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Public Safety Minutes 2002 04-25-02 UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE � PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING THURSDAY,APRIL 25TH,2002 6:30 P.M. �•aS''Od In Attendance: Alderman Larry Kot Alderwoman Rose Spears Chief Harold Martin Mayor Art Prochaska Alderman Mike Anderson Alderman Paul dames Guests: Lieutenant Schwartzkopf Steve Klein(IDOT) Steve Walker Carol Uttech(River's Edge) R.T.Stoucie(S&K Direct) Tom Grant(Rivers Edge) Approval of Minutes from February 28th,2002 The February minutes were approved. Monthly Police Report-March 2002 Alderman Anderson asked Chief Martin when the expected the new vehicles would be in. Chief Martin said they should be in within 3-4 weeks. Chief Martin mentioned that the amount of over-time was down this month.He also said that they are trying to get as much part-time help as they can.It currently puts them at about 127 hours vs.47 1/2. He said the reason why they went over budget on the part-time was because of their lack of full time people. Chief Martin stated that he had received a letter from Dr.Engler advising that they could have an officer in the middle school. Chief Martin said that the officer would be in the school 2 weeks prior to when the school opens in August. This item will go to the Committee of the Whole. Railroad Crossing Repair Rt.47&Hydraulic Avenue Update Steve Kline of IDOT stated that Swanson Railroad Contractors will be performing the track work at the crossing of R1.47 and Hydraulic Avenue. Swanson said they are proposing to close the track on a Friday night,working through the night,and then they would plan to be done with it by Saturday evening.He said the trains would run again on Sunday night so that they can get some type of compaction with the train traffic,then they would come back on Monday and shoot the track rails to make sure they're okay. After that they will install the crossing.The crossing that they are installing is Upton Rail Steel.He said that they would also put down 2 layers of a product called GEO Grid to reinforce the sub base to avoid any solvent issues.Though it is only a temporary fix,Mr.Kline feels that by doing the GEO Grid plus Profile Correction it should last longer than it ever has before.The road itself would be closed from that Friday evening until Tuesday.He said that after they are done with the repairs the Railroad has to maintain from end to tie,etc.,and the Highway Agency maintains the approaches up to end to tie.He said that they anticipate 10- 12 years out of it if it is done properly.Mr.Kline asked the committee when would be a good time to close the railroad for this project.He said that initially Swanson's proposal was to close the road at 6p.m. The committee however felt this was too early and decided that 8:00 p.m.would be better giving the amount of traffic before then. The committee would also send a notice to the area residents of the construction and what that would entail. Alderwoman Rose Spears asked Mr.Kline if rain would delay the project.Mr.Kline said that rain would not delay the railroad work but lightning would. The rain could have some effect on the asphalt,but that would just depend on how much if it did rain. Alderman Larry Kot suggested putting out signs to let the motorists be aware of the construction before they enter the road.Mr. Kline said that they are considering doing an alternate truck route and contacting the big truck companies so they would be aware.He said they would also issue news releases a couple of weeks in advance and also send the news releases to the big trucking businesses.Mr.Kline asked the committee when would be the most convenient time to proceed with this project. The committee decided that it would have to be some 2 time after July 4th, and before school starts.Mr. Kline said he would run this by Swanson and then he would get back to the committee at a later date. Fire&Police Commission Update on Applicants Chief Martin stated that Denise Janecek was sworn in on April 23,2002.He also reported that Officer Rich Hart was appointed to Sergeant the same night.A new person has also accepted a position with the department and his name is Jeff Ackland.He will be starting on May 8th,and be sworn in May 14th,at the City Council.Mr. Ackland is a police officer already, so he will not have to go to PTI(Police Training Institute). Chief Martin said that they are doing background checks and polygraph tests on the other 2 people that they are considering to hire.Neither one has had police training. If all goes well they will be sent to PTT at Champaign Urbana on June 17th. They will be there for the 10 weeks and then after that they will have 10 week of FTO(Field Training Officer Program).Following the FTO period they will be able to work the streets,which will be some time in November. One of the other possible applicants,Kelly Garcia, decided she no longer wants to pursue becoming a police officer and took back her letter of employment. Alderwoman Rose Spears asked Chief Martin how the department's salary is competing with Oswego's. Chief Martin reported that right now,starting after six months,Oswego starts at$40,000.We are at $33,000,putting Yorkville on the low side.He said that Sandwich is going up in salary as well.Alderman Kot asked if that was the result of salary studies. Chief Martin said yes,it seems that all the area departments are doing salary studies because there doesn't seem to be many qualified individuals. Yorkville also requires 2 years college,which makes it somewhat difficult as far as competing with other agencies. He commented that though other towns might have a higher salary,we do not seem to have the revolving door that they do and officers have said they'd rather work here. Alderman Kot said that it makes sense for our city to review the salaries every so often so we do not fall too far behind. Lightning Siren Update Chief Martin reported that all partners involved have signed off a new policy and everyone is pleased with the outcome.There was a training drill yesterday and it went well. The schools attended and also Parks/Recreation.Everyone seems to understand how the drill works.By chance there was a thunderstorm that day and the sirens