The Town of Cedar Bluff is cutting First Responder Services on Medical Calls offered by the Cedar Bluff Fire Department.

At the recommendation of Councilman Dewayne Agan – the Cedar Bluff Fire Department will no longer run Medical Calls unless assistance is requested directly from Cherokee EMS – Councilman Agan cited Liability reasons as the factor for making this decision –

Cherokee EMS has been operating in Cedar Bluff during the daytime hours from a staging area that has been established at the Weiss Mart Motel.

Cedar Bluff Fire Chief Matthew Sprayberry agreed with the decision for his department not to run Medical Calls during the daytime while an ambulance crew is on duty, but had a difference in opinion about cutting Medical Calls at night –

Following some brief discussion, the council voted unanimously that the department will no longer respond to Medical Calls unless assistance is requested by Cherokee EMS.

Also during the Council’s regular meeting on Monday, an Ordinance was adopted which will discontinue the collection of all municipal of taxes within the Police Jurisdiction and will also no longer provide police services outside the Town Limits.

Mayor Tammy Crane said the she had already informed Sheriff Jeff Shaver of the change – during a previous meeting Cedar Bluff Police Chief Steve Walden said that his officers were spending more than fifty percent of their shifts working outside the town limits, virtually leaving the residents inside the town without effective police coverage – now the Sheriff’s Department will handle all calls outside of the Cedar Bluff Town limits.

In other business, an Ordinance was adopted establishing the Pre-Trial Diversion Program for the Town’s new Municipal Court, also approved was the purchase of a new laptop computer and municipal court software for the court system.

Sealed Bids were also opened for the sale of the old Water Treatment Plant off of Money’s Bend Road with the bid going to Josh and Reba Ray in the amount of $24,100.

Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Theresa Hulgan was also in attendance to request some financial assistance from the town for the redesign of a county map, brochure and rack card that is distributed all over the region to promote tourism – the town voted to allot $800 which will be paid from the town’s advertising account, the three publications will now be combined into a single document.

To listen to the meeting in it’s entirety, simply click the link below