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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-04-15 Government Operations Committee Minutes Government Operations Committee Tuesday, April 15, 2008 Minutes Councilors: Hawes, Wheeler, D’Errico, Gratwick, Palmer Staff: Barrett, Yardley, Farrar, Nicklas, Gastia, Higgins, York Others: Ritchie Palmer (UTC) CONSENT AGENDA A motion was made and seconded to approve the Consent Agenda items. 1. Council Order 08-141, Authorizing the City Manager to Apply for $4,500 to Support an AmeriCorp/VISTA Volunteer to Work with the Health Promotion Program to Address Food Security Issues This grant will provide funding for an AmeriCorp/VISTA volunteer at the Health and Community Services Department to increase food security and nutrition education in the 12-town service area. The volunteer will work with food banks and community organizations to ensure that recipients have sufficient nutritious food for an active, healthy lifestyle. 2. Council Resolve 08-142, Accepting and Appropriating Women, Infants and Children’s Nutrition Program The WIC Program serves over 3,000 clients per month at 12 outreach clinics throughout Penobscot and Piscataquis counties and their main office at 103 Texas Avenue. The amount of the one-year grant is $500,396 for program administration. Over $2.5 million in food assistance is provided to clients. The grant period is 10-1-08 through 9-30-09. REGULAR AGENDA 3. Request to Donate Surplus Scott Air Packs (SCBA’s) to United Technology Center and Demonstration of New Scott Air Packs The Fire Department has recently acquired new Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) units and the United Technology Center (UTC) has requested some of the Department’s old units for training purposes. Cammack introduce Ritchie Palmer, UTC’s public safety coordinator, who said the units will be used for training purposes to simulate search and rescue events. The Fire Department recommends this donation. Councilor Palmer wanted to be certain that the students recognize that the units are from Bangor. Ritchie Palmer commended the support of the City of Bangor for UTC. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff recommendation. Captain Higgins and Firefighter/Paramedic John York provided a demonstration of the newly acquired units. 4. Review of Emergency Shelter/Transitional Housing Needs Capacity At a recent meeting, Councilor Gratwick requested additional information regarding the City’s ability to handle emergency shelter and transitional housing needs. Due to a meeting in Augusta, Yardley was not in attendance at the prior meeting to answer questions. He provided the information in a memo format along with the agenda materials. There are emergency shelter needs and the community does not operate a family shelter in Bangor. The closest is in Ellsworth. He is looking at how that need is being met and is it being met through general assistance, if the individual is eligible. Manna is looking to create a family shelter and Yardley is working closely with them. From September 2007 to present, Health and Community Services has provided assistance to 10 family-headed households and 5 intact families with both parents as well as for 9 single males and 3 couples. A brief survey was done of the other general assistance offices around Bangor and they are not providing any such shelter for the most part. Responding to Wheeler about homelessness and the psychological and negative impact on families, Yardley said one of the challenges of economic downturns for individual who have had housing and then find themselves without is a very rare exception. There are lots of formal and informal support systems. The vast majority of people that the City sees, both single adults and families, have co-concurring conditions that lead to homelessness. They aren’t able to consistently maintain housing. People who find themselves in economic distress are quickly responded to. When individuals are sent to hotels for accommodations it is because there is not sufficient available housing in the area. For children without the basic need of structure, it is very psychologically disruptive and distractive. Kids need security. Park Woods is specifically designed for families in those types of circumstances. Responding to Wheeler’s question of the number served on a per capita basis or ratio to the City’s population, Yardley said he did not have hard numbers. The City provides $65,000 to the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter in general assistance funding for Bangor people deemed eligible, which is $11/night for 6,000 bed nights. Yardley stressed that the count may be depressed because not all needy individuals take advantage of public shelters and assistance. On a monthly basis through the City’s general assistance program, Barrett said housing assistance is provided for approximately 400 households, through Park Woods there are 48 slots, and there is an annual census of shelter beds in the 100-200 range. Acadia Recovery Community routinely supplies overnight chairs for the night for homeless when shelters are full. Due to licensing issues, these individuals are not allowed to lie down but to sit. Barrett said there are 600-700 individuals who receive shelter from non-profit groups or through the City’s general assistance program. He said that number doesn’t include the Bangor Housing Authority and Section 7 numbers or subsidized accommodations for older and handicapped individuals. The City spends over $1.2M on rent subsidies and of that 70% is reimbursed under a State formula. Barrett said the City is concerned about increased numbers with the economic downturn, which will increase demands. Responding to Gratwick, Yardley said Bangor is still a magnet for the region. The cities of Bangor and Portland provide sixty plus percent of all the general assistance in Maine, which is a significant problem. General assistance is not equally distributed around Maine. Yardley will continue to advocate the State regarding this issue. Bangor spends about $60 per capita; Portland spends around $78. Androscoggin and York counties spend about $4-5.00 per capita. Yardley said that Bangor does what the general assistance laws indicate is intended. Bangor is not being generous. 