Community Notes: A couple of big items on concerns list for city

By Patrick Lumley, Councilor, Charles City Council

Greetings fellow Charles Citians! I hope you are as excited as I am for spring to be here and spending quality time outdoors with warmer weather on the horizon!

I look back on the last year with a lot of positives, excitement and some concerns as we head further into 2025.

Speaking of spring, the annual City-Wide Clean-Up is April 19-26.

An interesting statistic came to the forefront as the city staff and council reviewed the latest numbers regarding the costs of garbage collection.

As a nation, individual households produce on average 100 pounds more garbage per year and a likely contributor is our dependency on the convenience of purchases delivered to our front door in the form of cardboard that is recycled and part of the overall garbage collection costs.

From a council perspective, 2025 is off to a fast start. We focused hard on updating the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and identified tangible goals, including another no-frills budget with a continued effort to update our aging infrastructure and continue providing sound services we all enjoy.

• Ambulance Service – My biggest concern for 2025 and one of the most complex issues at hand with a large amount of misinformation floating around on Facebook.

The reimbursement rates or lack thereof are the biggest factors in terms of the overall operating costs. Imagine owning a business and only receiving 30 cents or less on every dollar spent. You would not be in business long without raising your costs.

The EMS Tax Levy vote was defeated last November for a second time. Where do we go from here? Do we continue with the county leading via declaring an essential service and another vote? Do we look at an in-house public service?

Do we reduce the service altogether? That does not aid community members or our outstanding local hospital who rely on the ability to transfer critical patients (paramedic required) as needed.

Many options are out there and mostly result in a reduced or lack of service – the same service that had 1,500-plus calls for service (last time I verified the numbers with dispatch) and continue to rise on average 200 calls per year.

With budget season winding down, hopefully the county, city, hospital board and ambulance commission (collectively all need to be at the table) will meet very soon to have lengthy discussions on these very topics and start developing a plan for the future.

When we pick up the phone and dial 911 for a medical emergency, an ambulance needs to arrive with the right personnel for the type of emergency that requires either Advance Life Support or Basic Life Support response.

Like you, I cannot place a price on life and seconds not minutes count in response time and the difference between life and death.

• Main Street Bridge – Yet again, a large amount of misinformation floating around on Facebook, especially after last year’s flood event.

An engineering study was conducted about 15 months prior to the flood in which the Main Street and Gilbert Street bridges received a grade of fair. An engineering study has to be carried out before a comprehensive plan can be put in place and more importantly receive any form of federal or state funding for replacement or rehabilitation.

So, what is the latest status? With the arrival of spring, an engineering firm will be back on site in the near term to look at the flumes, the dam and provide city staff and council with a complete picture to include the conditions and costs associated to replace or rehabilitate and proceed from there. A continued work in progress.

A shout out and congratulations to Floyd County Medical Center on its 60th anniversary, a testament to the leadership and health care professionals and support staff who tirelessly work caring for our community.

In particular, I would like to recognize Joanne Starr ANRP, a longtime community member who provides excellent patient care and embodies the American spirit of giving back to the community!

Also, a huge shout-out to Tonya Nosbisch and Meg Rodriguez for spearheading the revival of the St. Patty’s Day Parade and festivities. Great to see community members bringing back a favorite event and great way to enter spring!

Let’s enjoy 2025! Pay-it-forward by lending a helping hand to someone when you can and thank those who step up and volunteer in various capacities in the community that bring so much positive energy and fun to our great city.