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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDepartment Head Meetings Minutes 04.22.2008PRESENT: Mayor Ken Olson Sam Painter Mike Zuhoski MINUTES DEPARTMENT HEAD MEETING APRIL 22, 2008 3:00 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS Mary Embleton Jan Fanght Scott Wilm James Caniglia Nancy Schmidt Bill Sheridan DraR Council Workshou Auenda - Aurii 29. 2008 Police Denartment: · Resolution- Standard Agreement State Highway Traffic Safety Bureau Mike stated that the agreement is for in-car video equipment. The resolution will be on tho April 29th council workshop agenda. Public Works Denartment: · Resolution - Utility Agreement with MDT for the 2002 - Turn Lane - Laurel project Mary stated that the utility agreement is for the MDT mill and overlay project on South First Street and East Main Street going east to install a middle turn lane. The resolution will be on the April 29~ council workshop agenda. Planning Depa~haent: * Discussion- Russell Park James will present the options to the council. The city could vacate half of tho street by Russell Park and give it to the adjoining property owner. The city could sell the lots or rum it into a park. Mayor Oison mentioned that Kurt discussed the issue of selling half of the road and using the road to the west for access at a recent Park Board meeting. · Ordinance - Revisions to LMC 17.56.030 James stated that the revisions were approved by tho Planning Board when Cai Cumin was the planner. The revisions are needed to clarify wording regarding whether non-conforming homes can be rebuilt if they are destroyed by fire. James discussed this at the April Planning Board meeting, and the board recommellded that it be presented to the council. An example is the house located across from Town and Country that burned down. There wes discussion regarding changing the verbiage to include houses that are destroyed but other than by fire. James stated that current setbacks would apply. Mayor Olson questioned if James could chan~e tho verbiage without Planning Board approval. Sam stated that the Planning Board and/or the council can bring ehangos forward. A public hearing would be required on the ordinance changes. Clerk/Treasurer: · Resolution- Accept donated playground equipment · Resolution - Transfer General Fund monies to Park Improvements CIP · Resolution- Budget amendment increasing Park Improvements CIP appropriations Mary stated that all three resolutions are related and are needed to complete the new bathrooms at Russell and Kiwanis Parks. The first resolution is needed to formally accept the donated playground Department Head Meeting Minutes of April 22, 2008 equipment. The second resolution is needed to transfer monies to the Park Improvements CIP for installation of the playground equipment. The third resolution is an overall budget amendment to increase the Park Improvements CIP appropriations. · Quarterly Financial Report Mary will present the quarterly financial report at the council workshop. Executive review: · Fire Hall Task Force update Mayor Olson will talk to Doug Poehls about this. · Resolution- Job desudption for the Chief Administrative Officer Mayor Olson stated that the job description will be coming forward. · Resolution - Contract for revision of the Personnel Implementation and Instruction Guide Mary asked if the contract would be with Associated Employers. Mayor Olson stated that it would be with AEM. · Appointment: o Yellowstone County Veterans' Cemetery Board: Norm Stamper, ex officio member · Review of draft letter to IVIDT regarding the right hand turn lane and the 25 mph speed Funit signs on South First Avenue Bill will check on this. · Council Issues: o Ordinance - Yellowstone Historic Preservation Board (Emolie Eaton) Sam received the proposed ordinance changes ~om Emelie Eaton. Special Council Agendas - April 29, 2008 · Public Hearing: o March 31, 2008 Amendment to the Preliminary Engineering Report of the August 2007 Water Facility Plan · Resolution No. R08-__: Resolution to adopt the March 31, 2008, Amendment to the Water System Facility Plan, August, 2007 as prepared and presented by Morrison-Malerle and Great West Engine~ing. The special meetings are scheduled for 6:00 p.m. and 6:20 p.m. on April 29a'. Denartment Re~orts: Ambulance Service · Update on remodel Bill found a contractor to look at the remodel project. Jan was contacted by concemed citizens on 56~ Street, which is across from the Billings District. They requested documented response times for fire and ambulance services to that location. Jan did not give them the information. There was discussion regarding this issue and the city's policy to release information. Mike Zuhoski explained the police department's policy regarding release of information. The first page of the dispatcher document includes the location, time the call was received, and the 2 Dcpartmmt Head Meeting Minutes of April 22, 2008 name of the person that called. Mike stated that this page should be sufficient to show response times. The second page has personal information and should not be distributed. Jan stated that 23 residents are considering whether to be in the Billings or Laurel District for fire and ambulance services. There was discussion regarding the process needed to change the ambulance service area, how the service areas were originally created, the physical description of the boundaries, if the dispatchers have the boundary information, and whether the service area was presented to and approved by the council Sam stated that the documentation needs to be found. City Council President There was no discussion. Mary stated that the informational meeti~4gs with Helen Gonsowski, MMIA, regarding employee benefits were well attended. Miral Gar~adt will be at city hall again on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. to