Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-01-12 Government Operations Committee Minutes Government Operations Committee January 12, 2010 Minutes Councilor Attendance: Wheeler, Gratwick, Palmer, Stone, Blanchette, Bronson Staff Attendance: Cammack, Gastia, Farrar, Cyr, Heitmann, Nicklas, T. Higgins, A. Douglas Others: W. Mallar Committee Chair Wheeler opened the meeting at 5:00 p.m. 1. Consideration of SAFER Grant Application – Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Program Cammack thanked the Committee for allowing him to add this item to the agenda on such short notice. He wanted to address any misconceived perceptions that some might hold explaining that the Fire Department is asking the opportunity to apply for a grant that allows the Department to maintain the currently budgeted positions. No additional positions are being looked at and, due to current and past budget constraints, the Fire Department has 3 positions that are not or were not filled. Cammack explained that the reason for his tardiness on this application is due to the change in the State’s budget forecast, after which the Department was asked to submit budgets that were reflective of a 5% budget reduction and in that submission were those positions that are being discussed. The State has extended the grant deadline from November of last year into December of 2009 and now January. Some of the sticking points with this grant were the length of time required to retain these folks, a cost sharing measure, and the need to maintain that staffing level for the life of the grant. Cammack said that all of those requirements have now been relaxed including the restriction for obtaining the positions after the life of the grant. Cammack requested the Committee’s permission to apply for the grant. The application process will close on Friday. Responding to Gratwick, Cammack stated that there are a total of 88 full-time line positions in the Fire Department and, due to budget constraints, the Department might need to eliminate positions. Cammack stated that during the upcoming budget process it might be decided not to pursue this grant. He noted that his request is not to approve the grant but only to apply for it. He believes that there will be a 60 or 90 day window after receiving notification. Bronson said that he is hesitant on hiring when the budget process is coming up and the need to make cuts will only result in eliminating personnel. He is not opposed to seeing the grant application move forward and thinks it would be great if the money is found to fund the current position. However, if the budget needs to be reduced and the Fire Department is forced to reduce the staff by two, Bronson questioned if that would mean 4 positions. Cammack said he thth believes that the City of Bangor would be funding 86 positions and the 87 and 88 positions would be the reduction. Responding to Wheeler, Cammack said that if cuts were necessary the first positions to go would be the 2 new hires from this grant. He said that training, clothing and turnout gear for 88 people is in the City’s operating budget. This means that there would not be any additional costs. Cammack said it is very difficult to put a dollar figure on how much it costs the City to train two new hires because it would depend on their level of experience and also on where the department is in the process. The Department could spend a maximum of $15,000 to $20,000 over a period of two years for someone with very little training, which Cammack says does not happen very often. Blanchette said the City should apply for what is out there and that there is no guarantee that the grant will be awarded to the City. Palmer agreed with Blanchette. Responding to Wheeler, Cammack said that about 75-80% of the call volume is EMS and the rest of those are for Fire calls. He also stated that the new hires, if hired, would be cross- trained. Gratwick voted against the grant. Palmer and Wheeler voted to approve the application for the grant. 4. Potential for Reduction or Elimination of Selected Police Services Approximately 2 months ago, Gastia was requested to bring to the Council a list of ideas to improve the way the Police Department does business. He reviewed a list of changes/improvements prepared by him and his staff. The Department has been asking the Police Officers to do more with less on a frequent basis. He pointed out that over the last 9 years the calls for service have increased by 10,000, and within the next year he expects the calls will increase by somewhere between 1500 and 2000. He said that the number of Patrol Officers will not increase, which means that same number of officers will be responding to an additional number of calls. Gastia feels that some suggested changes are necessary. One of those items involves the animal control officer. The Animal Control Officer handles animal complaints and transports animals to the Humane Society or the vet clinic. When not on duty, the responsibility lies with the Police Officers. Oftentimes a call regarding a stray cat can take a police officer up to ½ hour or more. Gastia said that a suggestion would be to ask the person with the complaint to hold the animal until the Animal Officer is back on duty. He said that he is not asking people not to call in crimes or request for service, but to handle some of them in a different manner. Gastia spoke of the demand of releasing evidence and found property to individuals during the weekend. This requires an officer to come into the station and find the property. If this service is only available during the weekday, the property officer would be there. He explained that reducing the number of responses by officers to complaints such as criminal mischief and theft of property valued at less than a specified amount would also help. Gastia spoke about how some cellular companies require a police report for insured cellular phones when they are stolen. This becomes very time-consuming, and he noted that many police departments across the county and in this state do not provide this service anymore. He suggested finding alternative ways of having people report these types of crimes. Another example is the frequency of gas drive-offs from convenience stores. He believes these calls are very legitimate; however, the owner of the business requires a call to the Police regardless of whether the clerk can identify the vehicle, the plate, the color of the car or even when the gas drive-off