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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/19/2010 04B Minutes 09-15-2010 Council Public Safety Committee T - • Council Public Safety Committee CED Conference Room City Hall September 15, 2010 MINUTES Council Committee Members Present: Maureen Adkison and Kathy Coffey Staff present: Dick Zais, Dave Zabel!, Sam Granato, Tom Foley, Dave Willson, Cynthia Martinez, Jon Seitz, Cesar Abreu, Joe Caruso, Terri Croft. Coffey called the meeting to order at 3 00 I Gang Free Initiative Update Coffey advised the Prevention Committee had met with approximately 12 students to fill the youth positions on the Steering Committee The students' experience ranged from no involvement in gangs to prior gang membership All of the students were exceptional and provided feedback regarding what new strategies are working One student specifically mentioned that the additional street lighting in known gang areas was having a noticeable impact, that gang members are no longer congregating there • and he and his family feel much safer Three youths were recommended to join the Steering Committee and the Committee would like to meet with them on at least a quarterly basis The Gang Coordinator position is in the final phases of vetting and a decision should be made by the week of September 20 II Proposed Gang Stakeholders Event Zais advised he had been in discussions with the Attorney General's office, who is working with a coalition through AWC on requested gang legislation They advised they would like to have stakeholder sessions around the state to discuss anti -gang strategies The City of Yakima has offered to host the event on November 15 ill Crime Statistic Report for Parking Benefit Improvement Area Abreu presented his report on crime in the PBIA. The five year analysis shows a decrease in crime in the area IV Fire Department Partnerships Willson advised that the Mutual Aid agreements /pacts with Union Gap Fire Department are working well Due to the success of the current agreements, Willson requested (on behalf of Chief Hines) permission to pursue further discussions with Union Gap for further 0 business agreements The next logical progression would be to combine Yakima and Union Gap Fire Departments into one department. It was MOVED by Coffey and SECONDED by Adkison to recommend further discussions regarding fire service consolidation to the full Council There will be an update on discussions with West Valley Fire at the next Public Safety Committee meeting - V Vendors Outside of Fairgrounds Caruso advised that when the ordinance prohibiting parking on front lawns was passed, an exemption was made for residents along Fair Avenue that they could provide parking in their yards during the Central Washington State Fair However, there have been some vendors that have set up modular concession stands in front yards that are not covered under the exemption Code Enforcement Officers now have citation authority over this violation and is in the process of notifying affected residents and past vendors /violators that they will be citing anyone in violation The penalty is $500 /day that the vendor is operating Additionally, the committee requested a report at the next meeting regarding the cost to provide police security at the Central Washington State Fair VI Gilbert Park Animal Control Violations There have been multiple incidents of dog owners allowing their dogs off leash at Gilbert Park A neighborhood child was nearly bitten in the face by one of the loose dogs Animal control recently visited the park and found 8 -10 dogs that were off leash The owners quickly leashed their dogs and were warned that there would be zero tolerance for off -leash dogs in the future, and fines would be assessed in the amount of $250 The committee requested that a reminder notice of the leash laws and fines be sent out in City utility bills VII Proposed Legislation Martinez and Seitz provided housekeeping revisions to two city ordinances regarding stalking crimes and parking technology The committee voted to forward the revisions to the full council with their recommendation to approve VIII FBI Safe Streets Task Force Notification for the new SSTF positions were sent out to all commissioned police officers 8 officers applied for the 2 task force officer positions, and 2 sergeants applied for the 1 sergeant position It is expected that the FBI agreement will be final around Jan 1, 2011 After the ratification of the agreement, task force funding for up to $17,000 per task force officer will be available for reimbursement. The task force assignments will begin Oct. 1, 2010 Overtime will be tracked between October and December in case it might be reimbursable Zabell commended the department on their work setting up for the task force and Abreu's work on the databases that would be used IX Police Monthly Report The June report was presented to the committee The statistics for the July and August preliminary reports are also looking promising The Department has been getting positive responses from citizens regarding the emphasis patrols The meeting w. djourned at 3 50 p m Kathy Co -y 11` Public Safety Com ittee Minutes prepared by Terri Croft • 110