5. Proposed Incentive Plan for Park Woods Transitional Housing Program Some time ago at Yardley’s recommendation, the Council increased rents at Park Woods to meet the market rate. It has presented a challenge and the increased rates have increased hardships for the families. In an effort to look at it, Yardley indicated that staff at Park Woods has developed and recommends adoption of a new incentive and credit program for tenants. Tenants will be eligible to earn credits based upon attainment of identified measures, which will assist in achieving individual and program goals. If rent is paid on time, if apartments are kept in good shape, etc., they would earn credits applied to their rent. Although revenue would decrease, Yardley said that over time there will be an increase in actual bottom line because of less expense and will be moving the program in its intended direction – helping people to learn how to be good tenants in transition. Gratwick commended Yardley and referred to Yardley’s reference to best practices of other transitional housing program. Yardley said it is a challenge when dealing with the federal government because you can’t have differentiated rental rates. The proposed language will need to comply and staff is working on it, and Yardley is waiting for feedback from HUD. Park Woods is not a subsidized housing program but there are Section 8 individuals living there. Everybody needs to benefit from the incentives and the program will be so designed. Wheeler stressed that Bangor needs to be marketed as a community that cares. He commended Yardley. Palmer asked about the actual rent and percentage the numbers represent. Yardley said it is $750/month. Palmer noted that the incentive program would represent a 7-8% savings. A motion was made and seconded to approve staff’s recommendation to implement the program. 6. Presentation of Traffic Calming and Violation Reduction Plan by Bangor Police Department The Police Department is preparing to formally introduce their Traffic Calming and Violation Reduction Plan. Gastia noted that the intent of the plan is to reduce the number of traffic related violations on City streets and roads through the implementation of a number of strategies and approaches. Prior to the program being released to the public and media, he wanted to present the plan to the Committee. Traffic violations have significantly increased over the years. Bangor is not alone, and it is a widespread problem. While recently attending the FBI Academy, Gastia had an opportunity to discuss this problem with numerous law enforcement leaders. He attributes Bangor’s problems to the noteworthy increase in motor vehicles on the road as compared to 15-20 years ago as well as to a decrease in the amount of patience that driver’s have due to a faster-moving society. The increase in traffic violations has created a significant increase in a safety hazard to citizens. He said it has also created a reduced sense of safety and security among residents, which he finds very unsettling. It is a quality of life issue. When accepting the position of Police Chief, he noted that one of his major concerns was the number of traffic violations in the City and he vowed to address the issue. In December, officers began increasing their enforcement efforts. During the first three months of 2008, the department has consistently stopped approximately 1,500 vehicles per month or roughly 50 cars per day. His department is down 7 employees with 2 out for an extended prior of time. The increased enforcement has been recognized by citizens. In addition to the department’s continued efforts, this new plan will require effort from members of the community, the media, vehicle operators, and City employees. Gastia said he regularly stops vehicles for traffic violations and expects nothing less from his officers. In the coming months, there will be an increase in directed patrols (3-4 officers) specifically looking at traffic enforcement where there is a known problem and in areas where the department will be very visible. There will also be one man directed patrols. When specific areas are made known to the department, those areas will become part of a routine patrol. The number of issues summons will continue to increase. Use of sign boards will be increased cautioning drivers of the department’s efforts and consequences of violations. He spoke of three grants which the Council has approved the Department to seek in the areas of seatbelt, speeding and OHIO enforcements. A strong public message needs to be delivered through the media including public statements by the Police Chief and City leaders, publishing areas of concern in the local newspaper, placing areas of concern on the City’s government channel with advisories to drivers. He hopes to be able to develop PSA’s in the future using police officers, highlighting the benefits of obeying traffic laws: saving gas, reducing traffic accidents, increasing driver safety, safety for pedestrians, including children. It will highlight the negative aspects of violating traffic laws: including higher insurance rates, fines, court appearances, time delays in traveling to destinations due to the fact that they have been stopped, loss of license. The plan also calls for encouraging voluntary compliance of rural speed zones and urban speed zones. This plan is a partnership between the City and the community. The community should report areas of concern to the Department and should also strive to insure that their neighbors/visitors comply with traffic laws. One suggestion would be to ask residents and visitors in Bangor to sign a pledge to willingly slow down and obey traffic laws. City employees have a role by slowing down when operating City and personal vehicles, by wearing seat belts, by obeying all traffic laws. City employees will participate by idea and suggestions to draw additional attention to the problem and are expected to speak openly about the need to obey traffic laws. Gastia said this will take a period of time to institute all aspects of the plan. He plans to meet with his staff, roll it out beginning very shortly to the general public and then to the media. He expects this will be an ongoing program. It will not work without consistency. D’Errico asked if there has been a pattern of violators; i.e. ages, gender, seniors. Gastia did not have specific data and has not seen a pattern. Regarding the pledge, Wheeler suggested that the Council be the first signers. He spoke further about media participation. Palmer applauded the actions and wants it to be positive and upbeat. Gratwick noted that the fines bring revenue to the State and not the City. He spoke about citizens placing lawn signs about the enforcement on their property to make it more of a community widespread effort. Barrett referred to the European movement called the Slow Movement that stresses a slower lifestyle to counter effect the pressures of modern life. Wheeler mentioned the slogan “it is better to yield the right of way better than to die defending it.” Palmer noted “stop in the name of love” or “slow down you move to fast." Palmer made a motion for staff to draft a Council Resolve to express the strong support for the Bangor Police Department in its efforts to make roadways safer for the community. The motion was seconded by Gratwick. Gastia expressed his appreciation to the Committee for its support. D’Errico suggested that the Police Chief’s presentation be continually broadcast on the City’s government channel. Meeting adjourned at 6:20 pm.