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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Safety Cmsn - 04-09-2014 � _.- , � �� CITY OF PALM DESERT �'�'� PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING � � APPROVED MINUTES . , WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 2014 — 3:30 p.m. Palm Desert City Hall 73-510 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert, CA 92260 Administrative Services Conference Room I. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Luhring called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Present: Commissioner James Butzbach � Commissioner Phyllis Harkins Commissioner Gloria Kirkwood Commissioner Terry Kramer � Chairman Doug Luhring p a ,=' Vice Chairman Martin Nethery (arrived at 3:32 p.m.) � � S � �, Absent: � O (v l i � Commissioner Frank Taylor . Z � �" � �� O '' Also Present: �j � Y '� `' Mayor Pro Tem Susan Marie Weber 4 �0 W ' � �`=-' Councilman Robert A. Spiegel '�"� �� Q � �: .�. John Wohlmuth, City Manager q A... A � � �� ~�~ Ste hen Y. A an, Risk Mana er � W W �� �%� '� p rY 9 O > z � ::w �.� ., Frankie Riddle, Director of S ecial Pro rams V � "�• ;• � < �4 � p 9 aW E- � .r �„ :.� �� . Ca tain Kevin Vest, Palm Desert Police De artment � a v � �= �° � � ���' � p p �, W �= �. C �:; w ,� � Chief Bill Hunley, Riverside County Fire Department c,� Q � � Q � � .° Lt. William Sullivan, Palm Desert Police Department Sergeant Dave Adams, Palm Desert Police Department Jane Stanley, Recording Secretary III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Commissioner Harkins thanked Lt. Sullivan, Chief Hunley, and Captain Vest for their support of the Palm Desert Country Club Pancake Breakfast. APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING APRIL 9, 2014 IV. PRESENTATIONS None. V. CONSENT CALENDAR A. MINUTES of the Regular Public Safety Commission Meeting of February 12, 2014. Councilmember Spiegel noted that the item regarding the establishment of citywide speed zones has not yet gone before the City Council. Rec: Approve as presented B. PALM DESERT SPECIALIZED UNITS End of Month Reports for January and February 2014. Chairman Luhring commented that he is amazed at the frequency of drug activity is in this Valley. Lt. Sullivan explained that the demographics for shoplifters and drug usage is changing to the older population. Rec: Receive and file. C. PALM DESERT FIRE SERVICES Monthly Reports (None). Stephen Aryan reported that the fire report format is being updated. Reports will be available at the next Commission meeting. Commissioner Butzbach moved to, by Minute Motion, approve the Consent Calendar as presented. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Harkins and carried by a 6-0-1 vote (AYES: Butzbach, Harkins, Kirkwood, Kramer, Nethery, and Luhring: NOES: None; ABSENT: Taylor). VI. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER None. 2 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING APRIL 9, 2014 VII. NEW BUSINESS A. CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSED FY 2014/2015 POLICE DEPARTMENT BUDGET. Chairman Luhring thanked Mr. Aryan for the excellent staff report and for providing last year's budget request, which made it easier to understand this year's request. Stephen Aryan noted that the City Manager is not recommending any reductions in staffing or maintenance. Referring to the report, Captain Kevin Vest stated that staffing levels will remain the same. There will be a rate increase due to the negotiated salary reductions having lapsed. Employees are now paying more of their retirement, and raises will be reinstated to offset those negotiated changes. This year's increase is 4.97%, and next year's is expected to be 5%. An additional 1% or 2% will be attributed to the new radio system, which went live in February. The new radio system purchased by the County is working extremely well but the maintenance costs for next year are unknown. As other entities come on board with the system, the cost to each user will decrease. The city of Murrieta, and Corona and Riverside Police Departments have expressed an interest in being part of the radio system. About 5 years ago, Indio, Cathedral City, Palm Springs, Desert Hot Springs, and Beaumont partnered and created the Eastern Riverside County Radio Project. Palm Desert is well staffed and has an exceltent staffing ratio. Mr. Aryan noted the capital items requests, which are one police BMW motorcycle and Kevlar uniforms for the motor officers. The replacement of the K-9 unit has been deferred. Van Snapp is nearing his retirement, but should serve one last year as he is in very good health. Noting Attachment #2, Lt. Sullivan pointed out that the crime rate is down this year. The is amazing in light of the challenges associated with AB109. Chairman Luhring noted that AB109 is now getting attention across the state. Lt. Sullivan explained that the Facility Fee is the city's share of the maintenance for the Sheriff Station. 