LAKEHURST – The mayor and council held a special meeting recently to discuss a shared services arrangement for emergency medical services and to apply for a state grant.
The Local Efficiency Achievement Program (LEAP) grant is administrated by the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) and is designed to assist local governments improve the quality of life in each of New Jersey’s 564 municipalities.
Through a variety of programs, DCA’s Division of Local Government Services (DLGS) works with counties and municipalities to streamline government operations and reduce costs and property taxes.
Council President Steven Oglesby reported on his attendance of a recent Ocean County Business Administrators meeting.
“There was a lot of talk about the JIF (Joint Insurance Fund) and as we have been very aware over the years that risk mitigations effects everything. There are two JIFs in New Jersey that exceeded their budgets. Ocean County JIF is still in good shape,” the council president said, noting 31 towns were part of that JIF.
The council president said, “there were a number of issues that came up and things we will have to be aware of. The biggie is, and we’ve had some training in it already, is cyber security. It has been costing us a fortune across the country. They (scammers) are getting better and better at it.”
He also noted that JIF is looking into best practices policies that each municipality should follow. He also said the subject of polyfluoaidroalkyl substance contamination – known as PFAS was discussed at that meeting.
For several years, federal, state and local officials have been discussing the monitoring process of any potential contamination of PFAS moving into drinking water supplies. PFAS, even in small amounts can cause serious problems to a person’s health.
Increased exposure has had a correlation to higher cholesterol levels, kidney and testicular cancer and impacts on the immune system according to findings by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can also interfere with liver function.
“Courts have now extended the time limits from back in the 1970s where there were cases. Firefighters or anyone else who has worked with these chemicals and have developed cancer over the years do not have to prove that they got it, we have to prove that they didn’t and that is an extremely heavy load to lift,” Oglesby said.
He also noted the meeting touched on the state’s Affordable Housing mandate and that the county landfill has some very steep inclines “and some of the trucks are actually falling over and volunteers are being sought for emergency management services. They have quarterly meetings. I am going to try and attend them so that we can stay up to date and involved with what is going on.”
The post Shared Services For EMS Discussed appeared first on Jersey Shore Online.
