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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPUB SFTY CMSN - 03/14/07 l.�- . 'l -- . �-�--�. CiTY OF PALM DESERT PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION APPROVED MINUTES Wednesday, March 14, 2007 Administrative Conference Room I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was calied to order at 3:30 p.m. by Chairman Jim Butzbach. 11. ROLL CALL Present: Absent: Commissioner Rick Lebel Vice Chair Gloria Kirkwood Commissioner Martin Nethery Commissioner Jim Larsh Chairman James Butrbach Also Present: Councilman Jim Ferguson Mayor Richard S. Kelly Carlos L. Ortega, City Manager Lt. Frank Taylor, Palm Desert Police Department Chief Dennis Dawson, Palm Desert/Riverside County Fire Dept Chief Travis Witten, Palm Desert/Riverside County Fire Dept Stephen Aryan, Assistant to the City Manager Frankie Riddle, Director of Special Programs Gary Rosenblum, Risk Manager Mary P. Gates, Recording Secretary II1. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS City Clerk Rachelle Klassen reminded the Commissioners to file their Form 700, Statement of Economic Interests, no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, April 2, 2007. She offered to provide assistance to Commissioners if requested. APPROVED MINUTES PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MARCH 14, 2007 IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Minutes of the February 14,2007, Public Safety Commission Meeting Rec: Approve as presented. Upon motion by Commissioner Lebel, second by Commissioner Nethery, the Consent Calendar was approved as presented by a 3-0-2 vote, with Vice Chair Kirkwood and Commissioner tarsh ABSENT. V. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER None VI. NEW BUSINESS A. Palm Desert Fire Services Monthly Report for January 2007 Chief Dawson noted a correction to the report, speci�cally the percentage of calls on scene in five minutes or less for Station 71; while it showed 56%, the correct amount should be 78%. He added that the�e was a simi{ar error in the previous report to Pubfic Safety Commission. It was brought to his attention, and Fire Department staff had gone back, researched the data, and made that correction. Commissioner Lebel asked that total man hours be included under Sign�cant Eve�ts. Chief Witten noted that his information would be added back in and would be reflected starting with the next report. Commissioner Lebel moved to, by Minute Motion, receive and file the Palm Desert Fire Services Monthly Report for January 2007. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Nethery and carried by a 3-0-2 vote, with Vice Chair Kirkwood and Commissioner Larsh ABSENT. B. Palm Desert Special Enforcement Teams Monthly Statistics for February 2007 Commissioner Nethery moved to, by Minute Motion, receive and file the Palm Desert Special Enforcement Teams Monthly Statistics for February 2007. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Lebel and carried by a 3-0-2 vote, with Vice Chair Kirkwood and Commissioner Larsh ABSENT. 2 APPROVED MINUTES PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MARCH 14, 2007 C. Palm Desert Station -Traific Collision Statistics for January 2007 Commissioner Lebel moved to, by Minute Motion, receive and file the Pafm Desert Station - Traffic Collision Statistics for January 2007. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Nethery and carried by a 3-0-2 vote, with Vice Chair Kirkwood and Commissioner Larsh ABSENT. D. Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Statistics for February 2007 Commissioner Lebel moved to, by Minute Motion, receive and fite the Commercia! Vehicle Enforcement Statistics for February 2007. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Nethery and carried by a 3-0-2 vote, with Vice Chair Kirkwood and Cammissioner Larsh ABSENT. E. Request from Palm Desert Police Department for Authorization to Expend Cal Cops Grant Funds (Supptemental Law Enforcement Services Fund - SLESF) - 2006/07 to Purchase 30 Olympus FE-210 7.1 Mega Pixel Digital Cameras and 301-Gigabyte Memory Cards in an Estimated Amount of$5,462.93 Lt. Taylor reviewed his report dated March 7, 2007, noting these cameras would be for both patrol officers and the Target Team to document crime scenes,etc. Upon question by Chairman Butzbach, he responded that the care and maintenance of the cameras was important and that assigning each officer with his/her own camera seemed to woric better in that regard than assigning them on an as- needed basis. Commissioner Lebel commended Sgt. Purdue for doing his homework as far as comparing and finding the lowest prices for this equipment. Commissioner Nethery moved to, by Minute Motion,recommend to the City Councif approval of the subject request. