The Columbia County Community and Emergency Services Committee approved moving forward with a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Augusta Technical College.
The MOU is for a training program between Columbia County Fire Services and Augusta Tech. Chief Jeremy Wallen said Augusta Tech has add the county training facilities and instructors to its accreditation for the Fire and EMS degree programs.
“Fire Service’s basic fire academy and EMT training class students will receive college credit for each course,” according to the agenda document.
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Wallen added that Augusta Tech is giving Fire Services two classrooms and labs on the Grovetown campus to use until the county’s training facility is complete.
The CES committee also approved moving forward with purchasing 16 Scott X3 Self Contained Breathing Apparatus for $103,340.96. The purchase of 25 Scott 4500 45-minutes Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) cylinders and five Scott 4500 60-minute Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) cylinders for $41,355.70. All items will be purchased from Municipal Emergency Services. Wallen said these are annual purchases because the items have a certain life cycle and then needed to be replaced.
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Also approved to move forward was a EMT Clinical Instruction Memorandum of Agreement with Thomson-McDuffie County Fire and EMS. Wallen said it expands the places the EMT can ride their ambulance clinical times. There are only seven ambulances in Columbia County, he said, but 18 students, so they were looking for more places to do it.
Public Works and Engineering Services Committee
During the Public Works and Engineering Services Committee meeting, the committee approved moving forward with the purchase of a remote controlled green climber from Green Climber of North America for Water Utility. Stacey Gordon, Water Utility director, said this would help the easement crews because some areas have steep slopes. Because of that, there’s a safety concern for the operators that this mower would alleviate.
The items approved during the committees meetings were forwarded to the consent agenda for the full Columbia County Board of Commissioners.