3 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING APRIL 9, 2014 Responding to question, Captain Vest explained that some cost- cutting measures were implemented, resulting in a lower Facility Fee request for ne� year. Commissioner Kramer wondered if 8 motor officers are too many for a city of Palm Desert's size. John Wohlmuth addressed the issue by explaining that when AB109 was going to be passed 2 years ago, it was decided to move traffic enforcement to all motors and move the 2 patrol cars to the Business District Team. Since then, motors respond to calls for service more quickly than patrol cars. Captain Vest went on to say that there has been a lot of discussion in the past 6 months regarding realigning traffic and transitioning some motors out. Departmentally, they are having a very difficult time filling vacant motor positions, so this may happen in the future anyway. Lt. Sullivan said motor officers write tickets most of the time, are first responders, and write accident reports. Motorcycles will be equipped with high-powered rifles and shotguns. In answer to Councilmember Spiegel's question, Captain Vest stated that all 5 options for reducing costs were turned down. Lt. Sullivan reported that Forensic Tech Jillian Frisbee is working out very well. She recently received the CAL-ID Golden Bear Award again for the most latent fingerprint hits in the County. Captain Vest added that Officer Frisbee receives positive comments from the public. Fingerprint results are done within a day or two compared with 1-2 weeks previously. The position is cost-shared among the 3 Cove Communities. Councilmember Spiegel mentioned that tomorrow the City Council will be voting on a Resolution to increase the TOT tax from 9% to 11%, which will provide additional funds for the budget. Chairman Luhring noted that the City Manager concurs with the budget as presented. Commissioner Kramer moved to, by Minute Motion, forward the recommendation of the City Manager to the City Council concerning the FY 2014/2015 Police Department Budget. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Butzbach and carried by a 6-0-1 vote (AYES: Butzbach, Harkins, Kirkwood, Kramer, Nethery, and Luhring: NOES: None; ABSENT: Taylor). 4 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING APRIL 9, 2014 B. CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSED FY 2014/2015 FIRE DEPARTMENT BUDGET. Mr. Aryan explained that 2 budgets have been presented, Schedule A, which includes each position at the highest salary step, and the Anticipated Estimate. He noted the additional requests that are explained in the staff report. Referring to the staff report, Chief Hunley said the 4% increase is due to increased State heafthcare and PERS contributions, and a slight increase in the admin rate that the State charges to the County. Chief Hunley explained the staffing levels per seat and the request for a 3-year phase in to bring staffing levels up to 2.65 positions per seat. The request is also for converting the 3 Palm Desert fire engines to Advanced Life Support (ALS) engines, which means putting a paramedic on all the engines. This year's request is the addition of one firefighter/medic. Mid-year discussions would involve upgrading two firefighter positions to medic positions, and converting Engine 33 to an ALS engine. For FY 2015/16 the request is to convert Engine 71 to an ALS engine and add one more firefighter/medic position, which would bring the staffing level up to 2.65 positions per seat. For 2016/17 the request is to upgrade Engine 67 to an ALS engine, and upgrade to the Municipal Staffing Model, which is a Fire Captain, an Apparatus Operator, a Firefighter, and a Medic all being present on the engine daily. The capital equipment requests are for Medic Unit 267 remount and a thermal imaging camera. Responding to questions, Chief Hunley indicated that there are discussions with Indian Wells to upgrade Engine 