07-13-2016 Workshop Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP JULY 13, 2016 police reports for each complex. He suggested the manufactured home parks could also be included if these meetings were started again. The City Administrator stated that the City provides funds to the sheriff s department specifically for officer overtime to spend at the Montreal Court and Provinces apartment complexes. The City Administrator stated that the City can designate how to split up the time if the Council feels that officers should be positioned at other locations in the city or additional hours may be purchased to expand coverage. The City Administrator asked if a neighborhood meeting should be held in Terrace Heights. Torkelson said it would not hurt, but meetings seem to only get residents interested for a short period of time and then their interest phases off. The City Administrator stated that the meetings usually discover some complaints from the residents and gives them a chance to vent to the City or Sheriff s Department. McGraw questioned what can be done for crime prevention other than putting more officers in a neighborhood. Deputy Sheridan stated there are eight to ten deputies working from 10:00 pm to 2:00 am, and then five officers working from 2:00 am to 6:00 am, but they are roaming through all of the contract cities. The City Administrator stated the Sheriff s Department contract group is only staffing a level of officers for reactive policing, not proactive community policing. Deputy Sheridan stated that their best help is citizens calling in suspicious behavior. The City Administrator stated there had been discussion of using Ramsey County Community Service Officers for park patrol, but there is a concern about the situations that they could end up in since they are not police officers. He stated that businesses can now sign up to participate in SecureNet, and register their cameras with the Sheriff s Department so the investigators know where there are video cameras throughout the county and have permission to access the video taken. Joel stated the City could also increase the patrol coverage hours for Little Canada. Torkelson asked what the cost is to get a full-time deputy designated to Little Canada versus only paying for some overtime hours. The City Administrator asked Deputy Sheridan to do some month long snapshots of what crimes are occurring in what areas for the Council to see. REVIEW 2015 Finance Director Provos stated that the consulting firm, CITY AUDIT CliftonLarsonAllen, had recently completed the City's 2015 audit. She introduced Chris Knopik and Michelle Hoffinan from CliftonLarsonAllen who were part of the team working in Little Canada. Mr. Knopik stated the audit provides a reasonable, but not absolute assurance since they do not look at all of the city's transactions. He noted that some new accounting standards were in place this year. He explained that in doing