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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2023-09-28 minutes 1 Public Safety Committee Meeting Call to Order The September 28, 2023, Public Safety Committee meeting was convened at 7:30 a.m. by Councilman Spencer. Attendance Present: Committee Members: Councilman Scott Spencer, Councilman Jack Deeken, Councilman Mark Schwartz, Councilman Aaron Mealy Guests: Fire Chief Matt Schofield, Chief of Police Eric Wilde, Emergency Medical Services Chief Eric Hoy, City Administrator Brian Crane, Fire Division Chief of Preventions Jason Turner, Police Captain Deric Heislen, Councilman Mike Lester, Councilman Jeff Ahlers, Mayor Ron Fitzwater Approval of Minutes Councilman Schwartz motioned to approve the minutes from the August 31st meeting. Councilman Deeken seconded the motion. Minutes approved. Discussion of Agenda Items OPENING REMARKS Councilman Spencer welcomed back Chief Schofield to his full duty as Fire Chief, and thanked him for his time as Interim City Administrator. Councilman Spencer welcomed City Administrator Brian Crane. City Administrator Crane stated he appreciates the opportunity to serve the community. He added he looks forward to the future of the city and is excited to be a part of its growth. OLD BUSINESS Councilman Spencer advised he was contacted by members of the community regarding the Animal Shelter Advisory Board. In response to his question regarding citizen involvement in the advisory board, Chief Wilde advised the board consists of veterinarians within the community such as Dr. Schaller, Boyer, Popp and others. There has not been a ny citizen involvement within the board due to the fact that decisions regarding animal health and wellbeing shall be made by subject matter experts such as veterinarians. He also noted he is not opposed to citizen involvement. Mayor Fitzwater stated, as city code is currently written, the board shall consist of veterinarians and notes nothing about citizen involvement. NEW BUSINESS ARFF Truck Timeline and Next Steps 2 Chief Schofield advised the department’s timeline for this project is 1-2 years, and he intends to bring this project up at the October 16th City Council meeting. The department is currently negotiating with vendors. By October 16th, the department plans to have a vendor selected, an accommodation of agreement, and a co-op agreement. During that meeting, the budget will potentially be approved for the project and second reading of the project will be conducted on the November 6th City Council meeting. Chief Schofield asked for the committee’s approval to move the project to full council. Councilman Spencer motioned to move the project to full council. Councilman Schwartz seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Councilman Mealy – Yes Councilman Spencer – Yes Councilman Schwartz – Yes Councilman Deeken – Yes Motion to approve passed by a vote of 4 yeses. Regional Grant Application for Communications Equipment Chief Schofield advised the department is working with other departments within the region to apply for a regional grant application for communications equipment such as radios. This gra nt would be an intergovernmental agreement, which requires an MOU. An MOU has been created and has been circulated through the legal department, who are supportive of the grant. The department’s odds of receiving the grant are increased because of multiple community’s involvement. The grant will be a 10% match by the City, and the application is $12,500 which would be split by the 5 agencies involved, making the application $2,500 for the department. Chief Schofield stated using this grant will benefit each agency by being more interconnected with their communities. Councilman Spencer added it is great cooperation between the City and County. In response to Councilman Mealy’s question regarding who will provide the grant, Chief Schofield advised the agencies have collectively agreed to have a private company write the grant. The committee agreed to allow Chief Schofield to take the grant to the full council. Fire Prevention Week Fire Division Chief of Preventions Jason Turner stated Fire Prevention Week starts October 8th. The week of October 1st, the department will begin visiting 14 schools in Jefferson City with a total of 14,000 children. He stated the 2023 theme is “Cooking Safe Starts with You.” Division Chief Turner added Lowe’s and their employees have been very supportive of Fire Prevention Week for the last 16 years. During that time, Lowe’s has donated about 1000 smoke detectors to the community. This year, the department is asking for the donation of carbon monoxide detectors instead. On October 14th, the department will visit Lowe’s to bring awareness to fire prevention. 3 Division Chief Turner advised on October 2nd, the department will recognize Kyle Citrell(?) for his contribution with representatives from Habitat for Humanity for installing fire sprinkler systems in multifamily housing and remodels built by Habitat for Humanity. OTHER BUSINESS Fire Department Update Chief Schofield stated there is currently one fire fighter in the introductory period which will be completed this month. Chief Schofield advised he will be adding bunker gear quotes for a contract for the department’s annual bunker gear to the consent agenda for Monday night’s council meeting. Prices for gear has increased, which makes it difficult to obtain contractors for the gear. Chief Schofield gave a brief burn building update. The building footing is currently being built and they are making progress with the foundation. He stated the building itself is being built offsite and is expected to be complete by the end of the year. Chief Schofield advised Ladder 3 was directly struck with high voltage powerlines while it was parked during a routine inspection of a building. The voltage did substantial damage to the truck and the department is concerned with the structural integrity and the volume of mechanical, electrical, and computerized equipment in the truck. The truck is still being evaluated in three stages. He is fortunate no one was injured during this incident, but there are a lot of concerns for the reliability for the truck later down the road. Chief Schofield stated there are 7 