DC Council OKs ambulance changes

Changes to Dodge Center ambulance staffing and a public hearing on the city’s cannabis ordinance were on the agenda last week at the last meeting of 2024 for the City Council.
In a temporary restructuring of the Ambulance Department, John Fox was named the interim ambulance director with the departure of Ambulance Director AJ Gengler at the end of December. The appointment of Fox as the interim director is not a permanent appointment, City Administrator Lee Mattson said.
Gengler, who has accepted a position in Rochester, will remain involved with the Dodge Center Ambulance as a Paid on Call paramedic.
The council also approved the appointment of Rod Duryee as interim operations supervisor. Collin Anding was also hired as a part-time paramedic.
The changes, City Administrator Lee Mattson said, will result in a savings to the city of $43,126.54.
The city will save $109,349.50 with the departure of Gengler. That savings will be offset, he said, by the added costs of adding interim duties to Fox and Duryee, an additional part-time position and an additional on-call position.
The council also approved creating a higher ceiling on the pay scale for a regular Paid on Call EMT of $4/hr. New employees, Mattson said, will start at $3/hr. but employees who complete six months with the service and continue to meet all the volunteer hour requirements can move up a scale that would top out at $4/hr.
The council also created a higher ceiling on the pay scale for a casual Paid on Call EMT to $3.50 an hour. Those who successfully complete their first six months with the service but who do not meet the minimum number of volunteer hours would be classified as casual. This change, Mattson said, will hopefully encourage continued volunteerism and support successful recruitment efforts.
The council also held a public hearing on the Cannabis Ordinance.
The proposed Cannabis Business Regulation Ordinance is in response to the legalization of cannabis by the state and based on the model ordinance provided by the state.
It permits cannabis businesses licensed for manufacture of cannabis or hemp, wholesale, transportation and delivery as a Conditional Use in the I-2 Zoning District and retail sales as a Conditional Use in the C-2 Zoning District.
Cannabis businesses are prohibited within 1,000 feet of a school and 500 feet of a day care, residential treatment facility, public park attraction that is regularly used by minors, including playground or athletic field, another cannabis retail business, a hospital, clinic or other health care facility.
The retail sale of cannabis and its production became legal in Minnesota as of Jan. 2, 2025. However, the state Office of Cannabis Management is still writing the regulations on the licensing of producing and selling cannabis. Until those regulations are finalized there will be no state licenses issued for either the production or retail sale of cannabis beyond the edibles that are already being sold.