review the CIP. A CIP meeting is tentatively scheduled for June 7th. Mary reported on the meeting with a company that offers local governments the ability to provide credit card payment services to customers. The company also offers interact payments, as well as other options for customers. The minimum $1.00 to 3 percent costs would be directly assessed to the customer and there would be no cost to the city. Fire Denartment · Update on interface pumper Scott stated that work is being done on the pumper. * Cenex mutual aid contract Scott could not attend Monday's Emergency Services Committee meeting. He stated that it is time for the city to do something about the Cenex mutual aid contract. Scott stated that Firovac has r,,oqnn~ested ~parmission to take the city's new water tender vacuum truck to the Cody Fire School on May 2 and 3 . In exchange, Firovac might pay for the classes and hotels for the three Laurel firemen that plan to attend the school. Weather will be a factor in the decision. Scott distributed information regarding an alphanumeric paging proposal The Fire Department would compile the information and submit the proposal in grant form to the Department of Homeland Security in the fall. Use of the portable radios would continue. Scott stated that it would cost $20,000 to set up this system Scott recently received information regarding a proposal to put a NASCAR sanctioned racetrack at 88* Street and Lipp, which is right on the boundary of tho city's fire district. Mayor Olson asked Scott to keep the Public Works Depat hnent informed about this. The fire department has responded to two big fires this week. Library · Update on roof repair Department Head Meeting Minutes of April 22, 2008 Nancy stated that the roof has been repaired. The contractor will submit an estimate to replace the roof of the library. Nancy will also request additional bids for the project. · Update on parking lot Nancy, Bill, and the Engineering, Inc., engineer met regarding the parking lot. The engineer's estimate is $21,700 to repair the parking lot, the alley, and the back parking lot at the library. Nancy asked about the process to go out for bids. Mary explained the process required to get council approval for a small services contract. Police Denartment · Policy regarding key for restroom by shelter in Thomson Park There was discussion. Mike stated that the police department has a key and the day police officer opens the bathrooms at 8:00 mm. and the night officer locks them at 10:00 p.m. The Public Works Department needs to inform the Police Department when the Thomson Park shelter is rented. Bill stated that the park restrooms are being prepared to open when the weather gets warmer. When the projects are all completed, there will be restroom facilities at Russell Park, South Pond, Thomson Park, Kiwanis Park, and Ponderosa Park. · SRO contracts There was a brief discussion regarding the SRO contracts. Sam will prepare the agreements like last year's agreements. The agreements are approved on a fiscal year basis. · Bus parking zones Sam and Rick will meet next week to decide on verbiage for the revisions to the ordinance. City Planner · Update on alley vacations (March 2008) There was no diso&ssion. · Annexation of Riverside Park James stated that Stewart Title could not find documentation for the additional eleven acres in Riverside Park. Stewart Title thinks that the discrepancy is due to avulsion, because the river changed its course and is lower than it used to be. The east, west, and south boundaries have been documented. Mary questioned ifa proper legal description is needed. James will check with Stewart Title. James stated that Town & Country is interested in purchasing the St. Alban's property for office space. The land would need to be re-zonad as Central Business District. There was discussion regarding Alder Avenue and setbacks. James explained that carpooling programs promote conservation and provide services to people that need transportation. One site, www.ridesearch, com, provides flee street signs to promote the site and could be added as a link on the city's website. Public Works Department · Update on restrooms at Kiwanis, Ponderosa and Russell Parks · Restroom at Thomson Park These were discussed earlier in the meeting. 4 Department I-Icad Meeting Minutes of April 22, 2008 Bill mentioned the Centennial Cleanup scheduled on May 34 and 4th. Funding and locations for the meals has been provided. There will be information in the newspaper. City Attorney * Interlocal Agreement Sam, Mary, and James met today regarding the interlocal agreement. Yellowstone County wants the city council to review the document prior to sending it to the county. Sam stated that the council should not approve the agreement until it is finalized. Mary stated that both governing bodies need to approve the same document at the same time. Mayor Olson added an update regarding the interlocal agreement to the April 29th council workshop agend~ Mayor Oison · Historic Preservation Board ordinance There was no discussion~ · Cable franchise Sam sent a notice to Cable Montana's attorney stating that Mayor Olson wants to meet with thc owner. · Expectations Mayor Olson stated that the meetings are going well. next two weeks. Scott, Jan, and Rick will meet with him in the · Council tour of WTP and WWTP facilities - April 22~ at 6:00 p.m. The tour will begin at 6:00 p.m. tonight. Other Scott mentioned that Billings Construction Supply told him about a "handshake agreement" to provide port-a-pots for the 4t~ of July events. Scott directed the inquiry to city ball. Scott stated that Cenex received a sabotage threat recently. The FBI contacted Cenex regarding the incident. Mary will attend Clerks Institute fxom May 4* through 9*. The meeting adjoumed at 4:14 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Cindy Allen Council