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Public Safety Minutes 2004 02-26-04 Page 1 of 7 UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE APPROVED PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING WITH REVISIONS THURSDAY,FEBRUARY 26,2004 7/22/04 6:30 P.M. In Attendance: Alderman Larry Kot Alderwoman Valerie Burd Alderwoman Wanda Ohare Alderwoman Rose Spears Police Chief Harold Martin Guests: Officer Dan Pleckham Approval Correction of Minutes: December 17,2003 These minutes were approved with corrections. Update on Parking Concerns Chief Martin stated that there was a bus parked at Heartland Subdivision that was causing some concern. He said that with the City's current Parking Ordinance,that the bus is parked legally. There have been a few complaints from residents about the bus. He said that he did receive a memo from Attorney Kelly Kramer about the situation. They looked over Parking Ordinances from Batavia, Geneva, and Naperville. In Batavia and Geneva's ordinances they specifically restrict commercial vehicles. Geneva's ordinance says that any vehicle that exceeds 8,000 lbs. can park for a period of only 2 hrs. Batavia prohibits any commercial trucks/vehicles over 4,000 lbs,and they also can park no longer than 2 hrs. They also prohibit the trucks from parking on narrow streets. That would be any street that is 24 feet wide or less. He said that if the Public Safety Committee wants to do something about these types of vehicles parking on the City streets then they will have to make an amendment to the City of Yorkville's current Parking Ordinance. He suggested if they do then it should be similar to Geneva or Batavia's and residents should be made aware of the new amendment because it could cause a burden to those who bring a bus home at night. Alderman Kot said that since there are different situations then they should consider categorizing them. This would prevent penalizing anyone that isn't causing a parking problem with their truck. Chief Martin brought up the parking situation on Somonauk Street of vehicles parking on both sides of the street. This problem has been brought up in the past and they have tried to come up with a solution. This may result in no parking on one side of the street. Page 2 of 7 Alderman Kot thought the greater issue with the parking on Somonauk is the problems it causes around Route 47. He expressed his concern for those who park their cars further away from Route 47,in that they should not be penalized for it. Chief Martin said that they do need to think about what kind of effect that growth will have. He felt that as the town gets larger there may be more commercial vehicles because for some people that is their work vehicle. Though it would be nice to do it for specific areas, it could end up that there are several areas that would eventually subject to the new policy for parking. He also would not like to see every one who parks in the streets penalized for this but felt there are no easy answers here. Alderman Kot asked if there are other ways to solve this problem He asked if it causes any public safety issues or noise issues. Chief Martin said that there isn't anything in the books about the noise issue. He said that as the City grows parking will become more of an issue. He said that because of what a hindrance these commercial vehicles have caused in the past that he would like to see no parking in the streets at all. He said that in order to get an ordinance for this they would need to receive complaints from residents. This would also cause complaints from the vehicle owners. Either way someone is not going to be happy. Alderman Kot suggested for the Police Department to put together what they think would solve this problem based upon the ordinances of other towns. He felt that that would give them a starting point for discussion at the next Public Safety meeting. This item will come back to the next Public Safety meeting on March 25, 2004. Update on Rt.#126 Traffic Control lights Chief Martin stated that he spoke to Sergeant Ron Diederich about the traffic issues on Route 126. Sgt. Deidrich said that he spoke with Claita Law from IDOT and that the intersection is under consideration for a stop light now. He said he asked her when would they be looking at installing the lights and she stated that once she receives word on that intersection she would get back to him with any information. Alderman Kot said that if they haven't heard back within 6 months, then they should consider doing another traffic count and contact IDOT again on the problem No action taken on this item at this time. Update on DARE Alderman Kot mentioned that the State is no longer funding the DARE Program and asked Chief Martin if the Police Department intends to continue the program in Yorkville schools. Chief Martin said that as of now the Yorkville Police Department does more DARE Programs than the average police department. They do programs for 3'd, 5*, and 7* Page 3 of 7 graders. He said that it is a very positive program and that the interaction with the police department alone is a plus. Officer Barry Groesch is the demonstrator of most of the DARE classes and has been involved with it for 12 years. Chief Martin said that they have received only positive responses from the classes. He said that he would like to keep the program going though it may cost the City more money down the road to do any more training for future officers. He said that as of now they would need to go to Indiana for training since the Illinois State Police does not fund it any more. He said that they have also changed the curriculum in that they have cut back on classes and focus the training more on what is happening today. The program now has gone from 17 weeks to 10 weeks of training. To do this program now with the funding being cut it will cost the City around$3,500 a year. Plus with the town growing and more students entering the schools it will cost more to pay for the extra books and certificates. He would like to see the program