Public Safety Minutes 2005 01-13-05 Pagel of 5
APPROVED WITH REVISIONS
2/10/05
UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE
PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING
Thursday,January 13,2005
6:30 PM
City Conference Room
Committee Members Present:
Chairman Alderman Kot(arrived 7:10 pm)
Alderwoman Spears
Alderwoman Ohare
Alderman James
City Staff Present:
Mayor Prochaska(arrived 6:35pm, out 7:15pm)
Police Chief Harold Martin
The meeting was called to order at 6:30 pm by Alderwoman Ohare.
1. Approval/Correction of Minutes: November 15,2004 and December 9,2004:
Both meeting's minutes were found to need grammatical changes by Alderman Kot,
Alderwoman Spears, and Alderwoman Ohare. This minute taker will have the
necessary corrections and return for the Council to move on as approved with
corrections.
2. Police Reports—December 2004: Chief Martin stated that looking at the over time
report,the department is doing well with the full time officers keeping the over time
under 50 hours for the last 4 pay periods. They will try to keep it in that area for full
time. The part time officers are putting in over time more often due to training and to
keep over time pay down. The officers are still doing well working 12 hour shifts, the
only complaint the Chief has had is the Officers have too much time off. Chief
Martin stated that the Officers working 12 hour shifts will remain permanent unless
they start receiving a lot of complaints from the Officers.
Chief Martin went on to state that nothing big stands out in the reports. He did point
out that there were 11 DUI's and 13 burglaries(mostly car burglaries) in December.
He went on to state that in 2004 they had 2260 reports made and in 2003 there were
only 1600 reports made. This made a 600 report increase in the last year. Chief
Martin also stated that the administrative man-hours are up due to training. He
explained the lock out procedure is to have the public sign off for any damage caused
to a vehicle when a citizen requests the department to get into a vehicle. Lastly the
department is averaging 20,000-21,000 miles driven a month with the vehicles.
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5. Request to Purchase a Detective Vehicle: Chief Martin stated that if the
Department could purchase a vehicle currently on the lot,they could buy it for
$16,598.00 and they have been budgeted for$18,000.00. The extra money they were
budgeted for will go for outfitting the car with radio and lights. Alderwoman Spears
asked what engine is in package#3 on the information provided for the committee.
Chief Martin stated#3 has a Fuel injected 4 cylinder engine. He feels this engine will
be good, considering this will be a detective car. The Committee agreed being this
has been passed in the revised budget,this will move on to COW for discussion.
6. Speed Trailer and Speed Monitor Sign Costs: Chief Martin stated that this was
looked into at the request of the Mayor. Sgt. Ron Diederich has completed this
research and found that a trailer like the one the Department currently has will run
$17,355.00. This amount is$4,000-$5,000.00 less than the first trailer purchased due
to the Department already having bought the accounting and software with the first
trailer. Chief Martin went on to state that this type of trailer is used constantly
throughout the year, except during the harsh winter months when it is pulled due to
weather. This also gives the Department a time to clean it up for the start in the New
Year. He feels this gives the public an awareness of their driving habits. Chief
Martin stated this would be a beneficial purchase if funds are found to be left over
with this fiscal budget year. The speed sign itself that is permanent, would run about
$7,600.00 and Mayor Prochaska feels this would be good to have in the future in an
area that it is deeply needed to control speed where there are safety issues. Chief
Martin stated this price should be good for approximately 6-8 months and usually the
increase would go up 3-4%if it does increase. The Committee asked that this be put
on the Public Safety Committee's wish list if funds are left over this fiscal year.
7. Tuition Reimbursement and Request for Approval of Employees' Course of
Study for 2005/2006 per Employee Manual: Chief Martin stated the Officers are
getting ready to sign up for classes and per the employee manual the Committee is to
approve the courses they want to take. He stated that himself, Lt. Donald
Schwartzkopf, Sgt. Ronald Diederich, Sgt. Richard Hart and Officer David Delaney
have already been in the class or degree for the past two years and have already been
approved by Committee. Officer's Barry Groesch, Daniel Pleckham and Andrew
Jeleniewski do need approval for the degrees they wish to study. Officer Andrew
Jeleniewski does need to wait until he is finished with the probation period, but these
are the only Officers that are looking to pursue a degree at this time. He went on to
state that the majority of the Officers that are employed by the department already
have a Bachelor's degree now.
Alderwoman Spears questioned why the Officers were choosing General Studies or
Business Management Degrees over Criminal Justice. Chief Martin explained the
importance of Business Management Degrees in the Department and how it is
beneficial. He also stated that the reasoning behind Officer Barry Groesch taking
General Studies is that he is working with the schools. Any Officer would not be able
allowed to take general studies, only if working with students through the school
system where it would be appropriate and beneficial. Alderwoman Spears requested
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that Chief Martin bring her more back up with the Officer doing General Studies. He
will have Officer Barry Groesch get information on what the classes he will be taking
and make an outline for Alderwoman Spears to use when she receives questions from
the public on why this is allowed.
Lastly Chief Martin stated that the study requirements for Sgt.'s and Lt.'s are in the
process of being changed to having mandatory degree requirements before
promotions occur. The department is looking to keep career development in the
department, but the choice of study for any Officer is not guaranteed by the
Committee. This will go onto COW for discussion.
