed
interest, including the six aforemen
tioned personnel.
The other 20 individuals are from
departments in surrounding areas,
such as Forsyth, Hall, Habersham,
Fumpkin or White counties.
“I can't tell you when I’ve had six
paramedic applications, except for the
last time the board did a significant
raise,” Thompson added.
The chief expects the first iteration
of the course to start the second week
of May.
“It’s a valuable tool for both recruit
ing future employees and thus ensur
ing a consistent pipeline of paramed
ics to serve the community as we
move forward...and it’s an opportuni
ty to showcase our department,” he
said.
FROM 1A
Planning
Wood also reiterated and
explained several stipula
tions that the developer is
considering in light of
Savannah Trace residents’
concerns. The Etowah
Bluffs village would be to
the north and east of that
neighborhood.
He shared that he and his
colleagues will know “real
ly soon” whether or not
they would be able to run a
secondary emergency
entrance through the neigh
borhood easement. Wood
added he’s talked to the fire
marshal, so he and Fox
Creek know what has to be
done if another option ends
up being more feasible.
When District 4 commis
sioner and Vice Chair Neil
Hornsey asked about right
of way, Wood explained
that since Brights Way is a
private HO A road, they
would bring an emergency
entrance down to Ga. 53 if
they are not able to estab
lish one at the end of the
neighborhood road.
“It’s still just an emergen
cy entrance, but with more
disturbance [at Ga. 53],”
Wood added.
The emergency entrance
could only be accessed with
a special switch for first
responders or a lockbox for
Savannah Trace residents
only to go through the
forthcoming gate on golf
carts or on foot. That gate
would not be for people of
the mixed-use village to
access Savannah Trace.
The buffer between the
development and Savannah
Trace would be 250 feet
total, with a 200-foot undis
turbed portion and 50 feet
of replanted evergreens. A
five-foot, black vinyl chain-
link fence would be
installed and would termi
nate prior to entering
stream buffers, Wood said.
The village section clos
est to Savannah Trace
would contain single-family
detached homes. Residents
in those homes would not
be allowed to encroach on
the 250-foot area with addi
tional home construction or
improvements. That rule
would apply to their HOA
and to individual lot own
ers.
Wood also explained the
proposed road improve
ments again, reiterating the
general expansion from two
to four lanes in front of the
development and signal
changes. The right-turn lane
approaching Ga. 400 would
get longer and a little wider,
and people entering from
across Fumpkin
Campground Road or turn
ing right off of Ga. 400
would have an additional
lane through which to trav
el.
There would be a dual
right or R-cut configuration
and loop pattern for trucks
getting on or off Ga. 400
and traveling to or from the
village’s industrial area.
Deceleration lanes would
approach all entrances, and
there would also be left-
turn lanes approaching the
access points.
The developer could also
look at further suggested
changes to signal timing or
turn lanes, should the DRI
traffic study find that there
are further impacts across
the street from the develop
ment or at Ga. 53, Wood
said.
Fox Creek lead developer
Bill Evans requested that
any follow-up traffic studies
be tied to what is done in
terms of the development’s
impact rather than to an
annual timeframe.
“I don’t know what y’all
think, but I think we’re fix
ing to have another reces
sion. . .the odds of not hav
ing a pause in the next three
years are somewhere
between slim and none with
the economy and the inter
est rates,” Evans said.
The developer was fine
with District 2 commission
er John Maloney’s sugges
tion of adding the adden
dum “or as deemed neces
sary by the county engi
neer” to the stipulation
about traffic study update
frequency.
Maloney also wanted no
pad grading for home sites
added as a stipulation. That
commissioner also pointed
out that GDOT may be
looking at fixing the
Fumpkin Campground-
Ga.400 intersection’s askew
“X” shape. Wood said he
hadn’t heard that and to this
point, they were only look
ing at addressing the limit
ed approach.
Maloney also asked for a
stipulation that the site plan
shown be concept only and
that any traffic improve
ments like throat depths or
distances between intersec
tions get final approval by
the county engineer, as
those details may need to
be changed in the future.
Commissioner Steve
Sanvi asked that POD A or
the commercial section be a
minimum of 29,800 square
feet moving forward, to
allow for some retail expan
sion or size changes.
Wood reiterated that Fox
Creek does not want their
project to be a “national
retailer” type of thing but
rather “yall’s local place as
a destination.”
Wood also went over the
two-phase buildout plan
again, emphasizing that
trails, the multifamily and a
portion of the detached and
attached homes would be
built during the first phase.
District 3 Commissioner
Tim Bennett noted that a lot
of people may come in say
ing they’re going to build
commercial before residen
tial, when “it’s usually the
reverse of that.”
Bill Evans clarified with
the apartments builder,
PENFER, that all the multi
family units or apartments
will be built at once.
“It’s a 10-year project
that we’re gonna have to
move through in chunks so
we’re not disturbing a mas
sive amount of area,” added
Wood, “for stormwater, dis
turbance, erosion...and
everything else for the site.”
Sanvi thanked Wood and
Evans for their April 12
presentation, which he
attended.
“I am cognizant of the
citizens who are upset with
any new development in
Dawson County,” Sanvi
said. “I would like to point
out that the city of
Dawsonville just last night
(April 18) approved devel
opment on Hwy. 9 for 220
rooftops with $0 impact fee
to the county or the city.
This area is growing, and
we need to do it in a man
aged way.”
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un aromatlzante qui'mlco llamado mercaptano para que se pueda detector facllmente. Este aromatlzante tlene un olor
caracteri'stlco a "huevo podrldo." Los olores a gas natural deben Informarse de Inmedlato.
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Do not try to locate the source of the smell.
No intente localizar la fuente del olor.
Leave the area immediately and alert others.
Abandone el area inmediatamentey alerte a los demas.
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