Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-12-23 Government Operations Committee Minutes , ' GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS COMMITTEE ' MINUTES ' December 23, 2003 , Councilors Present: Richard Greene, Anne Alien, Peter D'Errico Staff Present: Bob Farrar, Chief Winslow, Joe McNeil, Mary-Anne Chalila, Frank � Comeau Others Present: None ' The meeting convened at 5:00 p.m. ' 1. Outreach/Coliaboration efforts — Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program, Bangor Health and Welfare Department and various local organizations. , Health and Welfare Director Maryanne Chalila briefed the Committee on recent developments to promote the WIC program through collaboration with the Maine , Discovery Museum, Park Woods and Literacy Volunteers. The Discovery Museum will coordinate a program for 3, 4, and 5-year olds with WIC to promote healthy � lifestyle in the two county area. This will count as a nutrition education program for the parents, and participants will receive a free family pass to the Maine Discovery Museum. Park Woods will have a nature and ecology program with kids learning , about the watershed and wooded areas around Park Woods. D'Errico asked if the WIC program had been around for awhile. Chalila said that we have had the WIC program since its inception in 1963. These efforts have the potential to bring ' positive exposure to all organizations involved and significant benefit to children ages 3-12. , 2. Proposed Swimming Pool Fee Schedute — Pancoe Aquatic Center Frank Comeau noted that the Parks and Recreation Department is proposing a new , fee schedule to coincide with the opening of the Pancoe Aquatic Center in the spring of 2004. The proposed schedule has been reviewed and recommended by the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee. Comeau reviewed the fee structure as follows: � daily swims - youth resident $1, non-resident $2, adult resident $2, non-resident $4, season passes - youth resident $10, non-resident $20, adult resident $20, non- , resident $40, family resident $50, non-resident $75. D'Errico wanted to know if this was the only pool type of its kind in the state. Comeau said that there was one in Waterville that is 10,000 square feet, a little larger than the one Bangor is building. ' � ' ' Comeau said that if the fees can reach the $20,000 range per year, then they should cover half of the operating costs of the aquatic center. Greene noted that the new ' facility is a water park not just a swimming pooi. D'Errico wanted to know if we anticipated any sponsors that might buy a group of tickets. Comeau said that this would be a good public relations ploy on the part of businesses. Greene wanted to ' know how far behind we are on the construction schedule. Comeau said that we had hoped that the pool would be completed in November, however we are 4-6 weeks behind schedule. He indicated that we are hoping to have a grand opening � around June 18"', depending on how the spring season is for the completion of the construction. The general consensus of the Committee was to support the proposed fee schedule. ' 3. Request to establish additional Sergeant position — Bangor Police Department ' Police Chief Winslow discussed his request to create an additional sergeant position in the patrol division in order to fill a vacancy created due to the assignment of a sergeant to the Special Enforcement Team (SE�. He noted that due to the ' scheduling of the special enforcement team, an issue has arisen whereby there are times when only one supervisor is on duty. This may mean that a supervisor is not , available to go out on calls. Winslow requested an existing officer's position be upgraded to a sergeant's position. This will help eliminate some overtime. Winslow indicated that he would like to try this for six months and reevaluate before coming ' before the council to request this position permanently. D'Errico asked for an example of how the special team operates. Winslow briefly discussed some aspects of the team involving neighborhood problems, traffic problems, and sex offender � follow-ups. Winslow discussed the selection process at the request of Allen. The Committee discussed the fact that this is a temporary position and not part of the ' annual budget. The Committee approved the request to establish an additional temporary sergeant ' position in the patrol division. � 4. BAT/Community Connector Operations and Cancellation Policy ' Allen expressed her concern that during one of the storm days this year, (December 15"') the bus system was not running. She noted that with other communities, if ' City Hall is open, then their transportation system still runs. It allows vehicles to be taken off the road and commuters to take public transportation. McNeil distributed a timeline of the storm. McNeil called Farrar at home on the Sunday prior to the � storm day to discuss strategy. He said that they consulted weather maps. On the day of the storm, December i5th, he proceeded into work and his street had not yet been plowed. At this time there was 8 inches of snow on the roads at 4 a.m. He ' said that he went to Pickering Square to view the situation. Pickering Square had ' � 1 � � not et been lowed. The lowin w I n t h ve een c m le y p p g ou d o a b o p ted by the start of , bus operation, and there would have been people interspersed with plowing equipment. He then went to Public Works to discuss plowing strategy. Public Works indicated that there were problems keeping up with the snow, and equipment � breakdowns. He then went to Fleet Maintenance to review the situation. There were severai trucks waiting for service. He then reviewed the weather maps and called some of the drivers who live as far away as Brownville. He discussed the � issues with the BAT parking lot, which had not yet been plowed. McNeil said that