DARLINGTON — When you are a member of the Lafayette County Board, you do not know what you may have come across your plate for a committee meeting.

At last week’s Executive Committee meeting, the assembled group discussed ways they could save money on drugs needed in ambulances, whether or not to include a new group on the annual stray dog pound providers, and how they could handle disciplinary issues with fellow county board supervisors who do not show up for meetings.

Things started out with the discussion on drugs for the ambulances of Lafayette County EMS. Interim EMS Director Jed Schultz came before the committee to discuss options on purchasing medications that are kept in the ambulances.

Because the ambulance service uses smaller quantities, it is difficult to buy such items, as they are usually sold in larger quantities, and may expire before the service would use them.

In the past, well before it became Lafayette County EMS, items could be purchased at pharmacies, but as consolidation took place, that no longer became an option.

Marie Wamsley, CEO of Lafayette Hospital and Clinics, was at the meeting, and wanted to see if they could explore options through the hospital. Designated a critical care hospital, it is able to get discounts on certain drugs.

There may be issues, however, due to that designation, as the inventory would be kept separate, and Wamsley was not sure if the hospital could buy back the drugs if they were closing in on expiration, as some providers are able to.

Schultz also talked about checking with the local pharmacies to see if there was an openness to have a program similar to the past, as there has been more community outreach seen.

Wamsley recalled the past relationships between the EMS services and local pharmacies. “It worked great back in the day,” she noted.

Schultz and Wamsley were going to explore options available.

The committee then turned to the annual stray dog contract, which for decades has been with the Green County Humane Society.

A representative of the Green County Humane Society was at the meeting, and talked about the good working relationship with the county.

That relationship was needed in the past couple of years as the Sheriff’s office has had to deal with seizures of large groups of animals, like the case last year when 55 dogs were collected from a location.

While the price for the daily stay for those dogs became a high price, due to the length of the court case dealing with the animals and their conditions, Lafayette County did not see additional costs, like when one of the dogs had a digestive issue and would regularly regurgitate its food.

The cost of the medical care to rectify that condition was dealt with outside the county’s bill.

Green County was looking to raise its price on stray dogs, from $125 to $150, but was also looking to offer a stray cat option, given the rise in stray cats.

Stray dogs are covered under the licensing fees in the county — $8 for unneutered dogs, $3 for fixed — but cats do not have any funding as there is no requirement for licensing cats.

Also at the meeting was a representative of the group Bones and Belly Rubs, an animal care facility in Darlington.

The organization is also looking to venture into stray animal care to assist with the issue.

“We want to work with surrounding humane societies,” the representative stated, noting they are working on a space for stray cats.

The firm is currently dealing with several surrenders, leading to care for 10 different stray or surrendered dogs.

Another dog is a surrender from a person who is currently dealing with a family member with dementia, which has made them have a tough time caring for their dog.

While looking to support the need for housing stray animals, Bones and Belly Rubs was still in its early stages of adding such abilities, which meant certain types of animals, like ones with perceived temperament issues, would be tough.

Sheriff Reg Gill was at the meeting, and commended Green County Humane Society for their work on the seizures his department had to deal with. While Bones could handle individual strays, Gill wondered what would happen if they had another large animal seizure.

Both representatives talked about working together and coming up with a way to figure out how Bones and Belly Rubs could be included to support the humane society on Lafayette County animals.

The committee then went to focus on something far more difficult than a stray dog — stray county board members.

Several members voiced their concern about absent supervisors who do not even let the chair of a committee know they will not be going to a meeting, thus putting a quorum in jeopardy.

Under the current county board rules, there are few designating any sort of remedy for missing or absent board members.

Other counties list out specifically how many unannounced absences may lead to punishment, which includes removal from a committee, and possibly even removal from the board.

“Its hard to have a meeting and you do not have a quorum,” County Chair Jack Sauer stated.

Beyond the rules of attendance, there were also the rules of conduct for supervisors.

It was stated that at least one county board supervisor would go directly to discuss internal matters of a county department, but was not on the oversight committee of that department.

The committee members noted that they have no control if an employee wishes to vent their frustration to any county board member on an issue, supervisors directly trying to deal with departments, especially when they are not on the committee over that department, can create chaos.

The committee voted to look into rules about absence and notification if a person is going to miss a meeting.