8. Purchase of Fatal Vision Goggles for Training in the High School: Chief Martin
stated that these were purchased by the $436.00 of drug find money to use in the
school. These are put on individuals to show the kids what it is like to be intoxicated
and prove they could not function under the influence of alcohol. The Committee
agreed this was a good public safety item to have for the High School students.
9. Request to Purchase a Digital Video Recording System for our Squad Cars:
Chief Martin stated this did come back from COW with the request to look into a
price difference if the City were to purchase more at once. Chief Martin stated there
is no price difference. Chief Martin went back over the cost with the Committee. As
previously stated the initial cost of$11,415.00 will be for the first vehicle to have this
installed and all cars after will be approximately$5,000.00 less from there on. He
stated that there are funds in the capital account for outfitting the squads and he also
has funds in the computer general fund.
Chief Martin and the Committee updated Alderman James with the benefits of
updating the cars with the DVD systems. Initially the department will replace as
needed when the VHS systems fail, so they will not be getting rid of any items that
are working good. It was suggested to put the$6,000.00 cost of the DVD system into
budgeting with the cost of purchasing new squad cars as well.
This will go onto COW for further discussion.
10. Provena Medical Center—Safety Requests: Chief Martin stated this item is
informational only, but Sgt. Ron Diederich has found some safety concerns in the
plans for the new Provena Medical Center.
• The first thing he requested is to have the drop off point be moved away
from the building or possibly be removed. He stated it appeared too close
to the building and affords an excellent area for possible nefarious activity.
• The second this he stated is that the main entrance on the west elevation is
14 feet six inches in width; he points out that this is enough room to drive
on, are they going to provide some obstacles similar to that of their Mercy
Center building?
The Committee found this to be great that Sgt. Diederich was looking into this matter.
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11.Liquor Ordinance Update: Chief Martin stated that Attorney John Wyeth is
working on this and as soon as he gets the information from Kelly Kramer he will
come forward. Mayor Prochaska added that this does need to move on quickly with
having an upscale Restaurant wanting to come into the Community.
Mayor Prochaska stated that there are some caterers in town and they are being asked
if they, as caterers, could bring in packaged alcohol. At this time there is no town
ordinance allowing this to happen. Mayor Prochaska stated that there is also no
policy governing banquet halls that are not part of a regular restaurant. The Mayor
has asked that this be looked into to see what type of policies could be created for
these two issues.
This will come back to a future Public Safety Meeting with more information. The
Committee agrees this is needed to be created and finished before it is needed.
12.Business Registration Update/Alarm Response Update: & 13. Police Cadet
Update: Chief Martin stated that these two items are still being worked on: #13 by
Officer John Helland. They will come to a future meeting when completed.
14.Dictaphone Purchase: Chief Martin stated the funds are available in the revised
budget and had given$20,000.00 to purchase it in the budget. Molly Batterson found
out that the price went up to $22,000.00 due to the delay. Chief Martin added that
with continued talking to the company the end price will be below$20,000.00. This
item has already been approved. This will go onto COW with the paperwork on what
the department is purchasing.
15.Budget Requests for 2005/2006: Chief Martin stated that Tony Graff has requested
that all Committees have this on their agenda's to have a list made to see what the
Committee members would like to see done. This Committee asked if the Human
Resource Commission needs$1,000.00 for mailings on historical street names, etc. as
a line item in the budget. The Committee added that Chief Martin also add in
anything from his wish list as far as equipment needed. The Committee talked about
the cost of the New World computer system for the department to let them have
instant access to any reports needed to local departments. The Committee also
discussed adding a line item to start saving funds for new land and building money
when the department has to expand and move. Chief Martin will talk to Tony Graff
to see how he should appropriately save for this situation.
3. Contacting IDOT—Railroad Crossing Gates @ Rt.47 and Hydraulic Avenue:
Alderman Kot stated that years ago the City approached IDOT regarding gates being
put in place on Rt. 47 to block the railroad. At that time it was found not to be
necessary due to the few trains going through the area daily. Alderman Kot is
questioning if this needs to be looked into again with the increase of traffic in the
area. He is also wondering if the crossing gates were put in,would they increase the
speed of the trains going through town. Mayor Prochaska added that he remembered
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that there was an issue with the road configuration there that would cause an issue
with clearance space. The Committee agreed this should be looked into again now.
4. Warning Signs for Retention/Detention Ponds in New Areas: Alderman Kot
questioned that with the new subdivisions popping up all over, is the proper signage
being posted regarding danger of these ponds? The Committee agreed to check with
Bill Dettmer to see if any posting is being done. It was also discussed who would be
liable with these signs going up. The Committee agreed that the City Attorney should
be questioned to who would be liable and any other legal issues that may go along
with this.
16.Additional Business:
• Alderwoman Spears asked Alderman Kot if he had anything for this
Committee to continue looking into since he will not be on the City
Council anymore. Alderman Kot responded that he feels that this
Committee is overall on top of things as far as safety issues in the City,
just keep cleaning up these old items on the agenda.
• Alderwoman Spears brought up the lights at Countryside that are not lit
and the theater sign is falling down. Chief Martin stated that Bill Dettmer
is working on this issue now and will have the falling sign removed.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:35 p.m.
Minutes by: Sheila Teausaw
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