Since 2008, the city of Athens and Limestone County Commission have worked together to cover the cost of a driver for the kidney-dialysis van.

The future of that partnership may be in limbo, however, as county commissioners explained their contribution has gone up while the city’s has dwindled. Some commissioners believe the city should be paying its fair share to continue what they believe to be an important community service.

When the city and county first got involved 11 years ago, it was decided the governmental entities would give money to Athens-Limestone Hospital, which provided a driver with EMT certification to drive the dialysis van.

There are only about 15 to 16 dialysis patients who use the service, according to Sandra Jess, who works for dialysis center DaVita. She said most of those live within the city limits.

The van runs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays only. Those who use the service are dialysis patients who don’t drive or who don’t have family members who can bring them, Jess said.

Those who use the service are not billed for it.

On Oct. 1, the agreement between the governmental entities and Athens-Limestone Hospital expires, meaning the hospital will no longer provide a driver. Janice Moore, president of the Athens Kidney Association, asked commissioners if they would be willing to continue working with Athens to provide funding for a van driver so the service may continue.

“You’ve gone above and beyond,” she told commissioners at Wednesday’s work session. “We’ve had some problems with city support.”

She said the original 2008 agreement specified the county and city would each pay the hospital $20,000 for an EMT. Moore told the commission she recently found out an EMT driver is not legally required. The driver would only be required to have CPR certification.

Moore said if the county hires a driver, she believes it would save money because the hospital would no longer be involved. She plans to bring the same proposal to the Athens City Council at its Monday, Aug. 26, meeting.

The question of how much the county is paying for the service versus the city of Athens did not sit well with some commissioners. For fiscal year 2019, the county budgeted $49,400 for the van, $32,500 of which is paid to the hospital to provide the driver.

The city provided $15,000 last year and only $5,000 this fiscal year, said Athens City Clerk Annette Barnes.

Commission Chairman Collin Daly said the county is not only paying the hospital for a driver, but it is also paying to maintain the van and for insurance on the van.

“We’re putting as much skin in the game as anybody,” he told Moore. “If we did hire an employee, I think it would need to be a 50-50 share with the city. We don’t want to be the only person in the game.”

Moore said she would like to know prior to the Aug. 26 council meeting whether the county would be willing to consider hiring a driver so she could take that information to the council.

The commission only meets one more time before the council meeting, and that meeting is set for 10 a.m. Friday at the Clinton Street Courthouse Annex.

Census talk

At Friday’s meeting, the commission may vote to approve a resolution committing to a 2020 Census partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau. Daly said Michelle Williamson, the county’s community relations coordinator, would oversee the commission’s efforts.

County residents’ participation in the census is critical, commissioners said, because it determines how much Limestone receives in state gasoline tax revenue and federal aid. A large change in the census numbers could also result in commissioners’ district lines being redrawn.

Commissioners reports

• District 1: Commissioner Daryl Sammet asked residents to be patient and careful when driving after heavy storms. He said torrential rains may cause flooding or road damage drivers aren’t able to see;

• District 2: Commissioner Steve Turner said his crew would be completing work on turn lanes on Newby Road ahead of Rogers Group resurfacing the road from Gray to Mooresville roads;

• District 3: Commissioner Jason Black said his crew is patching, bush hogging and replacing driveway tiles; and

• District 4: Commissioner Ben Harrison said the paving crew performed work on Salem Minor Hill Road and had started working on Quinn and Lentzville roads. He said crews are trying to fix base failures, and roads are then being covered with gravel until the road is resurfaced. He asked for patience until the roads can be completed.