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Minutes for the Public Safety Committee meeting on November 15, 2005.
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PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MINUTES
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
5:15 p.m.
Present were: Chris Moore, Harold Perrin, Tim McCall, Judy Furr, Mitch Johnson, Mayor Doug Formon, City Clerk Donna Jackson, Staff, Press and Audience. Jim Hargis arrived at 5:19 p.m.
MINUTES
Councilman Perrin moved, seconded by Councilman Johnson to accept the minutes as provided for the October 18, 2005, meeting. All voted aye. Minutes were provided to all in attendance of the meeting.
POLICE
Police Chief Michael Yates presented to the committee a line item transfer to move money around in his budget to get the Police Department through to the end of the year. The accounts he’s transferring into are in the red or will be by the end of the year. A total of $22, 344 will be transferred into the heat and light account, professional services account, maintenance grounds & building account, fixed assets account and the laundry account. Councilwoman Furr motioned, seconded by Councilman Hargis to allow for the line item transfer. All voted aye.
Chief Yates also discussed the possibility of working with a company that will take care of the accident reports. Citizens or companies needing an accident report will go online to the company’s web site, pay a $12.50 fee and request the accident report, which eliminates the need for them to go to the Police Department and request a report. The $12.50 fee includes the regular $10 fee charged by the department and a $2.50 administrative fee that will go to the company. Chief Yates noted that once a month the company will write the Police Department a check to cover the $10 the Police Department receives for each report. The company will access the raw data on the system, so the Police Department won’t need to send the company anything. It was asked for Chief Yates to research the matter more and present his information at the December Public Safety meeting. It was asked how many police reports are requested in a month’s time. Chief Yates estimated about 500 accidents reports are given out every month.
Chief Yates also discussed changing the process for giving the Police Department’s officers their uniform allowance. Now, they are given $12.50 per pay period in their regular paychecks. Chief Yates proposed writing each officer a check every quarter, instead of paying them every pay period. He added that writing a check every period would cut down on some of the administrative work that is done when a police officer changes divisions. Questions were raised as to which account the uniform allowance is taken out of. Chief Yates was unsure of whether the allowance came out of the uniform account or the payroll account. Questions were also raised concerning whether the officers were paying taxes on the uniform allowance. It was asked for the process to be more closely looked at by Chief Yates and Finance Director Larry Flowers to make sure the money is coming out of the right account.
Councilwoman Furr noted that the Chief Yates has a new monthly performance tool that he’s been using for a few months now. The performance tool is helping the officers to improve their own performances and showing them where they need to improve. The performance of the officers has improved since Chief Yates has started using the performance tool.
Questions were raised regarding the chaplains the Police Department trained. Chief Yates indicated 5 people volunteered for the chaplain program. He also noted that a few are on standby and he’s received good responses regarding the program.
FIRE DEPARTMENT
Fire Chief Aaron Keller presented an ordinance to amend the 2005 budget to provide for additional funding for Fire Department Tower 1 repairs. Chief Keller explained Tower 1 is in need of additional repairs to the wire rope since it is not working properly. He added the $30,000 that is specified in the ordinance will cover his department through the end of the year, paying not only for the wire rope repairs but also for other repairs that have been made and are being made currently. Councilman Perrin motioned, seconded by Councilwoman Furr to place the ordinance on the agenda for the City Council meeting on November 15. All voted aye.
Chief Keller also reported that ISO confirmed that the City’s current insurance rating of 3 is still appropriate. He added that the rating will be good until the company comes to Jonesboro and looks things over. He emphasized there is still a need for new stations.
Chief Keller also presented a line item transfer to the committee to transfer money into the uniform and outside maintenance accounts for the Fire Department. Councilman Perrin motioned, seconded by Councilman Johnson, to allow for the transfer. Discussion followed concerning what fire stations still have gas heat.
CODE ENFORCEMENT
Mr. Ron Shipley informed the committee that four people are currently using a charge account to pay their permits. But, with the new Springbrook software, they will no longer be able to use the charge account because it interferes with other programs the Finance department is using.
He also reported they have seen an increase in illegal dump sites, possibly due to the citizens not knowing they can use the county landfill site. It was questioned whether the City can use Cox’s Channel 25 to advertise the landfill use, as well as getting City Water and Light to put a note on their bills informing citizens of the use of the county landfill. Questions were also raised concerning waste stations. But, Mayor Formon indicated the City would have to hire numerous people because waste stations have to be guarded 24 hours a day.
Mr. Shipley also expressed concerns regarding Springbrook and the extra time it takes to issue permits. Mr. Shipley noted that currently it takes approximately 3 minutes to issue a permit, but with Springbrook the time would be increased to 32 minutes. He further explained that Springbrook is working on it. Questions were raised as to why it takes longer with Springbrook to issue the permits. Mayor Formon explained it was his understanding the slow-down is caused by a slow connection with the main server at City Hall. It was asked for Finance Director Larry Flowers or IT Director Alan Young to provide the committee with answers as to why Springbrook is lengthening the time it takes to issue a permit, as well as answers other concerns department heads have brought up concerning the software.
Questions were raised as to why the condemnations were pulled from the last Council meeting. Mr. Shipley informed the committee that condemnations were not taken through the right process and he was uncomfortable taking the condemnations to the Council when the checklist had been completed. He added that he will present the condemnations to the Council at the first meeting in December, after they have been fully processed.
ANIMAL CONTROL
Councilman Hargis reported the Animal Control Department visited different sites recently to get ideas for the new building and ideas on style. They visited sites in Boling Green, Kentucky; Jackson, Tennessee; and Bartlett, Tennessee. He added they’re trying to find out how much it’ll cost for an animal shelter and will have a follow-up meeting soon.
Animal Control Officer Terry Veal noted that the department picked up fewer dogs this year so far than they did last year. He added the fewer pickups might be due to the increase in tickets that have been issued.
OTHER
Questions were raised regarding how the vehicles the City had loaned to Hancock County would get down there and whether or not they will be fixed up before they’re taken down there. Mayor Formon indicated several local businessmen have offered to take the vehicles down there. Plus, the City is fixing up the vehicles to make sure they’re in working order when they get there.
Mayor Formon also informed the committee that the local Rotary Clubs will be going down to Hancock County to serve Thanksgiving dinner to the citizens of Bay St. Louis. If anyone is interested in going, they have a web site with more information on it (www.jonesbororotary.org). He added they’re slowly turning the electricity on and expect to have some fires, which is why they needed the fire truck.
Mr. Brian Wadley informed the committee that Dr. Parsons turned in a structural report, with recommendations. He made copies of the report available to the committee members. Dr. Parsons recommends taking out the back wall of the court room, drill out the concrete, and put up poles to help hold up the trusses to make it more stable. Mayor Formon indicated that Dr. Parsons could make a repair plan within 10-14 days for the City. It was asked what the job would cost. Mayor Formon added that Dr. Parsons estimated the job would cost less than $10,000, but they questioned whether it would cost that little. Questions were raised as to whether or not the repairs would be made in-house or whether the job would be bid out. It was asked for Mr. Wadley and Mayor Formon to bring a recommendation to the committee at the December Public Safety meeting as to who will handle the job. Councilman Perrin motioned, seconded by Councilman Johnson for the purchase of the repair plan from Dr. Parsons.
ADJOURNMENT
With no further business, Councilwoman Furr moved, seconded by Councilman Moore for adjournment. All voted aye.