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Home My WebLink About013119 PSC minutesCounc 1 Public Safety Co tee Members: Councilmember Gutierrez Councilmember White (alt) Councilmember Coffey (alt) 2nd Floor Conference Room City Hall January 31, 2019 3:00 p.m. Staff: Cliff Moore, City Manager Gary Jones, Interim Police Chief Aaron Markham, Fire Chief Scott Schafer, PW Director Cynthia Martinez, City Prosecutor Terri Croft, Police Executive i ut s White called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. Others: Tony Miller, Director YVEM 1. December 20, 2018 minutes It was MOVED by White and SECONDED by Coffey to accept the minutes as presented. The minutes were approved unanimously. 2. Department reports a. Fire Department i. Annual statistical fire activity report Markham provided the annual statistical report for the Yakima Fire Department. He noted that this is different from the annual report that will be presented to council. The committee requested that future monthly reports statistics added to reflect year-to-date and month-to-month comparison for the current and previous years. There was discussion regarding the use of plexi -board to board up vacant residences. Markham noted that there was not strict guideline for contractors to use this material, primarily due to the expense. b. Police Department i. Community Policing Report Jones briefly addressed the community policing report to full council two weeks prior. Shift change has been completed so beat officers are in their new assignments. Staff is working on various methods of communication between the officers and the community. Command staff has been having briefings with officers to discuss the philosophy of community policing and are receiving positive feedback. Coffey asked about continuation of bicycle patrols. Jones advised that he will continue bicycle patrols through grant funding, but wants to expand by using evidence based deployment, not just focusing on the downtown area, but other areas where crime analysis can determine there are issues. Gutierrez would like to see some type of flyer or information that officers can leave with community groups to continue building on the initial meetings. c. Legal i. DV Response Martinez reported that the full council had approved the formation of the CCRT and that it will be led by the domestic violence advocate. Recruitment for the DV advocate is expected to start by the end of February. White asked if there were any opportunities for community volunteers to assist in the domestic violence efforts. Martinez would like to see the CCRT get to the point where community members could assist. Gutierrez advised she would like to see the draft state legislation priorities given to all the council members and lobbyists so everyone was on the same page when discussing the domestic violence priority. d. Public Works i. Safe Routes to Schools Schafer reported there are two current Safe Routes to Schools projects, Garfield Elementary and McClure Elementary. Garfield is in its second year due to having to obtain right of ways in 2018. All work will be done this summer to be ready for the 2019-2020 school year. Applications have been submitted for McKinley Elementary and Apple Valley Elementary. Staff should have additional information in June. ii. Traffic calming update Schafer presented a report on traffic calming requests under the new process. 20 applications have been submitted and baseline information was taken. Preliminary data shows 8 of the requests are at or below the speed limit and do not warrant traffic calming measures. Another 8 requests are within 5 mph of the posted speed limits and may require further evaluation. The education component of the traffic calming procedure will be initiated in these areas. 3 of the requests are at 5 mph or more above the posted speed limits and will require further evaluation. Education will be initiated. The final request was received only days before the meeting and is in preliminary data gathering stages. Gutierrez asked how long the signage would remain up during the education phase. Schafer advised it would be up for a few weeks, and also noted a report will be presented to the full council on February 19. Gutierrez asked what occurs after enforcement fails and the engineering phase has to start. Schafer advised that triggers the second petition. Gutierrez requested that the 2nd petition be brought to the next Public Safety Committee meeting for discussion. iii. School zone signage on Fair Ave. Staff is proceeding with adding two more flashing signs on Fair Avenue and an additional pedestrian crossing at Kiwanis Park. e. Emergency Management Miller reported they are working on a flood plan and preparing sand bag supplies. Schafer added that the levies are being dredged and cleared to try to avoid flooding problems, as well as making agreements with DOT for access to divert water. 3. New Business a. Public Safety discussions with Yakima School District Gutierrez asked for the support of the committee to make a list of priorities to discuss with the Yakima School District at joint meeting, particularly focusing on Safe Routes to Schools. The list will be presented to the full council for consideration when creating the agenda. Moore provided an update on the response from the school district to his letter requesting surveying of sidewalk/lighting/dangerous properties/code enforcement issues. They advised they would co-sponsor public forums, but felt polling was on sidewalks and lighting were City responsibilities. Their next requests would be Adams and Barge Lincoln Elementary Schools. They also felt they did not want to put parents in the position commenting on code enforcement and danger property issues and that would also be a City responsibility. Staff has reached out to the school district to find a date for a joint meeting and school district staff replied that a meeting couldn't be scheduled at this time. Mayor Coffey requested Cally set a meeting with the school board president Mr. Navarro 4. Other business a. GRIT update The steering committee met for an update on village meetings with various stakeholders and the community. Working with ESD and YSD to reach out to select middle school students for mentoring and counseling. They recommended contracting with a former SRO, Gary Garza, which was approved by the steering committee. Also met with the project coordinator to discuss data needed to apply for future funding. Gutierrez requested a GRIT progress report at the February 19 meeting. b. Markham provided a report on the recent 911 outage. The incident started as a minor issue but got progressively worse. Text to 911 still worked during the outage and alternative phone numbers were used to contact the center. SunComm has requested a published number to be used in the event of an outage. (509) 453-9000 will be the E911 backup number and will be published by February 1, 2019. There are funds available for community education of the backup numbers through County E911 funding sources. 5. Recap of future agenda items • Public Safety discussion with Yakima School Districts (until told for certain no meeting will take place) • 2nd petition in traffic calming process • One way street update around Garfield Elementary Moore will follow up on: • Main Street Conference agenda • Information for domestic violence lobbyist • Scheduling meeting with Mayor Coffey and School Board • GRIT update at 2/19 council meeting. 6. Audience participation None 7. Items for council committee report • Traffic calming petition discussion • Upcoming Coffee with a Cop events 8. Adjournment Meeting was adjourned at 4:13 p.m. Dulce Gutierrez, Chair