continue if possible. Alderman Kot asked if the program had been factored into the new budget. Chief Martin said that they are waiting to hear back to see if it could be but he also put a little more money in the budget to cover the program for this next year after that they will probably have to have a separate account for it. Alderwoman Spears said that she felt it was worth the money if it meant that they would be able to save at least one kid. Alderman Kot agreed and suggested that the Police Department should issue a press release indicating to the public the Police Department's desire to continue with the DARE Program. Alderwoman Spears asked if there had been a survey done with the kids who had participated with the program. Chief Martin said that Officer Groesch did do a survey and that he would get that from him. Alderwoman Spears thought that would also be a good thing to have documented and released to the public. Chief Martin will bring an update to the next Public Safety Meeting on March 25, 2004. Update on Van Emmon St. &Heustis St.Stop Sims Alderman Kot stated that Public Works Director Eric Dhuse would like to paint a red stop notice on the road leading up to the stop sign located at Van Emmon St. &Heustis St. He said that because of the location of the stop sign and the width of the street some people are confused where to actually stop.Alderman Kot asked Chief Martin if that would help with the problem Chief Martin said that it is possible that it would help. He also mentioned that Mr. Dhuse has painted red lines on the poles and that seems to also help. Page 4 of 7 Alderman Kot felt that it was worth trying. He said that if this does not appear to be effective then they could put a light out there. There will be an update on this item at a later date when the project is completed and observed. Update on Ponds and Pools Chief Martin said that the memo regarding this item will be put into the next few newsletters and they will wait to see what kind of response they receive. Revised Sampling Ordinance Alderwoman Ohare felt that the number of days in one year should be specified on page 3 in the Special Event, section l;b. She felt that it wasn't descriptive enough. Chief Martin pointed out that any language that pertains to a special event still has to be approved by Mayor Prochaska. Alderman Kot felt that a change needed to be made to Section 3-3-4(B; f). He thought that they should take out the word ounce and keep only the words one-half ounce or less, as they had previously agreed upon. The committee agreed. He thought that the Liquor Commissioner should also review these changes. This item will to COW March 16, 2004. KenCom DisoatchinQ Services Alderman Kot reported that at the last KenCom executive board meeting that he was approached by Nancy Martin who also talked to Mayor Prochaska. They are asking all the communities that are being serviced by KenCom to consider beginning chipping in on some of the expenses. He thought that the figure was between$15,000 and$20,000 a year. He told Ms. Martin that he would bring it before this council. He did have a concern that if it's going to happen that everyone is going to need to contribute. It can't just be the City of Yorkville contributing. The representative of Plano went on record and said that they do not have the money to do it. Alderman Kot felt he couldn't see how to justify asking the taxpayers of Yorkville to pay for something another town is getting the same service for and not paying for it. He said that they have a meeting in April and that he would talk to Ms. Martin about his concerns. Alderwoman Ohare thought that it might be fair to ask for a certain percentage per community as some are much larger than others. Alderman Kot did not agree and felt that the contributions should all be equal because every community would have its own dispatcher and it is a great expense. Chief Martin said that they usually go by the percentage of calls received but as far as Yorkville is concerned KenCom might be looking at a stipend type of payment per year and not based on the number of calls. Page 5 of 7 Alderman Kot said that they would need to speak with the County's Operation Budget to get numbers. After that they can bring the numbers forward. He said he would like to be fair with everybody. To set up our own dispatcher would cost a whole lot more money. No action taken on this item at this time. Kendall County Major Crime Task Farce Chief Martin stated that he and Dwight Baird went to Sheriff Randall and Plano Chief Eaves to present them with the idea of having a County-wide Major Crime Task Force. The main premise behind it is so that when they have a major crime it would be helpful to call in a group of qualified and certified individuals from different areas of the county to come and assist the Police Departments with these types of crimes. He said that some of the surrounding towns already have these task forces. They are used very sparingly but it is helpful when something goes bad lice a murder or bank robbery,where there is not enough man power to deal with the situation. It is especially crucial to have these types of task forces when time is of the essence to get the crime resolved. It also makes so the other officers are able to carry on with their day to day jobs with out taking time and attention away from that.He would like to see the qualified people get certified for these types of task forces so that they can be properly trained and ready for the situations when they come up. When these situations would come up then the qualified task force members from the surrounding communities could assist us and there would be an agreement for the service to be reciprocated when the other communities need assistance from us also. He said that as the town grows there would be more of a need for these task forces. He said that they are still working out all of the details but that within a month they should have a working agreement. At that time he would request that the committee go