In a special called meeting Tuesday night the Russell County Ambulance board refused the request of the Temporary Interim Director, Troy Walters, to hire three emergency medical technicians.

Board Chairman James Gray said it would not be fair to fill the positions now when they had advertised that they would be taking applications until the end of the month.

The rest of the board agreed and the issue was held over for the next board meeting on 14 September.

The board also directed the staff to prepare a written proposal for a pay scale for the paramedics and an additional five layers for the EMT pay scale so that there would never again be issues relating to workers with more seniority receiving less pay than less experienced workers.

After being told by the staff that the same tax rate as last year would not make a noticeable difference in the ambulance service’s budget the board rejected the state-recommended “compensating rate,” and elected to keep the tax rate the same as it was the previous year.

The board went into a closed door meeting at 5:26 to discuss discipline of an employee and litigation issues. They came out of executive session at 6:28.

Board Attorney Jeff Loy was directed by the board to prepare a response to a recent lawsuit filed by James S. Faller II and Amy Mischler. Loy said the response would be filed Wednesday.

“Of course the lawsuit will have to withstand the initial review of the court,” Loy added.