FM's EMS facility uninhabitable

MOVING OUT

To make a long story a short story, I really don't feel comfortable having staff in there right now. There are major safety issues in there and we’ve looked at a lot of different options as far as housing and things that would work for us.”

Mark Long, Director, Lee County EMS

FORT MADISON – The Lee County EMS facilities in Fort Madison are now considered uninhabitable and staff there will be staying at an Air BNB for the next few months.
EMS Director Mark Long told Lee County Supervisors at Tuesday’s regular meeting that the staff dorm has been overcome with mold and mildew due to the aging condition and didn’t want staff to be exposed to health hazards associated with the toxins.
“To make a long story a short story, I really don't feel comfortable having staff in there right now,” Long said.
“There are major safety issues in there and we’ve looked at a lot of different options as far as housing and things that would work for us.”
Long said Lee County Emergency Management Agency Director Jason Dinwiddie tried to work some things on the EMA side of things, like getting a hold of an EMA trailer, but that didn’t work out.
Long said the cheapest and most efficient resolution was to rent an AirBNB in Fort Madison for $1,500 per month through the end of November.
At that point, the staff should be able to move into their new facility at the Meller Family Health Center.
Supervisor Chairwoman Denise Fraise said she supported the move.
“We just don’t treat our employees like that,” she said.
Supervisor Garry Seyb, who made the motion to approve the move on an amended emergency agenda item, said he was glad EMS staff brought the issue to the board’s attention.
“This is a life safety issue and we don't want to have our employees in that situation. I'm glad they brought that forward to us. Let’s just go ahead and to get them into another spot,” Seyb said.
It's not the first time the county has had to relocate staff due to unhealthy working conditions. In 2017 the county moved the Health Department into the John Bennett Center of the old Iowa State Penitentiary after poor air quality was discovered in offices at the Kensington Center.
Supervisor Chuck Holmes asked what would become of the property. Fraise said the garage is in very good condition and there are plans to have the county’s secondary roads store equipment there, but the living quarters need lots of remediation and plans for that structure are still up in the air.
Long said staff had complained about the air quality, but it wasn’t until they took a deeper look the past week with facilities director Mark Klesner that they saw just how bad it was.
“We’ve had some mold issues in that building in the past and, when we went down there and got to looking into it, it was much worse than we ever thought,” he said.
“It goes up through the ceiling over the kitchen and out around some of the bedrooms. It's in the wood and in the sheet rock, as well,” he said.
The lease with the AirBNB would be a month-to-month lease and Long asked for an end date so they could work with the owners so they would know when to start accepting reservations again.
In other action, the board discussed:
• the renewal of the lease for the upstairs of the Newberry Center in Fort Madison with the Lee County Labor Chapter and whether there should be an increase in rent. The item was discussion only and will be put on a future agenda for action.
• approved final plans for three different bridge replacements in the county (265th Avenue, Belfast Road, and 145th Street) and final plans for resurfacing of X23 from West Point to Highway 2.
• approved the hiring of two part-time paramedics for Lee County EMS.