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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Public Saftey Commission 03/14/2012CITY OF PALM DESERT PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, March 14, 2012 — 3:30 p.m. North Wing Conference Room I. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Butzbach called the meeting to order at 3:32 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Present: Absent: C N Chairman Butzbach Commissioner Leber Vice Chairman Kirkwood Commissioner Luhring C Commissioner Nethery z C Staff Present: P U Councilmember Cindy Finerty a LL Stephen Aryan, Risk Manager U c Frankie Riddle, Special Programs Director Fire Marshal Steve Brooker, Riverside County Fire Depart&6t? Battalion Chief Bill Hunley, Riverside County Fire Departmlenr- u Lieutenant William Sullivan, Palm Desert Police Departme� = w EMS Captain Scott Visyak, Riverside County Fire Department Karen Prusinowski, Recording Secretary ORAL COMMUNICATIONS :s U 5 �w ,c,QLQQ�C Phyllis Harkins, Palm Desert Country Club Association, extended the appreciation of their Board of Directors and Neighborhood Watch Chairperson to Chairman Butzbach, Mayor Spiegel, Councilwoman Finerty, Councilwoman Harnik and Stephen Aryan for attending their 5tn Annual Neighborhood Meeting and Breakfast on Saturday. They were pleased to have the support of the City. She also expressed appreciation for the additional police patrol in the community. MEETING MINUTES PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING March 14, 2012 Chairman Butzbach acknowledged Nancy DeLuna, Planning Commissioner, who was in attendance at the meeting. Chairman Butzbach introduced and welcomed Lt. Bill Sullivan and reported that Lt. Andrew Shouse was promoted to Captain and has been reassigned from the Palm Desert station to Blythe. Lt. Sullivan said that he appreciated having the assignment in Palm Desert. He mentioned that he has been in law enforcement for 28 years. Chairman Butzbach said if there was no objection, he wanted to address NEW BUSINESS, ITEM C — PALM DESERT CITIZENS ON PATROL STANDARD PRACTICE MANUAL. The Commission unanimously agreed. Ms. Riddle said that the manual was revised and new information was added. The new manual did not change procedures; it added informational items. She summarized the manual and it was discussed. With the Commission's concurrence and approval, the manual will be given to new members and they will be required to read the manual and sign an agreement that states they have read the manual. Chairman Butzbach said the manual was well written. Commissioner Luhring felt that the manual was well done and descriptive and contained good information. Lt. Sullivan asked about putting radios in vehicles. He said that strict training would have to be provided, and he asked how the Commission felt about this. Ms. Riddle said that her recommendation would be to approve and go forward with that because it would provide a more efficient form of communication with the Police Department. Ms. Riddle felt that on -going training would be necessary. She commented that she understands that the scanners that the COPS currently use will be obsolete soon. Ms. Riddle mentioned that the COPS members approached television stations concerning the Public Service Announcement (PSA) on the COPS program, and several have begun to run the PSA. We received a great deal of coverage last year. Chairman Butzbach asked if the manual could be organized by chapters with each area having a section number and the bullet points having a subsection. Commissioner Nethery suggested that section numbers be added to the Table of Contents. Ms. Riddle said that she will look into this. Motion by Commissioner Nethery, seconded by Commissioner Kirkwood, to recommend to the Palm Desert City Council that it approve the revision to the MEETING MINUTES PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING March 14, 2012 Palm Desert Citizens on Patrol (COPS) Standard Practice Manual to include the modirications recommended by the Commission, unanimously carried. IV. PRESENTATIONS Presentation of the City of Palm Desert's New Mass Care Shelter Trailer. Mr. Aryan said there are two pieces of equipment (trailers) for the Commission to tour. One is the community emergency response team trailer that the Council approved last year. The trailer contains CERT equipment that is used at CERT classes. Our goal is to not only use the trailer during CERT classes, but to bring it out and do refresher classes for those who have taken the CERT classes. The second trailer is the mass care shelter trailer that the City received from the County through a grant. We have a memorandum of understanding with the County regarding the trailer whereby we agreed that it can be used for mutual aid requests. We agreed to take all responsibility for maintenance and title the vehicle. That vehicle has about 200 blankets, 90 cots and 10 beds. This would be used for a Red Cross shelter operation in the city. Both trailers were in the parking lot and Chairman Butzbach adjourned the meeting at 4:05 pm to give everyone the opportunity to tour the vehicles. Chairman Butzbach reconvened the meeting at 4:14 pm. V. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Minutes of the Public Safety Commission Meeting of February 8, 2012. B. Palm Desert Specialized Units End of Month Reports for February 2012. C. Palm Desert Fire Services Monthly Reports for January 2012. Motion by Commissioner Nethery, seconded by Commissioner Kirkwood, to approve the Consent Calendar as presented, unanimously approved. VI. