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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/03/2008 04B Minutes 05-07-2008 Council Public Safety Committee ttilif4a*W - ** . tAtio t4 • CouncOE'1 u6& Safety Committee counciccha City graft May 7, 2008 MINUTES Council Members Present: Norm Johnson, Bill Lover, David Edler Staff Present: City Manager Dick Zais, Assistant City Manager Dave Zabell, Police Captain Jeff Schneider, Police Lieutenant Gary Belles, Police Lieutenant Tom Foley, Assistant City Attorney Cynthia Martinez, Deputy Fire Chief Dave Willson, Deputy Fire Chief Bob Steward, Finance Director Rita Anson, Acting Code Administration Manager Joe Caruso, Community & Economic Development Deputy Director Michael Morales, Chief Examiner Carol Maples, Police Administrative Assistant Terri Greer The meeting was called to order by Chairman Johnson at 2:02 p.m. Mayor Edler began the meeting by clarifying his comments about the police command staff as reported in the Yakima Herald Republic. He advised he was misquoted and has the highest respect for the members of the police command staff. I. Status of Grants /Congressional Earmarks Lt. Foley updated the committee on the status of the GREAT grant. The City was initially at risk of losing this grant for 2009 due to a technical error in transmission of the grant application. However, the application has been forwarded to the peer review process as though the transmission problem had not happened. From past experience, he expects that a final decision will come in late fall. Michael Morales advised the committee that the City is waiting for the invitation to apply to receive the federal earmark funds. He presented a form that he would like the committee to have anyone applying for the funds to complete so that the City has an objective and uniform method to evaluate the applicants. He advised that the Bureau of Justice Assistance gives latitude on how the funds are dispersed as long as it meets the legislative intent of the earmark. City Manager Zais advised that should the GREAT grant not be approved, it could be backfilled by the Byrne grant funds. Mayor Edler expressed his concern that the Citizens for Safe Communities were being cut out of the loop for funding opportunities for their Meth -lied program based on the legislative intent. Michael advised that BJA • would have to approve any media before they would release funds, but community education as a follow up to the emphasis patrols should be acceptable. It was MOVED by Edler and SECONDED by Lover to approve the RFP format presented by Michael Morales for requests from the federal earmarked funds. Motion PASSED unanimously. II. Gang Ordinance • Cynthia Martinez advised she has been trying to connect with Mark Kunkler of Sunnyside to review the necessary revisions to the gang ordinance. She does have a meeting set with him for Monday, May 12. Councilman Lover expressed the need for.both cities to be on the same page when working on our gang ordinances. Cynthia advised that there is no new information from the state. City Manager Zais asked if the current ordinance should be amended or repealed. Cynthia advised it might be easiest to repeal the current ordinance and reissue it. Chairman Johnson advised he would prefer a new ordinance if there are major revisions necessary to the current ordinance. III. Cruising Ordinance 4110 Legislation was given to the committee that would approve June 21 as the only cruising date for the summer of 2008. After discussion of past problems with cruise nights, it was MOVED by Edler to forward the legislation to the full council with the committee's recommendation, provided that the hours of the event were changed to 6:00 p.m. — 10:00 p.m. Motion was SECONDED by Lover. Motion PASSED unanimously. IV. Court Rules Cynthia Martinez advised the committee the AWC has issued an action alert on proposed rule changes for courts of limited jurisdictions, of which the Yakima Municipal Court is one. The rules changes would have fiscal impacts on the courts, namely in that it would require having a public defender available at all arraignments. She advised that the comment period had elapsed, but there had been discussion of extending the comment period. Mayor Edler asked her to research if comments were still being taken, and if so, to draft a letter for his signature regarding the impact this would have on our city. V. EMS Levy Deputy Chief Willson advised that Chief Hines had polled the fire chiefs in the valley and most of them advised they would not seek to . increase their EMS levy as the City of Yakima is considering doing, primarily due to lack of need for the fire districts. Mayor Edler advised that the members of the valley mayors group • were surprised by the fire chiefs' responses, although they recognize that the fire districts don't have the same needs as the City of Yakima. He would like to see the City continue with an individual EMS levy. Chairman Johnson suggested that the issue be explored further when Chief Hines returns. Councilman Lover asked if there was any relief provided by inter -local agreements, to which there is some, but not enough to address the capital and operational needs of the City. Chairman Johnson felt that an in depth discussion (possibly as study session) should be conducted as the current system serves the fire districts well but not the City fire department. It was MOVED by Mayor Edler and SECONDED by Councilman Lover to engage the stakeholders and full council in a shift away from the county -wide EMS levy _ to a City EMS levy. Motion PASSED unanimously. VI. Funding Alternatives for Fire Department Ladder Truck City Manager Zais gave background on this budgeted policy issue from 2007- 2008 to purchase a new ladder truck. It was discovered that REET 1 funds could not be used to purchase equipment or apparatus, but could be used for facilities. The purchase of the ladder truck has not been made at this point. It is recommended that $100,000 of non -REET capital funds reserves and $150,000 • of general fund be re- directed to the purchase of the ladder truck. This leaves a $750,000 deficit. The city was planning to issue bonds for the work done to the station at 72n Avenue. As this would be an appropriate use of REET funds, the REET money could be used for the debt service on the facilities and the bond could cover the apparatus. Deputy Chief Stewart updated the committee on the status of the equipment purchase. A