forth with the plans then take it to the City Council for approval. This item will come back to the next Public Safety meeting on March 25, 2004. Request for Second K-9 for Department Chief Marin stated that they officially got the request from Officer Andy Jeleniewski for a second K-9. The dog was given to Officer Jelenkwski from South Holland but had originally come from a Cook County Corrections office. He would like to bring the dog to Yorkville. The dog is almost 6 years old and could work until he is any where from 9 to 10 years old After that time the dogs are usually retired. There would be no charge to change the squad car to accommodate the dog's safety harness and cage unit. Officer Jeleniewski and Officer Dan Pleckham are working on a fund raiser for donations for the expenses for the dog.They have already worked out possible deals with area veterinarians. The officers are also working on donations for dog food. He said that they really wouldn't need much in the way of donations because of deals worked out with the veterinarians but there would be some things that they would charge for. The only other thing would be a stipend that would go to Officer Jeleniewski for taking care of the dog. By law the City is required to give the officer a stipend to cover the costs of maintaining the dog. Currently Officer Pleckham gets$3,000 a year for maintaining care for Jumbo. Chief Martin felt it would not only be beneficial to have another dog in the Police Page 6 of 7 Department but also for the City of Yorkville. Jumbo has been a great dog to have and is great with kids. Sammy the new dog is of the same in that respect. He works well with people. He has participated in a number of block parties and school demonstrations. It is great for the community and police department. The dog would be available on off shifts with the officer working different shifts. This would be for the cost of a squad car and the stipend of$3,000 a year. The dog,a German Shepherd, is used for Friendly Tracking. The committee gave approval to move ahead with this item. This item will go to COW on March 2, 2004. Program idea for officers to meet with Business Owners and Citizens Officer Pleckham of the Yorkville Police Department explained to the committee that this summer he would like to see some officers meet with the public and business owners so that they can become more familiarized with the public and vice versa. He said that the department would choose an officer and advertise in the news paper a profile on the officer/new officer,his specialties and hobbies and which business the officer would be visiting. This would allow the public the opportunity to get to meet officers and ask questions and get to know the business owners as well. He said that he has already spoken with Bill Walsh of Pro Golf in Yorkville and a Union Bank representative and they are enthusiastically willing to have an officer there. Alderwoman Wanda Ohare asked if the officers are okay with the idea. Officer Pleckham said that he has already spoken with the other officers and 3 have said they would be willing to participate. He said that it wouldn't cost any over time because everyone is working on their regular shift. The meetings at the businesses would only be for 45 minutes as long as there are enough officers out on the streets. Alderman Kot had some concerns with emergencies that might come up that could hinder the officer from showing up at the business. Officer Pleckham said that he was looking at having the visits on a monthly basis and the visits to be on a Saturday morning between 9:00 am. and 10:00 a.m. Times could be alternated if needed to suit the officers schedules. He said that there is usually not as much traffic or activity going on at that time on a Saturday morning. He felt that if the officers did have to leave the meeting in the case of an emergency people would generally understand. Alderman Kot suggested for Officer Pleckham to set up a tentative schedule of the visits, themes and officers and bring back to the Public Safety Committee for review. He felt that they would need to be careful how they publicize the officers; for instance no personal information should be given out.He would also like to make sure that the meetings would not interfere with the Mayor's schedule. He thought it was a good idea and a way for interaction between the public and officers to meet one another. Page 7 of 7 Officer Pleckham said he would get the schedule together and bring it back to the next meeting. This item will come back to the next Public Safety meeting on March 25, 2004. Police Reports—January 2004 Chief Martin stated that the number of seatbelt citations went up in December because of the new click-it or ticket program. He said that winter is usually the slowest time of the year for giving out citations and warnings. He said that the officers are working hard at their job. Officer Jon Helland is directing a couple of different programs at the high school dealing with seatbelt issues. Officer Barry Groesch is also involved with it. There are also officers involved with the car seat program for installing child restraint seats. They get these important safety issues out to the public by means of news letters and neighborhood watch meetings. He said they have worked with Wal-Mart to help with donations for the child restraint seats. This allows for a new car seat to be donated to those citizens who cannot afford to purchase one for their child. This item will go on the Consent Agenda at the next COW on March 2, 2004. ADDITIONAL BUSINESS: Chief Martin mentioned that Officer Helland will be attending the School Resource Officers School(SRO)classes in April in Phoenix, Arizona. He said that they do have money already budgeted for expenses. He said that the school only contributes to registration fees. Chief Martin will send a memo to committee members when he receives information of the total expenses. There was no extra additional business. Meeting adjourned: 8:20 P.M. Minutes by Theresa Brady