The third time appears to be the charm in Chickasaw County’s effort to hire a director for the new County-run ambulance service.
After their first offer to Candidate #3 was declined, Candidate #1 was offered the post, accepted, but later rescinded the acceptance.
Last week, the County’s Board of Supervisors offered the position to Candidate #2, but on a part-time basis. During their Supervisors meeting Monday, that candidate, Joel Knutson, a New Hampton native, addressed the Board to discuss options on pay and hours for a part-time versus full-time director of the new Chickasaw County EMS department.
After two motions on possible compensation and hours died for a lack of a second motion, a third proposal was passed by a 3-1 vote with Supervisor Jacob Hackman voting no and Supervisor Steven Breitbach absent because he was related to one of the three applicants who interviewed for the post.
In the end, Knutson was offered a salary of $60,000 for 60 hours per pay period, salary exempt, plus a rate of $31 per hour for extra on-call hours he’s needed to fill in for other staff members starting January 1, 2023. Supervisors also voted to pay Knutson on a part-time basis at $28 per hour for up to 20 hours a week for the remainder of the year to help get the ambulance staffed and ready to go with the new year.
The new ambulance department is expected to employ five other full-time ambulance positions with the deadline for applications at 4 p.m. Friday, October 28th, with hopes of beginning interviews in early November. There will also be 15 to 20 part-time staff.