55 to ALS. With an upgrade all the equipment that an ambulance has will also be on the fire engines. The capital outlay is about $10,000 per engine. With the addition of 1 firefighter/medic, 1 shift can provide the higher level of ALS services. The cost difference to convert from a firefighter to a firefighter/medic is about $20,000 each. Vice Chairman Nethery said it did not seem such a significant amount, given the scale of the budget, to warrant waiting to add the staffing to the engines. John Wohlmuth explained that the firefighter/medic would be used as a first responder if an ambulance is not available. Putting the medic on the engine truck may not be much more effective for better 5 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING APRIL 9, 2014 service citywide. Only if the ambulance is not available would the firefighter/medic become more important. It is not known how many times per year an ambulance is not available making the firefighter/medic the life support for an injury. Chief Hunley said it would be very hard to get that number (for how many times an ambulance is not available), but during the season, there are delays in all 3 cities. Vice Chairman Nethery feels there are 2 benefits to upgrading all the engines to ALS. One is the staffing level gets up to the County average of 2.65 per seat. Second, the cost is so low for a potentially significant benefit that the Council should consider it. Commissioner Kramer agreed and said that the benefits garnered from adding ALS engines will help support what the City has put in place, even if it cannot be quantified. Commissioner Kirkwood added that it doesn't seem worthwhile to phase in over a 3-year period for $40,000; it should be done now. Mr. Wohlmuth responded to question by saying that the primary ALS service is the ambulances. He discussed the financing for upgrading to the Municipal Staffing level, saying it is a County issue, which he will discuss with them. He is also looking at future cost increases. Vice Chairman Nethery said there are certainly political considerations, which the Council will have to weigh. He would like to recommend that the Council upgrade all 3 engines to ALS now. Mr. Aryan clarified that upgrading the other 2 engines to ALS would be a cost of$20,000 each; $10,000 additional salary and $10,000 for equipment. In discussion of the recliners, Chief Hunley said the request is for the County standard of a heavier duty recliner. Commissioner Kramer moved to, by Minute Motion, recommend to the City Council the Fiscal Impact Summary approved by the City Manager, to include the ALS Engine 33 Conversion at $31,000 and the Recliners/Chairs at $13,332. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Kirkwood and carried by a 6-0-1 vote (AYES: Butzbach, Harkins, Kirkwood, Kramer, Nethery, and Luhring: NOES: None; ABSENT: Taylor). VIII. CONTINUED BUSINESS None. 6 � APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING APRIL 9, 2014 IX. OLD BUSINESS None. X. REPORT ON CITY COUNCIL ACTION(S) None. XI. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Citizens on Patrol Program Frankie Riddle mentioned that because of several officer changes the COPs reports have been delayed. With recent recruitment the members should be back up to 38 members by the end of the month. Chairman Luhring expressed appreciation for COPs help in special events. B. Legislative Update Mr. Aryan stated that he had no report at this time. C. Police and Fire Departments Lt. Sullivan reported that he and Vice Chairman Nethery have worked on the issue from the last meeting regarding the school zones. No one is ticketed unless there are children on the sidewalk. Vice Chairman Nethery read the statute regarding the speed limit in a school zone. The main point is that if there is a fence or barrier and the children are not coming and going to school, the lower school speed limit law doesn't apply. D. Staff Mr. Aryan noted that the Family Safety Festival was well attended. It might be better to have the event bi-annually, spending $5,000 every other year instead of$2,500 every year. E. Public Safety Commissioners Chairman Luhring indicated that the City did a terrific job on Mary LaCross' memorial. 7 APPROVED MINUTES REGULAR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING APRIL 9, 2014 XII. ADJOURNMENT With Commission concurrence the meeting was adjourned at 4:40 p.m. �� ,i,l,�%''�,�i,/��,C., J ne Stanley, Re rding Secretary 8