Councilman Lanny McPherson wanted to wait on making any decisions concerning the idea, until he had a chance to speak to the hospital first.
McPherson said he had spoken with the hospital about the issue. He said they were very cooperative and further told McPherson that they didn’t need the police or fire trucks to come out and sit at the hospital during the daytime hours.
McPherson said they did ask if they could utilize the police by calling them with the license plate numbers of the vehicles that need to be moved and then they would do the rest.
“I believe our response time is good enough with the fire department hat we don’t need to sit out at the hospital waiting on a helicopter,” said McPherson.
The hospital is currently operating with an interim director and McPherson said they told him as soon as they received an official director the issue of putting in a helicopter pad would be addressed.
Zick said he had spoken with hospital officials last year about a pad and was told the liability insurance would be too costly.
When the issue first came up, Zick said it is not fair to charge the average citizen who wants to burn debris at their home and not the hospital when helicopter lands. Currently if someone in the city limits burns debris at their home, they are required to pay a $50 fee for a fire truck to come out and sit at their residence.
The hospital does not have a landing pad and therefore has to clear the parking lot each time the helicopters land to either pick up or deliver a patient.
Russellville Police Chief Barry Dill said his officers take down the license numbers of all the vehicles that need to be moved and locate the owners within the hospital to come and move their vehicles when a helicopter is en route. The officers also park at each entrance of the hospital to keep traffic from coming in and obstructing the area. Fire trucks stay at a stand-by at the facility in the case of a fire which could be caused by a faulty landing or take off.
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