worked great. Chief Martin also mentioned possibly creating a maintenance contract with ThorGuard to alleviate any possible problems in the future with the sirens. Our responsibly right now is to keep the monitoring unit clean. If there is any other problems with it,we can contact ThorGuard to come out and fix it. It will cost around$450 a year,which is money well spent.The cost does not include replacing parts.The money left over from the Illinois First money for purchasing the system would cover this expense. Chief Martin said he would check out the contract thoroughly to be sure on it. Health Club Membership Update This item will be discussed at a later date as advised by the attorneys. Weather Warning Siren Update Chief Martin reported that the Weather Warning Siren is hooked up and fully operational. There is confirmation that they have been tested and are working perfectly well,which puts it well in advance of tornado season. As far as location of the old siren,Lt. Schwartzkopf has had contact with Mike Hitzemann who said that it belongs to Kendall County. The city will maintain keeping the siren. Chief Martin had spoken with Fulton about costs after the siren is put back up. Alderman Kot asked what were the options of where they would put the siren. Chief Martin said they are looking at the Pump House building or the old Police Department down by the river.Alderman Kot suggested asking Fulton their opinion on where the old siren should be placed.Chief Martin said he would call Fulton tomorrow on the matter. The subject was brought up on new subdivisions and developers covering the costs of putting a siren in their development. Chief Martin suggested talking to Tony Graff about drafting up an ordinance for this subject. This will be brought back to this committee and then brought to COW. 3 _Discussion on Sneed Trailer Chief Martin stated that the Speed Trailer will be ordered tomorrow and delivery will be between 2-4 weeks. Palmer Dam Signs Update Chief Martin stated that he has called DNR a number of times and the guy won't be back until Monday. They did fax a letter stating that the sign shop that they were to have sent the signs to had closed. They would need to out source to have the signs finished. Chief Martin said he would try to reach him again on Monday. Alderman Kot suggested talking to DNR about signing the rest of the process oil;and telling them that the committee would out source the rest of the job. Chief Martin said he would mention it and get it in writing. This item will be brought back the next scheduled meeting on May 23,2002. River's Edge Railroad Crossing Gates Tom Grant(River's Edge)stated that they had to go to the Commerce Commission last year to get the Permit for the crossing gates and signalizing.He said that the Commerce Commission in it's ruling mandated that they put in all the bells and whistles at the crossing gates as well as all the controls flashing lights. The Commerce Commission however did leave it optional as to whether or not to put in crossing gates cross at the sidewalks.Mr. Grant asked if the committee would waive that requirement. Alderman Paul James asked how much it would cost to put the crossings in.Mr. Grant said it would be approximately $125,000.He also said that he had spoken with Attorney Kramer and that he said that there shouldn't be any exposure to the city regarding the matter.Alderman Larry Kot asked Mr.Grant to explain the costs. Mr. Gram said the$125,000 is the cost of 4 gates,two on each side.He said that the gates are part of a new system that is very expensive.He felt that there was no real need for it giving the amount of crossings each day.Alderman Larry Kot expressed that the gates should be there,despite that fact that there are only a few crossing each day. It could change in the future if someone else were to buy it. Alderman Anderson asked Mr.Grant that if it did change who would be responsible for it.Mr.Grant said that the city would have to ul do it. Chief Martin asked how many homes would be on the trackside.Mr. Grant stated that there wo d be 92 on the north and 72 on the south.Alderman Paul James and Alderwoman Rose Spears both felt that with the other warning signals,(whistles,bells, and gates)that new crossing gates would not be needed. The committee decided to bring it to the Committee of the Whole on May 7th. Additional Business Resident Steve Walker asked the committee if there was any progress or if anything had been dec dedpdate about the curve at W.Fox Road. This was in reference to signs,speed table or flashing lights to be possibly put there.Mr.Walker was concerned that the situation needed to be addressed.Chief Martin said that he has not heard back from Smith Engineering that did the studies report for that project. Chief Martin said they were waiting for a more in-depth study from them since the first one was not exactly what they had in mind for it.He said that was almost 2 months ago. He also said he would try to contact Smith Engineering tomorrow and if he would call Mr. Walker to let him know of the progress. Reviewing Liquor Ordinance Alderman Larry Kot voiced a concern with reviewing the Liquor Ordinances and where liquor should be stored in facilities that sell it and to make sure area grocers are in compliance. Lieutenant Schwartzkopf said that he will be meeting with the Security/District manager of Jewel/Osco tomorrow and he would bring the subject up with him. This item will be brought back to the next scheduled meeting on May 23,2002. 4 Chief Martin stated that they will be making their purchases four adios for the new w and Track people and replacing batteries that were approved last meeting. Alderman Larry Kot asked if the TRAK System was in yet. Chief Martin said that they had and it was hooked up but there must be a problem with it. When someone tried to send something to them,they did not receive it. Chief Martin said that Molly would try to contact someone to help us out with it.He at that they haven't received anything in about 3-4 days. Alderman Larry Kot said that he could take a look at it and see if he could figure out what might be wrong. There was no further additional business. Meeting adjourned at 7.50 P.M, Minutes by Theresa Brady Revisions per Committee by Jackie Milschewski