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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2016-02-25 minutes 1 Public Safety Committee Meeting Call to Order The February 25, 2016, Public Safety Committee meeting convened at 7:30 a.m. by Councilman Mihalevich. Attendance Present: Committee Members: Councilman Rick Mihalevich, Councilman Ken Hussey, Councilman Jim Branch, Councilman Mark Schreiber and Councilman Carlos Graham. Guests: Mayor Carrie Tergin, City Administrator Steve Crowell, City Counselor Drew Hilpert, Fire Chief Matt Schofield, Police Chief Roger Schroeder, Cole County Emergency Management Coordinator Bill Farr, Police Captain Eric Wilde, Public Works Operations Division Director Britt Smith, Fire Division Chief Jason Turner, Fire Division Chief Jerry Blomberg, and Fire Union President Joe Alonzo. Approval of Minutes Councilman Graham made a motion to approve the minutes of the December 31st meeting. Councilman Hussey seconded the motion. Minutes were approved. Discussion of Agenda Items OLD BUSINESS Firefighter Hiring Process Status Update Chief Schofield asked Fire Division Chief Blomberg to give an update and timeline for the firefighter hiring process. There were 183 applications received. Applicant testing will be held tomorrow and Saturday, February 26 and 27. Agility testing will be held on March 11 -13. Interviews will be given to candidates chosen from the 20 top-scoring applicants. An employment offer will be given on March 14th. Recruit school begins on March 28th. NEW BUSINESS MoDOT $1,200.00 St. Patrick’s DWI Enforcement Grant Chief Schroeder explained the four enforcement grants on the agenda are all Missouri Department of Transportation, no match grants. The St. Patrick’s DWI Enforcement Grant runs from March 17-20, with the purpose of dissuading impaired driving on St. Patrick’s Day and the following three days. 2 MoDOT $450.00 Youth Seat Belt Enforcement Grant This grant runs from March 15-31 for the purpose of enforcing the seat belt ordinance, specifically in the younger age demographic. MoDOT $26,674.20 Hazardous Moving Violations Enforcement Grant This is the 13th year for this annual grant. Hazardous moving violations include careless and imprudent driving, speeding, red light violations, etc. The grant money pays for officers’ overtime and benefits to provide this special enforcement. The grant period is from October 1, 2016, through September 30, 2017. MoDOT $32,565.60 DWI Enforcement Grant This is the 9th year for this annual grant. The grant money pays for officers’ overtime and benefits to provide DWI enforcement. The grant period is also from October 1, 2016, to September 30, 2017. Chief Schroeder advised a report on the grants will be provided to the Committee members at the end of the enforcement period. Councilman Branch made a motion to move these four grants onto the City Council for their consideration. Councilman Schreiber seconded the motion. Motion approved. Amendment to City Ordinance, Chapter 6 – Bicycles and Skateboards City Counselor Hilpert advised this amendment will update the City’s ordinance to reflect the wording in the State law governing bicycles. Councilman Graham made a motion to move the amended ordinance onto the City Council for approval. Councilman Hussey seconded the motion. Motion approved. FY2015 SAFR Grant Application Chief Schofield advised he had unsuccessfully applied last year for this grant that would provide two firefighters to the City. He would like to apply for the grant again this year , although he doesn’t anticipate success. He is also petitioning the Public Safety Committee to consider two additional firefighter positions, outside of the grant cycle. He provided a Fire Department organizational chart to indicate where these two positions would be utilized. He stated there was a collision of three timelines: (1) The new hiring process, which benefitted from a significant recruiting effort; (2) the pending grant application deadline of March 25th; and (3) the regional training class to begin on March 28. This represents a very short time period for these events. Chief Schofield stated in 2007 there was a clause placed in their work agreement that established a minimum and overall staffing level, which is currently not being met. City Administrator Crowell added that overtime is being used to fill the staffing shortage, but that is difficult when employees are utilizing leave. Chief Schofield discussed the amount of money needed to fund the two positions, and stated sending recruits to the training school as a group is advantageous and cost effective. Full staffing helps support their training efforts and operational capacity. 