he then called Farrar to update him and to let him know that they did not have a spare bus in case Qf emergency. He said that they decided to suspend operations untii � � reevaluation at noontime. McNeil said that the things that they need to balance are passenger and employee safety, equipment issues, and the customer needs. He noted that he talked to the University of Maine to discuss the possibility of shutting � down. He said that with 20 inches of snow and the fact that Public Works could not keep up with the snow removal, he did not think that they could have operated if � they had tried. McNeil presented letters from various communities about the bus closure and that all supported the decision to shut down. McNeil noted that even veteran bus drivers thanked him for not operating the system during the storm. � Letters from the Police Chief and Risk Manager were also provided supporting the decision not to operate. � Allen said that she questioned whether or not we reviewed other communities as to why they felt that they could go out and run their system. She wanted to know why the service could not be more dependable, and why couldn't we have said how can � we get the service running. McNeil said that when reacting to a storm we consult other communities depending on the storm track. Some communities to the south had the storm go through earlier and quicker so that they knew that the storm � would be over in a few hours, whereas in Bangor it was an all day event. It would not have been safe to operate the system. Allen insisted that the procedure be � turned around and be more of a community decision. McNeil noted that they received 500 calls that morning, and there were only 2 upset patrons. Allen wanted to know why other communities can provide service and we can't. McNeil said that � with additional help from Fleet Maintenance and Public Works, we probably could have started running the buses, however it would have been "downhill"with every trip getting further and further behind schedule. If something happens, such a bus with 30 people sliding off the road because it hasn't been plowed, think about the � safety implications of our drivers and passengers. McNeil also mentioned the difficulty of starting service and then having to close. It takes approximately two � hours to provide notice and shut down the operations. He believed that it was our responsibility to get folks back if we took them in the morning. Allen suggested a snow schedule and that if City Hall is open, then the bus should be operating. � Greene wanted to know if there were any additional questions. D'Errico indicated that this was a judgement call on the part of a supervisor. Greene said that our � � � � public transportation is an"on the road"system that is affected by snow. He � wanted to know if it was possible to have Public Works give the routes more , precedence. Farrar said that they do have established plowing routes, but that those routes do not necessarily coincide with bus routes. It would be difficult to only plow the bus route, leaving the rest of the route to be done less frequently. If � this had been an 8-10 inch snowstorm, then it would have been all right. Greene said that he does not fault the decision to suspend operations. Allen said that at some point, public transportation has to be a dependable means. She said that we � need to see how other communities operate during times like these. Farrar said that we can check with other systems in the state to see if there is something that � we can learn from them. Farrar said that we are a dependable service, closing only once or twice per year during difFicult weather conditions. Greene wanted to know if we have a statement printed at Pickering Square regarding the bus operation. � McNeil said that we do have a mission statement, however it is not posted at Pickering Square, which is a good idea. D'Errico said that there were several judgement calls at the airport regarding conditions and sometimes the risk was too great. Farrar noted that we have control of Bangor, however we do not control � when other communities plow their roads, or the state. Allen replied that we still need to work together as a region in responding to these situations. McNeil noted � that he has a meeting on ]anuary 22"d with transit operaters in the state and will discuss this issue with them. Farrar suggested having McNeil return with this information and inviting Arthur Stockus to come talk about the plowing operation. �. Greene said that safety is definitely a high priority. Farrar noted that we only have this problem once or twice a year. Allen said that she would rather see something � more productive done rather than having Stockus come in and do"pr"with the , Council. Greene asked if the bus transportation closing could be placed on the government channel, Farrar said that it could be as soon as someone comes in the � office. McNeil said that they have a two-hour process of notifying local television and radio stations of the closure. 5. Council Ordinance 04-45, Amending Chapter 291, Vehicles and TrafFic, Section 291- � 43 On-Street and Off-Street Parking Areas, Daytime Alternate-Side Parking Winslow said that when the City codified its ordinances in 1998, the winter � alternate-side parking ban was inadvertently repealed. The City has continued this practice of alternate-side of street parking, which enables Public Works to clear our � streets and roads in an efficient manner. He said the purpose of this amendment is to restore the deleted language. D'Errico wanted to know how this information gets relayed to the public. Winslow said that we place notices in the Bangor Daily News � and send media releases. The Committee approved restoring the language to the ordinance and recommended approval of Council Ordinance 04-45. � The meeting adjourned at 6:10 p.m. � �