Commissioners accept $196K bid to remodel EMS office

Monday, November 30, 2020

Not only will CARES Act funds pay for renovations to the administrative side of the Putnam County EMS headquarters, but that money will remain in the community with a local contractor.

The Putnam County Commissioners recently accepted a $194,000 bid from Greencastle-based ECS (Energy Conservation Solutions) to do a complete remodel of the administrative office — the portion of the building that was once the Greencastle Pizza Hut.

The expenditure had already been approved by the Putnam County Council as part of the county’s $2.1 million in CARES Act claims, but when considering a price tag of nearly $200,000 Commissioner Rick Woodall recommended that EMS officials seek a second quote.

An ambulance emerges from one of the bay doors at Putnam County EMS headquarters Tuesday afternoon. The station will soon be undergoing some major changes, including a total remodel of the administrative office (left), the addition of a Safe Haven Baby Box in the living quarters area and the painting of murals on all four bay doors.
Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN

“I feel that for an expenditure as large as that, we cannot go off of just one quote,” Woodall said.

In response, EMS Chief Kelly Russ called several more companies, but only Wilhelm Construction from Indianapolis responded, submitting a bid of $296,309.

Asked what would prompt a bid more than 1.5 times that of ECS, Russ said the bid from Wilhelm was “pretty fancy,” including extras such as luxury, heated floors.

“Wilhelm’s bid included a lot of items that were over the top,” Russ said.

However, on the basic, necessary repairs, she said both companies met the requirements, recommending the commissioners go with ECS.

Questioned why there hadn’t been more bids, Russ offered that COVID-19 is probably part of the reason. Each time she or Deputy Chief Anthony Taylor called a contractor, they would be asked if anyone in the building had been exposed to the disease, which is a daily reality for EMS workers.

Bill Mentgen of ECS added that folks in his business are also very busy currently.

“Contractors are absolutely slammed right now,” he said.

Besides taking care of the longstanding moisture issues in the building, the remodel will also include a negative pressure quarantine room for local first responders who have been exposed to COVID-19.

This item is what made the expenditure eligible for CARES Act reimbursement.

The commissioners approved the contract with ECS unanimously, with David Berry and Don Walton joining Woodall with affirmative votes.

“My biggest issue with this is, ‘Where is the office going to be housed while the remodel is going on?’” Woodall said.

Russ replied that a couple of options have been offered, including space upstairs in the former Silver Lady (aka Old Topper) building, as well as the Floyd Township Fire Department offering room at its fire station at Heritage Lake.

Russ said she worried about the distance between the latter location and the EMS headquarters on Bloomington Street in Greencastle.

She assured the commissioners, however, that with the work only on the administrative side of the building, the paramedics and EMTs would not be affected in their routines.

Also, Floyd Township Fire, but she’s worried about the location.

“The crews and the equipment aren’t being affected at all,” Russ said. “It’s just me and Anthony that are getting dislocated.”

Mentgen was asked for a timetable on the project, but said that depends on state approval of the drawings.

“Our big problem is getting started with all the drawings,” Mentgen said. “The actual construction time is 4-5 months, but we have to get state approval for all the drawings.”

One other construction project that will be going on at the EMS building is the installation of a Safe Haven Baby Box on the west side of the building, near the bay doors facing Bloomington Street.

A Safe Haven Baby Box provides a legal and safe surrender option for parents who is unable to care for their healthy newborns who are 30 days old or younger. Indiana is one of five states with updated Safe Haven laws to offer a completely anonymous option in an effort to eliminate infant abandonment.

Russ told the commissioners total installation will cost $12,000-$15,000, which is being paid for through donations. The Baby Boxes have a heating and cooling feature and are equipped with alarm systems to notify 911 once an infant is placed in the medical bassinet.

The box at Putnam County EMS will also open into the on-duty crew’s living room. Either way, the child is retrieved within minutes of being surrendered.

Russ told the Banner Graphic several individuals and organizations have donated to the effort so far, and $3,730 had been raised as of Nov. 30.

Anyone wishing to donate to the program in Putnam County may mail checks to Safe Haven Baby Boxes at P.O. Box 185, Woodburn, IN 46797 with “Putnam County Baby Box” in the memo.

Donations may also be made at the Putnam County EMS Facebook page at www.facebook.com/putnamcountyems.

Russ also warned the commissioners that there is an internet troll out of Massachusetts who apparently has an ongoing feud with the Safe Haven Baby Boxes organization. Russ said she had already banned seven different of his accounts from commenting on the PCEMS facebook page.

The man, who has several ongoing lawsuits with the organization, comments with false information, such as the saying Safe Haven is stealing babies for human trafficking.

“He’s a horrible person. He will continue to troll you,” Russ said. “Do not believe anything he says.”

For more information about Safe Haven Baby Box Inc. or to make a donation online, visit www.SHBB.org or call (888) 742-2133.

Finally, the overall facelift to the building will be completed by the addition of a mural to the four bay doors on the front of the EMS building.

The doors currently have the initials “PCOL,” with one letter on each door representing the former non-profit ambulance service “Putnam County Operation Life.”

An EMT who Russ and Taylor used to work with at Indianapolis EMS has a Master of Fine Arts degree and has done similar overhead door murals for the Indianapolis Fire Department.

The artists will not charge anything, and Russ and Taylor plan to purchase the paint for the project.

Russ added that prior to designing the mural, the artist planned to visit Greencastle in order to come up with a design similar in color scheme and motifs to the Putnam County Mural Project murals on the nearby silos of S & W Feeds.

The commissioners approved this request as well.

Furthering the transformation from OL to PCEMS, Russ said an employee was in the process of taking down the Operation Life sign from the end of the building and repurposing the wood into a Putnam County EMS sign.

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  • It's really nice to, finally, be seeing positive things from our local EMS. Not only being turned over to the County, but the addition of EMS Chief Russ and Deputy Chief Taylor. They are well rounded and professional. Keep it up, all.

    -- Posted by Hmmmmm on Tue, Dec 1, 2020, at 9:29 AM
  • Thank goodness. This is long overdue.

    -- Posted by Queen53 on Tue, Dec 1, 2020, at 10:07 AM
  • *

    That's one heck of abuse on a loophole to misuse CARES act money to remodel the whole building. Well done.

    -- Posted by RSOTS on Tue, Dec 1, 2020, at 4:49 PM
  • I thank the Wanda Twigg Memorial EMS Office has a nice ring to it.

    -- Posted by GHS89 on Wed, Dec 2, 2020, at 2:24 PM
  • GHS89. I agree. Wanda Twigg built up the Operation Life and worked there many many years. She was the backbone to OL. A memorial at the office would be so much earned.

    -- Posted by Nit on Wed, Dec 2, 2020, at 7:05 PM
  • RSOTS: Relax, son. It's not like they tried to slip a bunch of money into fine print in an attempt to pass it as "relief" in a "package" while funding some of the worst organizations and politicians, ever. Never heard you gripe about that....

    -- Posted by Hmmmmm on Fri, Dec 4, 2020, at 2:52 PM
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