(Feb. 20, 2015) The Worcester County Commissioners also discussed the following issues during their Tuesday, Feb. 3 meeting.
IT policy formalized
While there have been rules in place within the county regarding information technology, those have never been developed into a formal policy.
Emergency Services Director Fred Webster said the formal rules would strengthen any action the county wishes to take, since a rule violation now amounts to a violation of county policy.
Worcester prepared
Health Officer Deborah Goeller gave a presentation outlining the county’s ability to handle an outbreak, as well as detailed a new memorandum of understanding between Worcester County and Royal Plus for Biohazard Remediation Services.
Royal Plus is, according to Goeller, equipped to handle everything but the transport of possibly contaminated materials. Goeller said there were only five companies nationwide with those capabilities.
This memorandum does not preclude the county from entering into a similar agreement with any other vendors.
Officials receive training
Following the regular commissioner’s meeting, the board attended an overview of the incident command system, which is intended to shed light on the way the county departments will react in times of emergency.
Atlantic gives overview
Chief Executive Officer Michael Franklin gave an overview of operations at the hospital, touting an 86 percent reduction in medical errors due to new processes, and significant decreases in potentially avoidable uses of the hospital, which was credited to the hospitals education and outreach efforts.
E-cycle day down 20 percent
Inclement weather was blamed for a reduction in participation on the last event held in October. Almost 11 tons of “Household hazardous waste” was collected, and nearly eight tons of electronics were collected. The event cost about $21,500.
Resurfacing bids collected
Grant and designated funds will be used to purchase as much bituminous concrete as the county can get for the $753,000 it has to spend on the project to resurface county roads. About nine miles of roads have been identified for resurfacing. Public Works estimated a cost of about $80 a ton. Last year’s cost was about $10 per ton cheaper.
Generator replaced
An emergency power generator at Pump Station 5 in West Ocean City failed because of a control panel problem, with an estimated repair cost of about $2,500. The generator is more than 25 years old according to county documents and was due to be replaced in the coming budget.
A new generator with larger capacity will be purchased for about $16,000.
