title
Minutes for the Public Safety Committee meeting on December 19, 2005.
body
Public Safety
Committee Minutes
Monday, December 19, 2005
5:15 p.m.
Members present were: Chris Moore, Tim McCall, Judy Furr, and Jim Hargis. Councilman Harold Perrin arrived at 5:33 p.m. Councilman Mitch Johnson was unable to attend.
MINUTES
Councilman Perrin motioned, seconded by Councilwoman Furr, to accept the minutes as provided for the November 15, 2005, meeting. All voted aye. Minutes were provided to all in attendance of the meeting.
ANIMAL CONTROL
Councilman Hargis reported since its winter, most of the mosquitoes are gone. The contract with Vector Mosquito has one more year left to go. It was questioned what happened with a tire problem that Mr. Stark had presented to the committee and asked to be taken care of during the winter. Councilman Hargis noted he passed the problem on to Code Enforcement. Mr. Ron Shipley stated the area was actually county property, so he passed the problem on to the county.
It was then questioned how the Humane Society’s move is going. Councilman Hargis stated they are moved. The Humane Society is taking in animals and adopting them. They initially had problems with the sewer line because it had a piece of concrete in it, but that has been fixed.
Councilman Hargis also discussed the animal shelter for 2006. He explained they will be hiring someone to draw up a plan before a construction manager is hired to make sure they get what they want when they put the project out to bid.
The Animal Control department reported they are 2,000 miles under normal because they’re trying to save on gas.
FIRE DEPARTMENT
Fire Chief Aaron Keller stated they only have one ladder truck working at the moment, but will be looking at two trucks on January 6th. He had ordered parts for an engine truck that is down and is expecting the parts in mid-January, 2006. He added they have been busy with house fires for the past few days.
Discussion was held regarding a house that had been indirectly damaged when the Fire Department put out a fire at the neighboring house. One of the windows on the house broke when water ricocheted off the neighboring house while the department was trying to put a fire out. It was stated the City will probably pay to replace the window.
POLICE
Councilwoman Furr noted that due to budget cuts made by the government, the City shouldn’t look to the government for future funding. It has been indicated to her that the cuts will be in the billions, so the City will need to look for other sources of revenue.
Captain Lynn Waterworth presented a resolution to authorize the procedures for the destruction of specific police records. She added the resolution mirrored what the Finance Department currently does with their records. She also stated a lot of records are scanned in now, so the electronic formats will be kept. A list of types of records and the length the department plans on keeping them was also provided to the committee. It was questioned whether the City had ever done anything about offsite storage. It was mentioned Mr. Young had not done anything about it yet, but is looking into it. Councilman Perrin suggested in 2006 the City look to a business policy to backup the records. Councilwoman Furr motioned, seconded by Councilman Perrin to recommend the resolution to full Council. All voted aye.
Captain Waterworth also provided the committee with a web site address for committee members to visit to see what the department would like to do with their motor vehicle accident reports. Capt. Waterworth noted the department is processing about 300 reports a month. They have received a contract from the company that they hope will be housing the reports online and City Attorney Phillip Crego is currently reviewing the contract. She added the state has a similar process for handling the disbursement of police reports. Discussion was held as to how much the cost of the reports would be. Capt. Waterworth stated the reports would cost $12.50, which consists of the department’s usual $10 fee and a $2.50 administrative fee the company will keep. She added that the online version of the reports is just an alternative. People will still be able to walk into the Police Department and get reports as well. She did note that “ambulance chasers” will be directed to the web site since they don’t have to pay to view the reports. Chief Yates noted that he estimates 95% of the reports will be taken care of online. Councilman Perrin motioned, seconded by Councilwoman Furr, to recommend the contract to full Council, pending Mr. Crego’s approval. All voted aye.
Chief Yates asked the committee if they wanted an officer-by-officer report of the department. It was decided to not provide reports listing officer’s names, rather do it by department. He then discussed the performance review system he started in September. In a recent article in the Jonesboro Sun, some officers had said the review system was like a quota. Chief Yates noted the system is not a quota. He did send information about the review system to the Jonesboro Sun for the article, but only a portion of what he said was used. He further explained the article diluted the truth of the performance review system. Councilman Perrin stated he had received some calls from citizens about the article and he had explained to them that it’s not a quota system, just a performance review. He further stated he’d like to see all departments have a performance driven review for their employees. Chief Yates explained the performance reviews have increased performance in the department and they are also using the AVL units to provide reports on officer’s activities. He added there was an officer in the department who exceeded the expectations of the department and only wrote four tickets in one month. It was asked for Chief Yates to also provide AVL reports to the committee.
E-911
Mr. Bob Andrews reported to the committee that because AT&T has been bought out by Cingular, Cingular will be shutting down some towers. Sierra Wireless will be updating the City’s AVLs and reprogramming them. They will also be compatible with the ones in the Fire Department.
OTHER
Mr. Brian Wadley discussed the engineer’s design for the renovation of the Justice Complex to fix the problem with the roof. The Mayor’s office received a design just before the meeting. It was questioned when bids would go out for the job. Mayor Formon stated they would get with Mr. Steve Kent the next day to put bids out for the project. He also said the bids will be for a turnkey job and most of the work will have to be done at night so court is not interfered.
ADJOURNMENT
With no further business, Councilwoman Furr moved, seconded by Councilman Moore for adjournment. All voted aye.