committee has been formed and has identified 4 manufacturers and seen some examples of the equipment. It will take approximately 6 -8 weeks to design the apparatus and then approximately 11 -12 months to build after the bid has been awarded. The committee is working to utilize all available plans and information to reduce the amount of time to get the apparatus built. Councilman Lover asked if there is any way that preference could be given to Yakima County fire departments when the old ladder truck is surplussed. Deputy Chief Stewart advised that there is not a lot of need for that type of equipment in the rural /county areas. Finance Director DeBord advised that they are about 3 months out from issuing bonds, so the projected revenue is a best - estimate given the current market and information. It is possible that more revenue could be available when the bonds are issued. • It was MOVED by Edier and SECONDED by Lover to recommend the financing strategy as proposed to the full council. Motion PASSED unanimously. VII. Recruitment Update Chief Examiner Maples provided an updated of tests related to public safety positions. Public Safety Testing has conducted 12 police officer tests since the beginning of the year and 16 names have been certified over to the police department. There are currently 4 police officer vacancies and there will be one additional vacancy at the end of May. Corrections officer testing was conducted and 8 people have passed the written and physical agility tests and will move on to oral boards. There is currently one vacancy in the city jail. There were 12' applications for Deputy Chief and the screening process has begun on those applications. Crime and Intelligence Supervisor is under recruitment. There was a written firefighter test at the end of April. 44 applicants will be • moving on to the oral boards. Captain Schneider briefed the committee on the police background process and advised that approximately 1/3 of the applicants who are on the register would not pass the background process. Additionally, we lose a good number of applicants when they take the pre- academy physical ability test, as several months can pass between them taking the test to get on the list and the test to get into the academy. When that happens, we lose not only the applicant but the academy slot. VIII. Status Report on RFQ for Police Substation /Jail Expansion Lt. Belles provided an update from the selection committee. Two companies were reviewed, DLR who designed the current city jail and LCA. LCA works in conjunction with Rocky Mountain Corrections, who advises how to staff the jail, how to maximize functionality, how to present to the community and the best practices to save money. LCA was selected for the project. During the selection process, the City and County entered into discussions about possibly building a joint facility with a cost effective design. City Manager Zais stated he would like Lt. Belles to contact the other police agencies to assess their interest in a cost- effective jail The selection committee recommends to the Public Safety Committee to proceed with a design and feasibility_study on the west side substation immediately and wait on the study for the jail until the talks with the County are concluded. It was MOVED by Edler and SECONDED by Lover to proceed with a professional services agreement on the west side station only and wait on the agreement for the jail. Motion PASSED unanimously. City Manager Zais advised that the money for this project has been earmarked by not budgeted and they will bring the legislation back to the committee when • • , costs are available. Mayor Edler inquired how much time we wanted to allow for the conversation with the County. City Manager Zais estimated -it would take about 30 days. IX. West Valley Junior High Letter to Parents Chairman Johnson brought to the committee a letter that had been sent to the parents of West Valley Junior High parents after a recent threat at the school. Captain Schneider provided a report on the calls for service to the West Valley Junior High and Middle School, advising that the schools are the #1 call generators for district 9. There is one officer assigned to district 9, so a good deal of time is spent dealing with the school issues. Capt. Schneider advised that a meeting is scheduled for the following week with the West Valley School Superintendent to discuss options. It was MOVED by Lover and SECONDED by Edler for staff to encourage WVSD to get an SRO. Motion PASSED unanimously. X. Mercy Letter (off agenda) Chairman Johnson gave a letter to Captain Schneider from Dale Carpenter of Mercy Enterprises regarding placing explorers or reserve officers at intersections 411 to monitor red light violators. Capt. Schneider will review with Chief Granato. XI. Pro - Active Unit Status Captain Schneider updated the committee on the activities of the Pro Active Enforcement Unit. Chairman Johnson commended the unit for their work and the department in whole for the reduction in crime. XII. Parking on Front Yards This issue was brought before the full council at the meeting the previous night by a citizen that lives in the area of 17 Ave /Bonnie Doone., Although the committee understands the ordinance does infringe on some personal rights of property owners, the intent was to clean up the city. Mayor Edler stated he would like to leave the current ordinance as is. Councilman Lover does not feel the ordinance is clear and feels it encourages pollution (stormwater runoff from paving yards). He would like to see the legislation amended to something that addresses the problem without encouraging people to pave their front yard. Mayor Edler asked if there were any limits from a code enforcement perspective. Joe Caruso advised there is a limit on what percentage of a property can be impervious surface. He further advised that since the ordinance has been adopted, there have been 228 complaints but no citations issued. • It was MOVED by Edler and SECONDED by Johnson to leave the ordinance as it is. Motion PASSED 2 -1 with Lover dissenting. Councilman Lover did not feel the issue as brought forth to the full council had been addressed. The citizen can request a hearing for his particular issue. XIII. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 3:26. The next meeting will be Wednesday, June 4, 20088 "n the C • • .11 C _ mbers. airifr Norm Joh :on Public Saf.- Committee Chair Minutes prepared by Terri Greer • •