The Dallas County Board of Supervisors convened Tuesday morning in regular session.

Most of the meeting was devoted to a workshop with the Emergency Medical Services Department. EMS Director Mike Thomason was requesting more money so he could increase the salaries for full-time paramedics, in order to make the County more competitive in bringing in new hires. Thomason said he’s not sure if paying employees more will fix his staffing issues, but he felt it was a good place to start. No decision was made at the meeting.

Following that, the Board reviewed bids for the sale of $14,720,000 in general obligation capital loan notes for the new law enforcement center. Representatives from Piper Jaffrey presented the bids to the Board for consideration, with the lowest interest rate being 2.81%, from Robert W. Baird & Company out of Milwaukee. The Board approved the bid, and now all $22.9 million of the public-approved bond has been issued to the County for the project, with a total interest rate of 2.94%.

The Board also listened to a presentation by Information Services Director Todd Noah about a software agreement with Tyler Technologies, and approved operating transfers for the Secondary Roads and Conservation departments. The meeting concluded with a workshop on landscaping at the Human Services Campus, which was continued from last week.