Physical policy instilled at fire department
RED OAK — The Red Oak City Council approved a $6,138 proposal to provide mandatory physicals for all career and volunteer firefighters.
The unanimous decision came after hearing a proposal from the Iowa Municipalities Workers’ Compensation Association (IMWCA) at a past Council meeting, which indicated the City pays almost $38 per $100 of payroll in insurance for the fire department. The Council then agreed physicals would be beneficial to the firefighters to prevent claims and possible health concerns.
“All the firefighters are in support of this… we all feel that our safety is number one,” Fire Chief Jamie Blount said. “We can’t serve you guys if we aren’t fit to serve. We’d rather find underlying issues now than on the fire ground where it can be a potential hazard or life-threatening event.”
Currently, there are 31 firefighters in Red Oak, all of which will receive physicals this first year. Beginning in 2015, about 10 firefighters will be randomly chosen to receive physicals each year so they will all receive one every three years as compliant with the IMWCA policy.
Physicals this year will occur one day in July through MED Compass, which is a mobile heath unit based in Minnesota. Should a firefighter not be available on the day of the physical, he is required to get a physical on his own that complies withOSHA standards.
Red Oak Mayor Bill Billings suggested having the firefighters use their own insurance to get the physical and the City would cover the co-pay. However, according to Blount, this is not a standard physical; a primary care physician would send someone to occupational health. So for that reason, it was not cost effective to seek the services locally.
Totals from Montgomery County Memorial Hospital indicate such a physical would cost $450-475 per person, which is not billable to insurance.
MED Compass, on the other hand, costs $198 per person for both a comprehensive physical and quantitative fitness testing.
The cost to the City will come out of the Local Option Sales Tax fund.
In other business, the Council agreed to enter into a shared services agreement with the county for Information Technology (IT) services.
Under the agreement, which the county Board of Supervisors has yet to approve, the City will receive and pay for 25 percent of the IT Director’s time, roughly 10 hours per week.
One-fourth of the director’s pay will be around $19,000, half of which the City will pay in December and the remainder in June.
Prior to this, the City outsourced their IT needs, which City Administrator said was not cost effective, and the County shared an IT Director with Mills County.
The City and County will both be involved in the hiring process of the new director, contingent upon the County’s approval of the sharing agreement.
Also at last Monday’s Council meeting, the Council approved a development agreement with A&M Green Power that outlined a five-year tax rebate on the construction of their new 42,000 square-foot facility on the northwest corner of Hwy. 34 and 4th St. A&M will receive a 75 percent abatement the first year, which will be reduced by 15 percent each of the next four years of the agreement.