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Lebel and carried by a 3-0-2 vote, with Vice Chair Kirkwood and Commissioner Larsh ABSENT. F. Request from Palm Desert Police Department for Authorization to Expend Cal Cops Grant Funds (Supplemental Law Enforcement Services Fund - SLESF) - 2U06/07 to Purchase Visual Statement Vista FX Premium Crash Re-creation Software in an Estimated Amount of$6,995.00 Lt. Taylor reviewed his report dated March 6, 2007, noting that the software was from a sole-source vendor, and this equipment would allow for better reconstruction of collision scenes. Upon question by 3 APPROVED MINUTES PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MARCH 14, 2007 Commissioner Nethery, he said the Police Department had had the current software (Autosketch) for approximately five years, and it would interface with the new software. Chairman Butzbach asked what the plans were for the current program. Lt. Taylor responded that the Department still had the licensing for the Autosketch software; it would continue to take the data ftom the Sokkia Mapping System and download it to Autosketch on another computer. Upon question by Mr. Aryan, Lt. Taylor responded that the current computer system the Department had would support this new software. Mr. Aryan asked whether the company would include updates and how many licenses were included. Lt. Taylor responded that updates were included, and this would be downloaded to just one computer. Commissioner Lebel suggested that Lt. Taylor check to see how it can be licensed for muttiple computers. Commissioner Nethery moved to, by Minute Motion, recommend to the City Council approval of the subject request. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Lebel and carried by a 3-0-2 vote, with Vice Chair Kirkwood and Commissioner Larsh ABSENT. G. Long Range Plan Proposals for Enhancing Disaster Preparation and Response Risk Manager Gary Rosenblum gave a Powerpoint presentation which elaborated on points included in his memorandum dated February 23,2007(attached hereto and made a part hereof as Exhibit °A"). He offered to answer any questions and recommended that the Commission receive and file the report. Commissioner Lebel said he had been Public Safety Commission member for the last 12 years, and this was the first time the Commission had received a comprehensive overview of the state of the City's emergency preparedness and what needs to be done. He offered 100�o support for any suggestions or recommendations Mr. Rosenblum would like to make to the City Council. He said he would fully support having this same presentation made to City Councilmembers, as he felt they needed to hear this. He suggested that Mr. Rosenblum also consider having an outside professional consuftant in emergency preparedness, at the City's expense, look at the recommendations outlined in the presentation and be prepared to make a presentation to the Council in support of the path recommended. He felt Mr. Rosenblum had a lot of good thoughts and ideas of the direction the City needs to go, but the detailed planning to put that into effect would take a lot of time and some degree of funding. From a Public Safety Commissioner perspective, he felt this 4 APPROVED MINUTES PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MARCH 14, 2007 was something the City needed to do. He felt Palm Desert needed to put more time and resources into emergency planning because with its business base, it was the Coachella Valley city that would sustain the greatest amount of monetary loss in case of an emergency. Chairman Butzbach asked whether there were grant programs through FEMA or the Federal government that would allow the City to continue studies in emergency preparedness. Mr. Rosenblum responded that he was not aware of any such grant programs and did not usually research grants on his own. The City currently received grant information through the County; however, because the grants tended to be directed more toward police and fire operational issues, the City worked with Riverside County OES and diverted those grant monies to police and fire emergency operations support. Upon question by Commissioner Lebel, Mr. Rosenblum responded that he did not know how many of the City's managers had been to the Califomia Specialized Training {nstitute for earthquake preparedness or earthquake management courses. Chairman Butzbach said he fett it woufd be well worth having City department heads attend. Mr. Rosenblum noted that the City would have to do that under the NIMS requirements, as al{ personnel who woufd be at Assistant Chief or Executive Management level would need about four days worth of training. Chairman Butzbach said he fully supported the comments made by Commissioner Lebel and the presentation/program made by Mr. Rosenb{um at this meeting. Mr. Aryan noted that the City was looking into the possibility of building a new fire station in the North Sphere, and staff could look at the{ikelihood of putting an alternate Emergency Operations Center at that location as part of the design of the station. The City was currently in negotiations for the land,and it was hoped the new station would be up and running in 2009. Mr. Rosenblum added that there was land available at the City Corporation Yard site at Corporate Way and 42"� Avenue as weil as the truck washing site across the street from the old City Corporation Yard. 5 APPROVED MINUTES PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSfON MARCH 14, 2007 Commissioner Lebel moved to, by Minute Motion, support Mr. Rasenblum's presentation of this proposal to the City Council as a preliminary step toward establishing some budgeting for the coming fiscal year so that the Councif becomes fully aware that there is a different program that needs to take place, and they can become a tittle more sensitized to the upcoming budget proposals that Mr. Rosenblum will develop. