Loading...
Public Safety Minutes 2005 11-10-05 Page 1 of 4 APPROVED 3/9/06 PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE YORKVILLE CITY HALL CONFERENCE ROOM Thursday,November 10,2005 Committee Chairman Wanda Ohare called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Present Alderwoman Wanda Ohare,Alderman Dean Wolfer and Police Chief Harold Martin. Visitors Alderman Joe Besco, Sandra Adams, Jeff Lacey, Dave Maaske and Jim Cox. 1. Minutes for Approval/Correction -- Minutes from the Sept. 8, 2005 meetings were approved. 2. PS 2005-009—Gift Basket Liquor License Ohare said there's been a request to the city for a gift basket liquor license. It would allow businesses such as gift shops to put wine into gift baskets for the holidays. Ohare said the class of license needs to be determined, as does an application fee. The fee for packaged beer and wine is $1,000 under the D class license, so it might fall under that category, Wolfer said. Ohare suggested city attorney John Wyeth look at it and determine what would be the appropriate license. The request would go to the Dec. 6 Committee of the Whole meeting. 3. PS 2005-010 Parking Ordinance Ohare said the city's parking ordinance was too broad and the city is looking to separate some of the issues. Two of them are commercial and overnight parking. Chief Martin said the city would need to get a clear definition of commercial vehicles. The current definition of commercial vehicles doesn't fit what the committee is seeking and would be too restrictive. Resident Sandra Adams who attended the meeting to learn more about the parking issue said she doesn't have a problem with trucks and trucks with signs on them parked in driveways. She doesn't want to see big equipment parked on the streets. The proposed ordinance prohibits overnight parking between the hours of 1 to 6 a.m., except on streets that don't have curbs. The ordinance also allows the police department to temporarily allow parking to a resident if the restriction poses a hardship. Wolfer said the city needs to be careful as it drafts the ordinance because it doesn't want to hinder residents who are trying to make a living. He said he likes the idea of people Page 2 of 4 being able to park B and D plated vehicles on the side of the house as long as the parking area is paved or graveled. The proposed ordinance also allows people to opt out of the ordinance if, for instance, there's 100 percent agreement among property owners on a street or block to allow the overnight parking, Ohare said. Ohare said overnight vehicle parking especially of the larger vehicles is a safety issue. She said the matter needs to be addressed or it will get worse. The proposed ordinance will go to the Dec. 6 C.O.W. meeting and the Dec. 13 City Council meeting. 4. PS 2005-011 Skateboard and Motorized Scooters Ohare said this is the first time it has come to the Public Safety meeting, but it's something that really needs to be addressed. Chief Martin said he'd like for the city attorney to draft a proposed ordinance governing the rules of skateboards and motorized scooters and bring it back to the committee. He said he doesn't want either allowed on the city's streets. The issue will be brought back to the committee once a proposed ordinance is drafted. 5. Heartland Circle Construction Traffic Wolfer said the Public Works Committee discussed the issue of construction traffic along Spring Street traveling too fast. City Engineer posed a question to the committee wondering whether the construction traffic restriction on Spring Street should be lifted since a substantial portion of the public infrastructure in Heartland Circle is done. The city has received several requests from residents on Heartland to stop the detour of construction traffic through their streets. On the topic of speed, Chief Martin said his department could put out tubes to determine the rate of speed. He also said that sometimes there's a perception that vehicles are going faster than they actually are. Either way,he said the issue would be addressed. Chief Martin said he would bring back the results of the speed study. Alderman Joe Besco, chairman of the Public Works Committee, said the agreement in the PUD is to reroute traffic through Heartland until the build out of the subdivision is complete. The complete build out is defined as when the housing is complete. The provision was agreed to as a way to protect resident that already lived in the community when the Heartland development was made. He said he's told people from Heartland and residents of Spring Street that the city won't go back on its word. Meanwhile Chief Martin said he'd bring the results of the speed study back to the committee. Page 3 of 4 6. PS 2005-003 Bruell Street Emergency Weather Warning Siren Update Chief Martin said the city is purchasing a refurbished weather siren to put up near Bruell Street. The siren would serve the residents of Heartland Circle and some other areas not already covered. Previously, the city couldn't get power to the area. But now that the lift station is in,the city has the ability, Chief Martin said. Ohare said the ultimate goal is to have warning sirens to cover the whole town. 7. PS 2005-005 Cadet Program Update Chief Martin reported the cadet program is going well. The cadet recently started his second session of classes. So far, he said the cadet is a straight A student, works 20 hours a week for the police department and is doing a great job. An evaluation will be brought to the Public Safety meeting in January. The cadet will be with the department for two years. Wolfer said he'd like to the police department to interview another candidate so that when this one leaves, another cadet could be hired. Ohare agreed saying the police department needs to report that the program is going well so that it can be added to the city's budget. 8. PS 2005-001 Police Reports for September and October 2005 Chief Martin said the department has cut back on the number of miles driven in light of gas price increases. Instead,the offices do a 15-minute walk of their area every hour. It's worked out well,he said. Ohare commented that the officers continue to complete a lot of training hours,which she is glad to see. Chief Martin also said two city officials have completed and passed the NIMS compliance test online. The rest of the city officials also need to take the test. Ohare said she would put a memo in everyone's box. 9. PS 2005-002 Request Approval to use $1,000 in CPAT Funds for Regional Air Support Service Chief Martin said the chief from the Countryside Police Department has put together a regional air support program. A helicopter was donated to the program, but it doesn't have any federal funding. The Countryside chief is asking as many communities as possible to support the program through a$1,000 one-time donation. The Public Safety Committee would need to approve the donation to come out of CPAT funds. Ohare said it's a very good service. The city never knows when a helicopter might need to be called in. However, she said she needs more information. The matter will come back to the committee at the Dec. 8 meeting. 10. Grande Reserve Weather Warning Siren Update Page 4 of 4 Chief Martins said the developers of Grande Reserve are in the process of installing the warning siren as per the agreement with the city. 11. PS 2005-06 Business Registration Ohare said there's nothing in the packet on the issue. Chief Martin said the city attorney still needs to finish the ordinance. The matter will be brought to the Dec. 8 meeting. 12. False Alarm Ordinance Chief Martin said the ordinance is in place and the department hasn't received any negative feedback. He added the city attorney is working on a form letter to mail to repeat offenders. 13. 2005-008 Liquor License Application Chief Martin said the city attorney just finished the new application form. He said it's more condensed and has the additional information Ohare requested. Ohare said she had a chance to look at it and thought it looked good. Chief Martin said he needs the Public Safety Committee's approval. Ohare said she'd ask Wyeth if a consensus vote would be okay. She could then call all of the members who weren't at the meeting to get their votes. 14. Additional Business Chief Martin said the Public Works Administrator Eric Dhuse hasn't devised a way to cover the air conditioning units to help damage in case of a chemical attack. Dhuse is concerned any type of covering generating heat and hampering the circulation of air. The meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m. Submitted by Dina Gipe