Secretary 5 City of Laurel Alphanumeric Paging Proposal The Fire Department (FD) would compile the information and submit the proposal in grant form to the Department of Homeland Security, through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) in the fall of 2008. Adjoining department heads would need to follow the requests for information as applicable to support the FD in doing this. There is a high success rate for projects that promote the cemralization of communications and coordinations systems, evident through the 2005 AFG grant the Fire Department received for interoperable communications. Alphanumeric paging is a relatively new concept to emergency service dispatching, but it is quickly becoming a permanent solution to dispatching due to a number of inherent contributions. WHAT IS IT? Alphanumeric paging is not all together different from 2-tone paging. The main difference is that 1~ responders receive a text message (not un-like cell phones) that indicates the response information instead of a 2-tone page, followed by the call information. Positive Contributions Lower annual maintenance costs ':* Pagers are lower cost than traditional 2-tone. o:* Infrastructure requirements are lower in cost. -1' Customer programming is simple and user friendly and can be done in house under trained supervision. oi. Pager parts, flash-ware, firmware etc. is readily available as opposed to 2-tone. Dispatching is similar, or easier *~' Dispatching of 1~ responders is easier on dispatchers due to methods of call delivery. *:o Scheduling, call characteristics etc. is pre-regulated to infer time for response and supporting information delivery. Increased audience available · :o Call groups are defined by category as seen fit by department heads. Check boxes are used to include the call group in the page. · :o User selected systems have the availability to page entire users groups at once, normally up to 1,000 users. Example would be for a Motor Vehicle Accident requiring extrication, the FD and the ambulance, and possible law enforcement, could be paged simultaneously with one click while supporting information could be relayed once en-route. Networking °5° Paging networks can be fled together as to obtain multi-jurisdictional/services dispatching. o:o Networking provides greater reception distance for page reception. o:° Mutual aid can be activated and coordinated through one or multiple centers. o1- Center to center coordination can be provided. Purchase pricing °~° Initial start-up costs are minimal compare to new paging networks °~o Purchase price for pagers, programmers, and sot'cware is lower than 2-tone. responder ease. Use of Alphanumeric paging is easy to learn. Types of Alpha Pngers are conducive to better information management. Pagers can be programmed by user preference to accommodate easier management. Alpharfumeric pages are not detectable by customar~ police scanners, Regulation of information °:* Information management is streamlined to support regulated responses · 1' Emergency dispatching is categorized to support quicker emergency response activation, with supporting incident information to follow upon response. o:° Non-emergent information can be paged to individuals or groups, an example being change in meeting times, places, etc. °1' Emergency would have to be categorized in order to provide for the restrictions of the message length within the pagers capability. Multiple message points o1' The dispatch center is the obvious contact point of contact for emergency dispatch. °:° Administrative user accounts could be activated to allow department heads access to creating user groups, call groups, and specific messaging. What would happen to the existing tone systems? Simple answer, the current system would remain in place and available for use as seen fit by the specific department heads. ISO requires the fire department to have at least two means of alerting personnel for fire emergencies. The tone system combined with the alphanumeric system would meet that minimum. The current ~fire phone" system is obsolete and is no longer feasible. In addition, tone alerting would play an important role in the future ifa new fire station were to be constructed, as plectron tones often serve to automatically light interior and exterior lighting of the fire station, door openers, emergency public warning equipment etc. What is the next step? t. The Fire Department needs to know if there is any additional interest outside its own. 2. Iftbere is interest, we need to know a couple of things about what you would need: - How many pagers would you need. - How many paging ports would you need? (Ability to page from a desktop computer) - How many system administrators do you desire? (Someone who can change dept.- call groups) - Estimated number of call groups or individuals. An example would be the FD might need or want 1 group page, and 35 individual pages. 3. You need to be able to commit to the matching funds requkement of the grant, if awarded. The match on this grant would be 10% of the total award, but the final amount would not be known until final estimates and the number of participatin~ departments could be completed sometime in mid-summer. 4. You would need to be available to planning meetings that would be required if the award was made. These are important, as these meetings are where system administrators, system trainers, call groups; expectations and other decisions would be made. There are performance deadlines and reports that follow the grant awards, they are not flexible. Questions? Questions will be forwarded to the fire chief. The fire department will take the lead as to centralize the information flow and prevent duplicative efforts and confusion from commercial radio shops. Suggestions' and comments are always welcome, it is a big project and at times two heads are better than ofie.