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER None. 3 MEETING MINUTES PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING VII. NEW BUSINESS March 14, 2012 A. 2011 PALM DESERT POLICE DEPARTMENT ANNUAL REPORT Lt. Sullivan discussed the report. Chairman Butzbach said that the report was informative and very well put together. Commissioner Luhring said the three year crime comparison data in the report is significant and very well done. Motion to receive and file the annual report made by Commissioner Kirkwood, seconded by Commissioner Luhring, unanimously carried. B. 2011 PALM DESERT FIRE DEPARTMENT ANNUAL REPORT Fire Marshal Brooker said the Department continues to be a proud partner with the community and the City. The Department responded to a total of 7,509 calls for service in 2011 which is 159 more responses than 2010. Commissioner Nethery said it was an excellent report, and the 21 calls for service per day is impressive and a job well done. Motion by Commissioner Kirkwood, seconded by Commissioner Luhring to receive and file the annual report, unanimously carried. C. PALM DESERT CITIZENS ON PATROL (COPS) STANDARD PRACTICE MANUAL Discussed earlier in meeting. VIII. CONTINUED BUSINESS None. IX. OLD BUSINESS None. X. REPORT ON CITY COUNCIL ACTION(S) No reportable actions. 0 MEETING MINUTES PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING XI. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Citizens on Patrol Program 1. Monthly Reports for January and February 2012. 2. The C.O.P.S. Callerfor February 2012. March 14, 2012 Mr. Aryan reported that as of February 29, the COPS are very busy and are providing a wonderful service to the community. Total hours patrolled as of the end of February was 1662 hours. Chairman Butzbach mentioned that the Citizens on Patrol attended the annual meeting at Palm Desert Country Club. B. Legislative Update Mr. Aryan reported that there is no update. Commissioner Nethery asked if the AB109 County report could be provided to the Commission, and Mr. Aryan will make it available at the next meeting. C. Police and Fire Departments 1. Desert Fountains Apartments Update 2. Neighborhood Watch Meeting -Desert Fountains Apartments 3. 2012 Palm Desert Family Safety Festival (3/24/12) 4. Update on City of Palm Desert Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Courses Items 1 and 2 were discussed earlier in the meeting. The City Manager sent a letter to the Desert Fountains property owner which was copied to the Commission. His assistance was requested in mitigating the issues at the property. We have not received a response and we are monitoring the matter. Lt. Sullivan reported that Crime Prevention Officers met with the property manager last week. We are trying to get compliance so that we can get the complex up to standard for crime free multi housing. We are asking that peep holes be installed in every apartment, and we have been told this will be done. A Neighborhood Watch meeting is also scheduled for March 15. 5 MEETING MINUTES PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING March 14, 2012 Mr. Aryan mentioned that both Police and Fire apparatus will be at the March 24 Family Safety Festival. Fire Marshal Brooker reported that the second CERT course for the year was held on March 3. Twenty-five participated and it was well received. He is grateful for the support of the Commission and the City Council for this program. Mr. Aryan said that Palm Desert was awarded a 2011 Homeland Security Grant for a CERT course and an additional course will be provided in 2013 as a result of this. On the upcoming Council agenda is a Resolution approving a 2009 grant where the money was never expended. We spent about $13,000 for the last two classes, so we will be able to recoup about half of that with this grant, and approximately $6700 will be coming back to the City. D. Staff 1. Palm Desert Local Hazard Mitigation Plan One of Mr. Aryan's first assignments when he assumed the role of Risk Manager was to update the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan. This Plan identifies the different hazards the City faces and ways that they can be mitigated. It is a document that should be reviewed and updated once a year. The Plan was last updated five years ago. With the assistance of staff and others in the City, we were able to accomplish this revision. It was sent to the County operational area and they included it with their plan submitted to the State and then to the Federal government. We will come back to the Commission requesting formal approval once the State and Homeland Security submit their recommendations. Mr. Aryan suggested that a subcommittee of the Public Safety Commission be formed to review this document in terms of the updating process at least once a year. This is a critical document that needs to be in place before we apply for grant funds. Also, without this document we would not be eligible to seek federal funding in the event of a disaster. 2. Palm Desert Public Safety Commission 2011 Activities Mr. Aryan provided a synopsis of the Commission's 2011 activities. 3. Desert Fountains Apartments -Property Owner Correspondence Update Al MEETING MINUTES PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING This was discussed earlier in the meeting. E. Public Safety Commissioners March 14, 2012 Commissioner Luhring appreciated the information provided at the meeting. He welcomed Lt. Sullivan. Commissioner Kirkwood appreciated the annual reports. Commissioner Nethery welcomed Lt. Sullivan. He appreciated the annual reports provided. Chairman Butzbach asked if there was a monthly radio check of private communities involved with the EOC radio program. Mr. Aryan will work on having these on a monthly basis. Chairman Butzbach thanked everyone for their participation and welcomed Lt. Sullivan to the Commission. Mr. Aryan reported that Sgt. Misty Reynolds was recently promoted to the new Thermal Station. Mr. Aryan mentioned that he received notification from the county that they are introducing a new EOC web system, whereby staff can initiate situational reports, logistical requests through computers, smart phones, tablets, etc. and there will be various training that he and Lt. Sullivan will attend. XII. ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn made by Vice Chairwoman Kirkwood, seconded by Commissioner Luhring. With unanimous consent, Chairman Butzbach adjourned the meeting at 5:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, -GY.4�-3 /1t,cC4<i,�6�Gyi-2c, Karen Prusinowski, Recording Secretary 7