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Minutes for the Public Safety Committee meeting on August 16, 2005.
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PUBLIC SAFETY
COMMITTEE MINUTES
August 16, 2005
The Jonesboro Public Safety Committee met August 16, 2005 at 5:15 p.m. in the City Council Conference Room of the Huntington Building located at 900 W. Monroe, Jonesboro, Arkansas. A full quorum was in attendance. Present were: Judy Furr, Jim Hargis, Mitch Johnson, Chris Moore, Harold Perrin, City Clerk Donna Jackson, Staff, Press, and Audience. Councilman McCall was unable to attend.
Chairman Moore opened the meeting at 5:15 p.m.
MINUTES
Councilwoman Furr moved, seconded by Councilman Perrin to accept the minutes as provided for the July 19, 2005 meeting. All voted aye. Minutes were provided to all in attendance of the meeting.
POLICE DEPARTMENT
PENDING: Chief Mike Yates - Ordinance for title change: Councilwoman Furr introduced newly hired Police Chief Michael Yates. Mr. Yates presented an ordinance changing the position of Work Release Coordinator to Police Officer/Prisoner Transport/Public Work Coordinator which requires police officer certification. Chief Yates explained it would be budget neutral with the funding to come from existing departmental 2005 budget appropriations. Councilman Perrin moved, seconded by Councilman Johnson to refer the job description and budget amendment to the Finance Committee for approval. All voted aye.
Fund Transfer - Police Cars: Councilwoman Furr moved, seconded by Councilman Perrin approving a line item transfer of funds from unexpended salary funds to fixed assets for the purchase of police cars in the amount of $200,000.00. Chief Yates explained it would be budget neutral and would relieve some of the load in the 2006 budget. All voted aye.
PENDING: Future Police Reports: Chief Yates stated he was working on providing a more concise informative police report in order to assist the committees during budget preparation and review of the Police Department. His purpose was to provide a more meaningful data report. Chairman Moore thanked Chief Yates for his attendance to the Public Safety meetings. Chairman Moore requested Chief Yates provide a report at the next committee meeting showing the number of stops made by patrol officers and how many resulted in warnings and/or citations.
E911
Mr. Bob Andrews provided a report which showed the various types of information the dispatch center is able to provide with the new AVL system. Chairman Moore stated he would like to see the system installed in the Code Enforcement and Inspections Departments for employees’ added safety. Mr. Andrews thanked the committee for the new system and the advantages it provides.
FIRE DEPARTMENT
PENDING: Fire Chief Keller requested a line item transfer of $2,400 from Part-Time ($1,522.50) and Repairs ($877.50) to the Salaries line item to support the remainder of 2005 for 3 added Firefighter/Mechanic positions in the fire department. Confusion followed. Chief Keller explained this was being done to cover the department on the two positions already being paid for mechanic services. Mayor Formon stated he had not discussed the transfer of funds only the job descriptions with Chief Keller, so Councilman Perrin stated it needed to go back to Mayor Formon for approval.
ANIMAL CONTROL
PENDING: Vicious Dog Ordinance: It was reported that City Attorney Crego has the newly proposed Vicious Dog ordinance and a copy would be submitted to committee members once completed.
PENDING: Mosquito Control: Questions were asked regarding the number of aerial sprayings that Vector Mosquito Control is providing and if Jonesboro was receiving the same benefits as in the past. Committee members requested that ASU be contacted and asked to provide a report on mosquito abatement being done by Vector. Some members indicated they were willing to pay for the service if necessary.
CODE ENFORCEMENT
PENDING: A Code Enforcement report was provided by Shirley Thomas in the absence of Ron Shipley. Councilman Perrin requested someone check at the corner of Phillips and Caraway across from Holiday Inn at the old Grecian Steak House location. He explained the grass was waist high. Councilman Perrin again requested a list of traffic signalization and their status.
ADJOURNMENT
With no further business, Councilman Johnson moved, seconded by Councilwoman Furr for adjournment. All voted aye.