11-07-2016 Council Work Session Minutes

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CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL WORK SESSION November 7, 2016 APPROVED 1 CITY OF LINO LAKES 2 MINUTES 3 4 DATE November 7, 2016 5 TIME STARTED 6*00 p.m. 6 TIME ENDED 8*50 p.m. 7 MEMBERS PRESENT Council Member Rafferty, Kusterman, 8 Maher, Manthey and Mayor Reinert 9 MEMBERS ABSENT None 10 11 Staff members present: City Administrator Jeff Karlson; Public Safety Director Swenson; 12 Community Development Director Grochala; City Engineer Diane Hankee; Finance 13 Director Sarah Cotton; City Planner Katie Larsen. 15 1. DEA Task Force Officer -Public Safety Director Swenson reviewed the staff 16 report that recaps information relating to the city's participation in the DEA Task Force, 17 including size of the task force, represented cities, and impact on the local community. 18 Council Member Kusterman asked if the assigned officer has any regular duties with the 19 Lino Lakes Police Department and Director Swenson explained that the officer's work 20 does augment the work of the department but his specific duties are exclusively tied to the 21 work of the task force; his wages and benefits are paid by the task force. 22 23 The council discussed the ability of another community to send an officer to the task 24 force; Director Swenson said that's certainly possible but he noted that the City won't see 25 the same benefits if another community's officer is assigned. For instance, in one case 26 the involvement and tools of the task force brought a local matter to a federal prosecution 27 level. 28 29 Council Member Manthey asked about the impact on the department's narcotics work 30 and Director Swenson explained how the city would have to take on the work. The task 31 force has also produced forfeiture funds that assist the department in law enforcement; the 32 Chief feels the department is solid but the participation in the task force has benefited 33 from that collaboration. Council Member Manthey expressed concern about the loss of 34 the benefits to the city. Council Member Kusterman remarked that he would have 35 expected that drug arrests in the city would go up with task force participation rather than 36 down and Director Swenson explained that the numbers go down because the cases 37 actually become federal matters and don't show in the state statistics that the city uses. 38 39 It was clarified that, should the city end the provision of an officer to the task force, the 40 city would not lose outstanding forfeited funds that are pending in the court system. 41 42 Mayor Reinert noted that the city has participated with the task force efforts by providing 43 an officer for five years and he believes it's time for another community to step forward. 44 It is a budget matter that will be considered at the next budget work session. 45 1