That incentive pay will now be based on certification rather than job assignment to an ambulance, according to Human Resources Director Charlie Nix.
Nix proposed a flat 7.5 percent increase over base pay for EMT certification and 15 percent for paramedic certification.
Nix said firefighters respond to all hazards.
"Regardless of the nature of the emergency, medical response is part of the fire response and vice versa," Nix said.
The pay hikes, costing an annual $467,000 a year, are retroactive for current employees to July 1st 2007 and affect 216 people.
MEADOWS MEMORIAL
Commissioners approved a memorial to former Commissioner Frances Meadows at the site of the Frances Meadows Center when it is completed this summer.
Friend and colleague, Commissioner Deborah Mack, said its important to remember Meadows, who died battling leukemia six years ago.
"We want to provide something so that those after us can recognize who Frances was," Mack said.
Commission Chairman Tom Oliver, who made the motion, recalled serving with Meadows.
The community center is named for Meadows, the first black person to serve on the Hall County Commission and the first to enroll at Gainesville State College.
Charlie Nix
http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/2/206974