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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/02/2011 04B Minutes 07-20-2011 Council Public Safety Committee 0 Counci Safety Committee July 20, 2011 MINUTES Council Members Present: Kathy Coffey, Bill Lover and Maureen Adkison Staff Present: Interim City Manager Michael Morales, Interim Police Chief Greg Copeland, Police Lieutenant Mike Merryman, Police Lieutenant Tom Foley, Acting Fire Chief Dave Willson, Acting Code Administration Manager Joe Caruso, City Attorney Jeff Cutter, Legal Intern Jake Day, Legal Intern Mike Holman, Deputy Director of Accounting and Budgeting Cindy Epperson, and Police Administrative Assistant Terri Croft. The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Coffey at 3 p.m. Closure of Police Airport Substation Copeland provided the committee with a brief history of the airport substation, which 0 was opened shortly after the West Valley annexation in 2004. The intent was to eventually have the substation be a fully staffed facility that would be open to the public to make police reports, etc. • The department has never been able to fund a fully staffed substation and the current arrangement presents problems with transporting vehicles for maintenance, transporting paperwork, etc. Copeland advised the department would like to move out of the substation at the end of 2011 and return all functions to the main station. Lover asked if there would also be a reduction in the fleet. Copeland advised that there were several vehicles currently in the employee parking lot that are awaiting disposal. Morales asked that the closure be a policy issue to be submitted with the Police budget. II. YPAL Facilities Use Agreement Foley reported that he had attended the YPAL Board meeting where the facilities use agreement was discussed. There was a request to hire an executive director, submit the 2012 budget, and provide a maintenance schedule for the facility. Foley advised that the YPAL Board is meeting Friday with a prospective executive director and has recently entered into an agreement for interior maintenance of the facility. Foley believes that all the requirements and requests can be met well before the end of the . current use agreement, and that the YPAL Board may be requesting a two month extension of the current agreement. Morales noted that the exterior maintenance continues to be provided by the Parks Department and ONDS volunteers. III. Gang Unit Update Copeland updated the committee on the status of the Safe Streets Task Force (SSTF). Due to the uncertainty of federal funding, all partner agencies have currently withdrawn from the task force. YPD continues to provide 1 sergeant and 2 officers to the task force, but YPD is the only agency remaining in the task force. Copeland advised that the department is also looking at a $600,000- $700,000 overage in jail costs for 2011 that may only be able to be filled with salary savings in vacant positions. Copeland stated that he was looking at reducing the SSTF to one officer and placing him under the supervision of the Gang Unit. That is where the majority of the SSTF cases would be involved due to the nature of crime in our community. This officer would serve as a "place holder" to restart the task force if funding becomes available. The sergeant and the other officer would be transferred to the Patrol division. Coffey was disappointed that the task force failed to develop, as the early meetings were very promising. She was unaware that there were any issues with the partner agencies withdrawing or with the lack of funding. She requested that a report be sent to the full Council, as she suspected most of the council members were probably unaware of the current status. IV. GFI Update Merryman reported that the draft of the community profile has been completed and he expects the Executive Committee to meet soon to finalize the report. The next step, after releasing the profile, will be to move toward program support and development. The community profile is a key element and requirement to obtain federal funding for programs. Coffey advised the committee that Councilmember Dave Ettl has resigned as the chair of the GFI Steering Committee, and Councilmember Maureen Adkison will now chair the committee. Coffey recognized all of the work Ettl had done on behalf of the GFI and expressed her thanks. Lover asked if there would be, any funding to start up programs before federal funds become available. Coffey advised that many programs already exist, that the GFI will now move toward partnerships with the projects agencies and better promotion of available resources. The grant funding will be used to assist and bolster the current programs. There will be a press conference on July 28 to release the Community Profile, and it will be presented to the full Council on August 2. V. Regional Fire Authority Willson advised the committee is moving into Phase 3 of the feasibility study, which is the financial analysis. There will be a meeting August 11 at 6:00 p.m. at Station 95 to - ask questions of the potential financial consultants. Prospective consultants will be sent an information packet to include the scope, concept, and financial data prior to the meeting. O VI. Second Hand Precious Metals Dealers Intern Mike Holman presented draft legislation for the committee's information. This legislation would adopt new state law regarding precious metals dealers. The State bill has not yet been codified so it cannot simply be adopted to a City ordinance. The draft legislation mirrors the new State law language, which is not expected to change with ,.. codification. Morales requested that a business outreach program be conducted when the ordinance does come before council VII. Gang Injunctions Intern Jake Day presented his research on gang injunctions, where they have been implemented, and the differences that make implementation in Washington difficult. He stated that a viable option could be the City's park ordinance, where gang members could be trespassed from City parks. The committee asked what constituted a park for this purpose and requested that Day provide a complete report with recommendations to the Council on August 2. VIII. Update on Nuisance Properties ® Caruso advised the nuisance property program is continuing to work, and multiple locations are being abated simultaneously. He updated the committee that Officer Fowler had attended the Crime Free Rental Housing training, and when he arrived, he learned that he was to be a speaker at the training. The City of Yakima is being held up as the example for a successful nuisance property program. IX. Other Business Morales updated the committee that large increases in jail costs are expected. He will meet with County Commissioner Leita to discuss options. In the longterm, if these costs continue to increase, it may become more advantageous for the City to lease bed space from jails outside of Yakima. The City would consider purchasing the now - vacant County restitution center in Union Gap, however we have been told that the County is not inclined to discuss sale of that property. They would like to offer the jail facility on Pacific Avenue, which would not meet the City's needs. He also discussed 911 with Commissioner Elliott. The County Commission has not imposed all 911 fees, and now operational reserves fqr 91,j have been depleted. The County would have to enact the fees by September 15 in order to begin collecting at the beginning of 2012. The County wants 911 to be a separate entity before they consider imposing the fees. They would like an indication from Council of what a possible organization structure and consolidation would look like. O Morales also advised that there is a request to increase indigent defense funding to • $175,000 from $150,000. Meeting Adjournment The eet +n+ w. adjourned at 4:10 p.rn. r' J Kathy Coffey Public Safety Committee Chair Minutes prepared by Terri Croft