3 Fire Union president Joe Alonzo spoke on behalf of the need for these additional positions and strongly urged the City to honor its commitment to fully staff the fire department. This is a large safety issue for the firefighters. Chief Schofield does not know when the award recipients will be notified. He received updated numbers for the grant amount this morning and will revise the application to reflect these changes. After discussion, Councilman Hussey made a motion to approve sending the grant application to the City Council for approval, pending updated numbers. Councilman Schrieber seconded the motion. Motion approved. In discussing the addition of two firefighter positions (aside from the grant) City Administrator Crowell stated the Finance Committee should discuss the request. Councilman Hussey made a motion to move the request of two positions onto the City Council for consideration. Councilman Schreiber seconded the motion. Motion approved. Consideration to Use Proceeds of $164,672 from the Sale of Old Fire Station 3 to Make Repairs to Existing Fire Stations Chief Schofield stated the City has closed on the sale of Fire Station 3. He appreciates the efforts of the various city staff who helped to navigate the agreement. He i s asking that the proceeds from the sale be applied to repairs to other fire stations referenced in the existing Facility Review document. This entails both short and medium-range repair items. City Administrator Crowell stated the Finance Committee will want input as the money has been received and will need to be reallocated if approved for repairs. Councilman Graham asked Chief Schofield to provide a list of repairs the money would finance. Councilman Schreiber advised he has toured all the fire stations, and there are significant repairs needed to the older stations. Councilman Hussey made a motion to use the proceeds of the sale of old fire station 3 for critical repairs, and to send the request to the Finance Committee for their consideration. Councilman Graham seconded the motion. Motion approved. Removal of Abandoned Warning Siren Towers Councilman Mihalevich advised he had asked for this issue to be discussed. Chief Schroeder stated he has intermittently received complaints from citizens about the appearance of the abandoned poles. There was $90,000 allocated in the 2012 budget, approximately $20,000 of which was to be used to remove the abandoned poles, with the rest used to erect new poles to cover any existing voids. With the revenue issue of 2013, the money was no longer available. The money for the removal was not restored, and the police department had no financial means for the removal. Chief Schroeder asked Captain Wilde to give additional information. Captain Wilde advised he was recently asked to remove the pole on the top of the Post Office downtown, as they are replacing the roof. Bids for the removal have been requested and are due back in two weeks. In 2012 a bid from Meyer Electric was obtained in the amount of $19,453 for the removal of all 13 abandoned poles. Public Works Operations Division Director Smith stated he had hoped to use City resources to remove the poles, but unfortunately, existing City equipment cannot do so safely. The best course of action is to put together a bid for the project. The first step is to identify a funding stream. 4 City Administrator Crowell stated he was in the process of closing out sales tax F and remaining funds may be available for pole removal. First he would talk with department directors concerning pending projects that also needed funding. Councilman Schreiber made a motion to direct staff to seek bids for removal of 13 abandoned outdoor warning siren towers. Councilman Graham seconded the motion. Motion approved. OTHER BUSINESS Cole County Emergency Management Coordinator Farr stated Cole County and Jefferson City were required every five years to update its Hazard Mitigation Plan. The revision to the plan is due to the State of Missouri in May. It will then be reviewed by FEMA. County and City representatives, including Mayor Tergin and City Administrator Crowell, have attended meetings with FEMA personnel to work on the revision. Mr. Farr advised completing this plan will assist in receiving federal money in the future. He stated that individuals in Osage County are receiving assistance for recent flood damage, but no one in Jefferson City requested assistance. The annual statewide tornado drill will occur on Tuesday, March 15th at 1:30 p.m. Mr. Farr will offer the annual Severe Weather class, which is free to the public, on Thursday, March 31st. The class annually draws approximately 120-130 participants. Councilman Mihalevich discussed the importance of citizens having an indoor weather radio that will enunciate the outdoor warning sirens. As a Council, he feels they could support this recommendation with a resolution, and encourage people to purchase this technology. Mr. Farr advised that alerts from the National Weather Service and local weather channels may be received on cell phones. Chief Schroeder advised an indoor warning system was another item that had been previously discussed, but was abandoned in the budget shortfall. He stated that Captain Wilde is currently researching in-home alert systems. Captain Wilde advised he is researching mass notification systems that can emit notifications from the 911 Center to e -mail, phone, text, etc. This system could be used for more than emergency notifications and would allow each City department to make their own specific notifications. Mr. Farr stated Cole County would support 50% of funding for this type of system to be used county-wide. Chief Schofield advised he would wholeheartedly support a system of this type for all public safety. This item will be placed on the agenda for the next committee meeting. Adjourn Councilman Mihalevich adjourned the meeting at 8:30 a.m.