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Nethery. Mr. Arysn asked whether Mr. Rosenbfum had a proposal for a new position for the upcoming budget. Mr. Rosenblum responded that he had a proposal for an Emergency Technician position to assist him in moving forward with the current level of activity and then expanding it to other areas such as initial planning, logistics issues, evacuation, a pets program, etc. Chairman Butrbach cal{ed for the vote, and the motion carried by a 3-0-2 vote,with Vice Chair Kirkwood and Commissioner Larsh ABSENT. VII. CONTINUED BUSINESS None VIII. OLD BUStNESS A. Report from Staff Relative to Cal COPS (Suppfemental Law Enforcement Services Funding - SLESF) Expenditures Approved by Public Safety Commission from 2004 to Present Upon question by Chairman Butzbach, Lt. Taylor responded that the funds were al{ocated based on a formula dealing with population or staffing levels. He added that he believed $100,000 was the maximum amount awarded each year. After additional discussion, the Commission asked staff to prepare a more understandable report detailing the total amount approved each year as well as a breakdown as to how those funds were spent. Commissioner Lebel moved to,by Minute Motion,receive and filethe report. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Nethery and carried by a 3-0-2 vote, with �ce Chair Kirkwood and Commissioner Larsh ABSENT. 6 APPROVED MINUTES PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MARCH 14, 2007 B. Report from Staff Relative to Valley-Wide Radio Interoperability Ms. Riddle noted that this report was provided to the Commission by Senior Management Analyst Pat Scully and was an informational item only. Upon question by Commissioner Lebel, Mr.Ortega responded that he did not believe it was the City's intention to upgrade its own equipment to interoperate with the County. He said the City's radio system was basically used by the Public Works and Building &Safety Departments; in addition, the City had a cell phone policy and provided a monthly allowance for selected employees. In terms of disaster communication,that is where the City's Risk Manager comes in with the Emergency Operations Center. Risk Manager Gary Rosenbfum noted that this topic had come up at the CVAG meeting on Monday. There will be an additional cost for the City element to be operational with the County element; however, it is unknown at this time what that cost will be. Commissioner Nethery moved to, by Minute Motion, receive and file the report. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Lebel and camed by a 3-0-2 vote,with�ce Chair Kirkwood and Commissioner Larsh ABSENT. 1X. REPORT ON CITY COUNCIL ACTION (S) None X. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Comments by Public Safety Commissioners Commissioner Nethery expressed his appreciation as a citizen for our public safety people and said he felt they did a terrific job. Chairman Butzbach noted that Mr. Ortega was a candidate for the "Man About Town" competition sponsored by College of the Desert. He said he had participated in a tour of the fields in Coachella, an event organized by Mr. Ortega, and it was thoroughly enjoyable. He thanked Mr. Ortega for the tour and wished him luck in the competition. Mr. Ortega noted that the monies being raised by this competition were going to the Public Safety Academy at College of the Desert. 7 APPROVED MINUTES PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MARCH 14, 2007 B. Update on the Citizens on Patrol Program Ms. Riddle stated that she, Lt. Taylor, and Sgt. Purdue met last week to discuss this program. A community meeting had been scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on Monday, April 23, 2007, to provide information to interested residents and hopefully to recruit new volunteers. This meeting would be held in the Council Chamber. She added that the Citizens on Patrol manual was currently being updated. Lt. Taylor added that it was hoped the new manual would be available for the April 23ro meeting. Upon question by Chairman Butzbach relative to the continued involvement of the previous Captain and other administrators or supervisors, Ms. Riddle responded that while Captain John Fanning had resigned, he had assisted with the recent Public Service Announcement, and staff was hoping he would retum to service in the program. C. Comments by Police and Fire Departments None D. Comments by Staff None XI. ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Nethery moved to adjourn the meeting at 5:15 p.m. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Lebel and carried by a 3-0-2 vote, with Vice Chair Kirkwood and Commissioner Larsh ABSENT. r . � Mary P. G te , Recording Secretary 8