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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-08-29 Government Operations Committee Minutes • GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MINUTES August 29, 2001 Councilors Present: Pat Blanchette, ]oe Baldacci Staff Present: Jim Ring, Chief Cammack, Chief Winslow, Frank Comeau, Sgt. Millard Other Present: None With a quorum present, the Meeting was called to Order by Council Blanchette at 5:06 p.m. 1. Council Resolve 01-340 —Appropriating $13,100 from the Fire Equipment Reserve Account for repairs to Tanker 6. Chief Cammack stated that Tanker 6 at Station 6 is a 1970 Chevrolet gas engine, standard shift, with mechanical brakes. The Chief asked to have $13,100 � appropriated from reserve to purchase from Webber Oil a 1987 Ford L8000 which is a diesel and automatic transmission and then update our tanker to make it more safer and to meet the Fire Department's needs. As shown in the packet the costs to do this are broken down. Chief Cammack stated that a new tanker would cost between $150,000-$180,000. Councilor Baldacci asked how much was in the fire equipment reserve. Chief Cammack replied that Deb Cyr assured him that there was more than enough to cover this in the reserve. It is motioned and seconded that this item be recommended to go before the full Council. . 2. Discussion of Weapons for Bangor Police Department Chief Winslow stated that the Police would like to switch over from using shotguns to semi-automatic urban rifles. The urban rifles have a much longer range than a shotgun and are much more accurate. Another concern stated by Chief Winslow is that traditionally officers arriving at the scene of a shooting secure the area and wait for a special response team to make an entry. Now the intent is to have the initial three or four ofFicers who respond make a coordinated entry. To help with this phitosophy, the Police Department has been forced to � reconsider the type of weapons available to patrol officers. Chief Winslow stated � that the Department does already have a few of the semi-automatic weapons, but would like to start making the urban rifles available to properly trained patrol officers. Councilor Blanchette asked what kind of a price tag Chief Winslow was talking about. Sgt. Millard told the committee that the rifles could be acquired through the military at little or no cost. Chief Winslow replied that there would be some expense with training and ammunition, but these funds would come from the existing operating budget. Councilor Blanchette asked where training took place. Chief Winslow stated that most of the time it was at the Guard Base. The Committee concurred with the Chief's recommendation and he will be proceeding with the conversion as outlined. 3. Parks and Recreation Program Update • Summer Program Wrap-up Frank Comeau passed out the park attendance sheet for this past summer. • Frank noted that there is no total for Second Street Park. Frank stated that it was several weeks into the playground season when the remediation project was completed. At that point, most people that play at Second Street continued to stay at Fairmount Park so it was decided not to open Second Street for the remaining playground season. Frank pointed out that a seven week DayRec Program ran for the first time at Fairmount School. The numbers seen are the daily averages for a week. For the summer the program averaged 25 children per day. Frank stated that for the first year that number is really good. Councilor Baldacci asked what DayRec consisted of. Frank stated it was similar to the playgrounds, i.e., games, activities, field trips. But the children were supervised. DayRec is like a day care. Frank stated the charge was $5 a day per child. Councilor Blanchette stated she was amazed at the attendance at Little City Park. She also asked what was there for equipment. Frank replied regular playground equipment. Councilor Blanchette stated that she has heard in Bangor Gardens there are some older unruly characters hanging out there. Frank stated that there were special events this year such as going to Peaks Kinney Park, they went to see the Sea Dogs play, they went to Seacoast Fun � Park in Trenton, as well as Fort Knox. • Frank reviewed the pool attendance. It was noted that Union Street Pool had almost twice the attendance that Dakin Pool had. Frank noted that a lot of people do not even know where Dakin Pool is. But he also noted that Dakin Pool average 61 visits per day. That figure is up from 35 to 40 last year. The pools were closed for an unusual amount days this year. Nine days were closed for non-weather related issues. The main problem was children vomiting in the pool. When this happens the pool has to be cleared, chlorinate the water and circulate through the whole system which takes approximately 4 hours, and then the chlorine and pH levels need to return to normal. Over at Dakin this year, someone put dog feces in a glass jar and threw it in the pool. The jar broke so the pool had to be drained. Due to that problem, the pool was closed for 2 days. Union Street stayed open an extra week this year. Councilor Blanchette asked that at Union Street Pool if evening visits were attended more by families. She asked if the swimming lessons were just basic lessons. Frank stated the lessons are just introductory. Pat asked what the average age of children swimming at Dakin was. Frank did not know. Frank stated that there were a few other programs this year. Tennis lessons - were held for the first time in a number of years for the ages of 8 and up. Soccer camp went very well with 65 kids in the one week it was ofFered. Free • golf lessons were ofFered. There was also a one week golf clinic offered for $100. Fourteen children ages 8 to 16 attended. Frank stated that Tracy Willette ran a canoe clinic at the Union Street Pool. There were 8 kids and on the last day Tracy took the children to Kenduskeag Stream. Councilor Blanchette asked if any thought had been given to kayaking. Another new program held this summer was high school soccer league. There were 20 teams with a couple hundred children. As far as the softball league goes, the fields are in excellent condition, the whole complex looks really nice. Frank stated that softball has changed. Years ago softball was thought to be a ��beer drinking league". There was no drinking on the fields at all. There were 51 teams this year. Eight teams were in the Church league. There were six girl's teams in the age range of 18 and under that was new this year. The girl's teams are going to grow. Parks and Rec are talking about having 15-18 year old league and a 14 and under league. Frank stated that there were 6 concerts in the bandstand. Even with the Skate Park near, there were no problems. Frank stated that Hannibal Hamlin was resurfaced and described the details. The person hired to do this is coming back in October to show Frank's staff how to clean the statues. The face of Paul Bunyan will be restored either this fall or next spring. Frank stated that at the Parks and Rec Center all light issues that were addressed have been taken care . of. Hallways have been tiled. Offices have been carpeted. � Councilor Blanchette asked how the golf course revenues looked. Frank stated that the revenues are pretty much the same as last year. The irrigation system was noted as being in need of repair. Pat stated that a new irrigation system would be pricey. Frank stated that $30,000 was budgeted. Councilor Blanchette stated that over the winter, the Harbor Committee is putting together a 5 year comprehensive plan in relation to the infrastructure, equipment such as the dock, and the float. Pat suggested that Parks and Rec discuss roles between the two. Frank stated that the Cascade Park celebration has been moved a week later than usual. Councilor Baldacci asked why the date change. Frank stated that Shop N Save, who is the primary sponsor, asked that the date be moved. Shop N Save is where most of the City's revenue is generated and also they provide a large number of workers for the day. Frank stated that something might need to be done with the walkways to the pond at the park. On rainy days, the walkways are very wet. • Fall-Winter Program Offerings Frank stated that currently soccer registrations are being taken. Also an � afternoon program begins on September 4t" and registrations are being taken for that. This is the third year and attendance is better each year. The grades are fourth and fifth. Initially grades one through five were proposed. Councilor Baldacci stated that the initial proposal of grades one through five should be looked at again. Frank replied that Parks and Rec would be happy to. Councilor Blanchette and Councilor Baldacci both stated that the Y is expensive for some parents. Councilor Blanchette asked if Parks and Rec were doing the ski program. Frank replied yes. Some changes are going to be made. The mountain was not very organized. Frank stated that aerobics would be starting up soon and as well as the gym be opened on weekends for walkers. With no further business to come before the Committee, the meeting was adjourned at 6:05 p.m. �