trucks within the frontline fleet, 2 of which are ladder trucks. Ladder 3 is the only vehicle in the fleet with its specific capabilities, which makes it a critical piece of equipment. The department has a reserve ladder truck, but it does not have these capabilities. The department is looking into leasing or renting a truck that operates at the same compacity. In response to Councilman Spencer’s question regarding funds for the truck, Chief Schofield stated an insurance claim has been made, and he will have updates soon. Division Chief Turner advised the vendors have been very helpful and reliable during this time. In response to Councilman Mealy’s question regarding the debriefing process, Chief Schofield stated the department takes moments like these to learn from mistakes or what could have been done better during that time. Unfortunately, noting could be done at that time and it was just a series of unfortunate incidents. He stated the department can replace vehicles, but we cannot replace people. He is thankful no one was in or near the vehicle and no one got hurt. Councilman Schwartz inquired about the length of the ladder. Chief Schofield advised the ladders are 101 feet long vertically. He stated it seems like a lot, but in you take in account for the angle of the ladder and the obstacles to move around, it typically would not be able to reach the highest point of some buildings. 101 feet is standard for an areal apparatus, though. Councilman Schwarz suggested discussing the option of purchasing a larger apparatus to be able to reach taller buildings like those owned by the state. Police Department Updates 4 Chief Wilde welcomed back Captain McCutchen from the 10-week long FBI National Academy located in Quantico, Virginia. He advised 2 officers recently graduated LETI and the department sent 4 more recruits this week, which is the largest class the department has sent recently. The department looks to be benefiting from the recruitment initiatives. With personnel numbers increasing, Chief Wilde stated the department was able to fill multiple vacancies in specialty units. Officer Barron was added to the School Resource Officers, Officer Jones was added to the traffic unit, and Officers Hitt and Sterling were added to the Community Action Team. Chief Wilde advised Officer Hitt was previously a community behavioral liaison for Compass Health. The department will utilize her as the proactive liaison for the homeless, victimization reduction, crime prevention, and more, giving the community a personal approach to help with the community’s mental health crisis. The State provides a 32-month long, no match CIT grant that would pay for Officer Hitt’s salary, equipment, training, and more if granted. Data will be collected with Officer Hitt’s analysis on the community’s mental health and crime prevention. Councilman Mealy suggested Officer Hitt attend a Public Safety Committee to be recognized for her contributions. In response to Councilman Schwartz’s question regarding the department’s involvement with CBHL, Chief Wilde stated CBHL and the Crisis Access Point are like secondary responders for mental health issues. The Crisis Access Point gives citizens access to physicians, social workers, counselors, and much more to help the community. The department has utilized the Crisis Access Point when dealing with people who need this type of help. Chief Wilde advised next week the department will host the Missouri Canine Confere nce. 30 K- 9 teams will meet at Hyde Park where they will undergo tracking, bomb detection, and drug detection training. Chief Wilde stated there has been a lot of media coverage over the department’s collaboration with the Parks department for security and camera footage. Chief Wilde advised he will be attending a self-education meeting regarding Real Time Crime Centers located in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas. The goal of this educational meeting is to begin to integrate real time crime centers into central Missouri. Emergency Medical Services Update Chief Hoy advised August was the 2nd busiest month in EMS’s history with over 1000 calls for service. There were no identifiable trends to this increase, though. Chief Hoy stated there are 4 additional personnel starting Monday, which would bring the department to full staff, three of which are local residents. The department is seeing a retention of employees who complete their paramedic training offered by the department. There is positive feedback from employees stating they enjoy the community and want to make Jefferson City their forever home, but they are running into affordable housing issues. Chief Hoy advised one ambulance was involved in a vehicle collision in Columbia, not faulted by EMS. The vehicle is still operational, but is being worked on for body repairs. 5 Chief Hoy stated the construction of the new building is right on time. The building will begin to take shape within a few weeks. Emergency Management Update Director Tietsort advised the Long-Term Recover Committee for the disaster of the tornado will be transitioning into COAD in November. Director Tietsort gave a quick update on the EMPG grant. He stated the department was reduced in funding, which the department knew would happen. The grant did not fund the presented line items other than salary, and it did reduce funding from $208,900 to about $100,000. Other Updates Councilman Ahlers stated the committee approved a supplemental appropriation of funds for Chief Wilde for recruiting, and asked if the Fire department has a budget for recruiting as well. Chief Schofield advised there is no budget, and the department does what it can with the funds it has. In response to Councilman Lester’s request for a Body Camera update, Chief Wilde advised the project is still in its ‘warm start’ as it works out the technological issues. He stated there was a setback where the line to transfer digital files to the county has been disabled, so the department is unable to electronically send files to the county. He added a press conference has not been conducted yet because he is waiting for these issues to be resolved. Adjourn Councilman Mealy motioned to adjourn the meeting, Councilman Deeken seconded the motion. Meeting was adjourned at 8:30 a.m.