occurred. He believes that there must be another way to handle those calls. He said that if there is a video that can be obtained for evidence; he feels the Police Department should continue to respond. Another issue is the service that the Police Department offers of fingerprinting. Many employers require this service for their new hires. Gastia thinks that it might be better to set aside a particular time/day for the service. He also noted that bad check situations could be handled in other ways as opposed to sending an officer. Gastia spoke of the possible privatization of downtown parking enforcement, which has been discussed at the Parking Committee level in the past. There has been a request from Council members to look into this area as well. The Police Department is looking at the near future and should be in a position to further discuss the possibility. Referring back to the Animal Control Officer, Gastia said that when an animal is injured and the Officer transports it to the Vet Clinic a bill is sent to the Police Department. Depending on what the injury is, the bill can be expensive. Gastia suggested placing a limit on the amount as well as discussing how these situations should be handled in the future. Gastia spoke about in kind services performed by officers, many of which are overtime duties. Some are on duty time, which takes them away from their other responsibilities, e.g. parades, th 4 of July, the Folk Festival, the Susan Komen Race. If the organization is a money making event, the Department charges them. If it is a charitable organization, historically the Department has donated the officers even if that means paying overtime. Unfortunately, the Department receives more and more requests for these types of services every year, and Gastia feels that these types of services need to be reviewed in the future. Responding to Wheeler, Gastia said if a vehicle accident involves personal injury or is over $1,000 combined damages it is deemed reportable to the State. If neither of those is true, it is a non-reportable accident. In other words, the Police Department does not report it to the State. Gastia feels that if the citizen feels the report is necessary there might be an alternative way of providing this service rather than sending an officer. Bronson and Gratwick commended Gastia for his efforts. Bronson suggested putting parking enforcement onto privatization or into another division. Responding to Blanchette, Gastia said that subpoenas take a great deal of time from the Police Department but that it is the City of Bangor’s jurisdiction and responsibility. If the City decided to have another entity take over this responsibility it would need to be discussed with the District Attorney’s office. Blanchette suggested talking to the County Commissioner to find out if this is a service that they would provide as part of the City’s taxes. Gastia responded saying that the civil service is provided by the County and the subpoenas that are served are from criminal cases. There is no payment received from serving these subpoenas and no way to support the service. Gastia said that he is not opposed to having that service given to a private entity. Gastia said that he expects changes to take place over a period of time in the future but will keep the Council informed as well as the public through press releases and education. 3. Government Access Channel Update Cyr spoke about the progress that has been made with the quality of the video that is being broadcast on the City’s government channel. It is at 95 – 98% of reaching the highest level of quality. Replacements for both the camera equipment and the V-Brick were done and no difference was found between the replacements and the originals. The solution turned out to be tweaking the setting and lining up all of the pieces. It becomes a little more challenging when dealing with 3 cameras and the V-Brick for Council meetings as opposed to 1 camera for Committee meetings. Cyr referred to the change in the way the tables are set up. The wash out effect is gone because of the tables being moved away from the wall. Al Douglas has agreed to change his work schedule in order to attend the Council meetings, which will allow him to broadcast with the accurate presets and close-up pictures for a quality broadcast. This also provides him the opportunity to see how the system is performing firsthand, instead of trying to figure out what happened the night before on the tape. Cyr said that this will be her last update to the Committee unless something else goes wrong or additional questions are asked. Responding to Wheeler, Cyr said that she believes the cost of replacing the existing equipment would be around $15,000 or $20,000 and would depend on what equipment is needed. Responding to Palmer, Cyr said that the City began televising meetings in the late 90’s or early 2000 and the equipment is about 7 to 10 years old. Some units have been replaced over the years, but the core part of the equipment is the original. Responding to Wheeler, Cyr said there is one bad camera and she does not feel the need to replace it. She said that 3 of the cameras th are actively used and the 4 camera is used for the shot of the audience and can be seen on another camera as well. 2. Land Lease from Bangor Housing Authority for Communications Tower Heitmann spoke about the mobile data terminal that the Fire and Police now use. The signal needs to be improved and the staff recommends a new communications tower. Heitmann was approached to look into leasing some land on the corner of Davis and Finson Roads. Bangor Housing Authority is willing to lease the City the property in order to construct a 100 foot tower for $1 a year. This has HUD approval and the lease is for 50 years. This would necessitate a standard document that would require the City to be responsible for and maintain the tower. Staff is looking to move forward with the planning and design and will need to secure a grant that was accepted by the Council early last year to pay for the cost of putting the tower up, the life span of the tower and technology that will meet and exceed the term of the lease. Responding to Wheeler, Heitmann said that he looked at the Code and this area is approved for towers. Blanchette reminded the Committee that the issue of towers in the past referred to AM radio towers. Heitmann said this will go to the full Council. This item is forwarded to the full Council. Adjourned at 6:35 p.m.