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Minutes from the Public Safety Committee meeting on April 18, 2006.
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Public Safety Committee Minutes
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
5:15 p.m.
Members present were: Judy Furr, Jim Hargis, Tim McCall, Chris Moore, and Harold Perrin. Councilman Mitch Johnson was unable to attend.
MINUTES
Councilman Perrin motioned, seconded by Councilwoman Furr, to approve the minutes as written for the regular meetings on December, 19, 2005; February 21, 2006; and March 21, 2006. All voted aye.
ANIMAL CONTROL
Councilman Hargis informed the committee Vector Mosquito Control is answering phone calls and doing local spraying. They are also getting ready to start spraying. It was questioned what the phone number is for Vector, since the one in last year’s phone book is no longer in service. It was asked for Councilman Hargis to give the phone number to Councilman Moore so he could give it out to the public if they have complaints about mosquitoes.
FIRE
Fire Chief Aaron Keller presented a resolution to the committee approving the purchase of firefighter fitness equipment. The low bid was received from Promaxima for $29,393. The equipment will go along with the fitness program the firefighters will be taking part in through ASU. It was asked whether the department had looked into contracting the fitness project out. Chief Keller stated they did look into contracting the program out, but the cost was a lot more than what ASU offered. Plus, ASU will be testing the firefighters which is something no else in town could do. It was also asked if the department could use the grant money for something else if it wasn’t used for the fitness program. Assistant Chief Leonard Jadrich explained the grant could not be used for any other purposes. He added ASU will allow the firefighters to use ASU facilities for the fitness program. Discussion was held regarding the fitness program and what it entails. It was questioned if other City employees could use the equipment. Assistant Chief Jadrich explained any of the employees could use the equipment, including police officers. He added the equipment will be kept at Station 1 for now. Councilman Perrin motioned, seconded by Councilman Hargis, to approve the resolution and recommend it to full Council. All voted aye.
Chief Keller stated about 80 hours of overtime was spent in Marmaduke, which averages at around $1,600. It was questioned whether the City would be reimbursed for the overtime spent to help with the relief effort in Marmaduke. It was explained a meeting will be held with FEMA in a few days regarding specifics on what to do to request reimbursement.
It was also questioned how long the mulch fire on Dan Avenue would be burning. Chief Keller stated he didn’t know exactly how long it would burn, but it would probably burn for several more months. It was asked if there is anything the City can do to prevent a similar fire from happening. It was explained there are some ordinances and state fire codes they could take a look at.
Chief Keller noted ISO is in town. They were testing water flow that day. The department won’t know anything until ISO is done with their testing.
Discussion was held regarding the recently deployed firefighters. Discussion was also held regarding staffing of the Fire Department as well as the Police Department. It was asked what the committee wanted to do about the jobs of eleven City staff that were being deployed. Police Chief Michael Yates stated he was already going to do a manpower analysis done to determine the needs of the department. Chief Yates said depending on the level of service being offered, the department might need between 15 and 45 new officers. It was asked for Chief Yates to provide the committee with a list of services that could be cut, such as private property accidents. Chief Yates stated he would also like to provide the committee with a list of services he would like to offer, but can’t because of lack of resources, such as following up on hit and runs.
Discussion was held regarding hiring police officers. It was suggested for Chief Yates try to hire certified officers. Chief Yates stated he sent out a survey to the department asking them to rank the employee benefits to see which ones the employees favored the most. It was asked if there was any kind of penalty for officers the City trains and then they leave within a year or two. Chief Yates discussed having the officer or the agency the officer is hired with pay the City back for training. Chief Yates noted the City isn’t losing officers to other cities. The City is losing officers to the private sector or to retirement.
Chief Keller stated he would be doing the final inspection on the new pumper truck next week. He expects it to be delivered the beginning of May. It was questioned when the new fire trucks would be arriving. Chief Keller explained the four new trucks will be off the line in October.
POLICE
Chief Yates stated because of problems within Ford’s company, he is unsure where the vehicles are the City purchased. He also said the company can’t predict when the City will receive the vehicles. He said an option was to go to Dodge, but Dodge wanted $3,000 to $4,000 more per vehicle.
Chief Yates explained in March, the City had drug seizures totaling $99,000 in cash and assets, half of which the City will probably get. It was questioned what happens with the money. The money is either in the state or federal system and will be deposited into either the state or federal account when it’s received. Chief Yates further explained the money can only be used for law enforcement items above and beyond what the department is currently budgeted for. For example, the money can’t pay for salaries but can pay for training. He stated the main idea is to take a drug dealer’s money and enhance law enforcement with it. It was questioned why money hadn’t been received in the past. Chief Yates said the money wasn’t received most likely because it wasn’t asked for.
Chief Yates noted the department has spent 858 overtime hours as of Friday night assisting with Marmaduke relief. He’s expecting the overtime to cost around $19,000 so far.
It was questioned when the department would be back in the Justice Complex. Chief Yates explained the Police administrative offices are already back in the Complex. He’s hoping the rest of the offices will be back in the Complex by the end of next week. Mr. Brian Wadley added the construction is ahead of schedule and should be done within the contracted time.
E911
Councilman Perrin informed the committee 911 will be moving to the flight station in October. Discussion was held regarding the station and its contents.
INSPECTIONS
It was questioned whether any of the owners of the homes that were put on the condemnation list last month have bought permits. Mayor Formon stated Mr. Hampton bought a permit for his home on Main Street, but Mayor Formon was not sure about the others.
Discussion was held regarding the property purchased by Mr. Mike Young in the 300 block of Main Street. No repairs had been made to the property since the abatement and there have been complaints about termites from neighboring buildings. It was asked for Mayor Formon to meet with Mr. Young and talk with him about fixing up the property.
ADJOURNMENT
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned.