HomeMy WebLinkAbout1 - Public Safety Committee Minutes 1-24-13 (Autosaved)LAKE ELMO PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MINUTES
JANUARY 24, 2014
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CITY OF LAKE ELMO PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MINUTES JANUARY 24, 2014 I. Mayor Pearson called the meeting to order at 3:04 P.M. PRESENT: Mayor Pearson, Council Member Nelson, Fire Chief Malmquist, Al Bever and Dave Moore.
Also Present: City Administrator Zuleger, Clerk/Assistant Administrator Bell II. The minutes from the November 27, 2013 Public Safety Committee Meeting were approved by consensus of the committee. III. 2014 Humane Society Agreement - Clerk Bell presented the new contract proposal for the Animal Humane Society in Woodbury which includes a new provision that prohibits the drop off of feral cats at the facility. Zuleger noted that Animal Humane Society had previously notified that the shelter would not take stray dogs if a commitment was not made to retrieve cats as well – an ultimatum that eventually led to the hiring of Brittany Foley as an Animal Control Officer. Mayor Pearson suggested that staff talk with the Humane Society as to a strategy on feral cats. Moore / Bever noted that if possible they did not want the cats released back into the community. Bell and Zuleger will meet with the Humane Society / Brittany Foley to come up with a solution and report back to the Committee in February. IV. Current Liquor License – Clerk Bell presented the Committee with a current list of approved liquor licenses for 2014. There are currently (4) Off Sale Permits and (5) On Sale Permits. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office has reviewed all of the permits and all licensees are in good standing. Zuleger noted that in 2014 the Public Safety Committee will be reviewing the applicants as a standard function of the Public Safety Committee. The Mayor asked for clarification on how many liquor licenses are left V. Fire Department Update / Chief Malmquist A. Truck Committee – The Ad Hoc Truck Committee is finalizing the specs for the truck. A “preliminary spec” has been sent to Rosenbauer for review. It is expected that Rosenbauer will return their comments in two weeks and the Ad Hoc Truck Committee will then develop a final recommendation before the next Public Safety Committee meeting. The chief noted that he was impressed by the Committee’s work. B. 2014 Pre-Plans & Inspections Plan of Work – Chief Malmquist summarized a recent inspection he / Captain Cornell completed upon request at an I-94 commercial facility about a portable heater. Malmquist noted that the inspection took about 7 man hours as there were several items of enforcement. Mayor Pearson asked how inspections / pre-plans will be carried out going forward. Malmquist noted that he and Captain Cornell had recently finished some training and that the Committee could expect that 2-4 inspections could be completed per week. Malmquist noted that he has software provided by the State Fire Marshal and that data entry would be the time consumer in the process. He noted that the software was tied to the state fire code and provides a checklist for inspection use. Councilmember Nelson asked if the City clerical staff could help with the process. Administrator Zuleger noted that he would try to find some staff availability for the clerical support.
LAKE ELMO PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MINUTES
JANUARY 24, 2014
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Mayor Pearson noted that pre-planning was a priority in the 2013 Internal Survey and should be a priority when the FD is not responding to emergencies. Nelson noted that he thought that inspections should be done at least once a year and he shared his experience from New Richmond, WI. Chief Malmquist noted that higher hazard buildings may require more than 1X per year inspections. His modus would be to construct the pre-plan while he was conducting the inspection, with enforcement occurring only in life safety risks. Administrator Zuleger noted that he felt that inspections should take place with zoning or use changes as well. Malmquist concurred and noted that he works closely with the City’s Building Inspector. The Mayor reiterated that because of the life safety issues involved (in re: fire fighter safety) that he wanted the Chief (personally) to make this his #1 priority in 2014. Nelson noted that he wants the program to be consistent and be business friendly – that is collaborating with businesses to make corrections. Nelson asked the Chief how long it would take to get the first round of inspections completed – hoping that we wiuld have completed 60 inspections by June. Chief Malmquist noted that all inspections should be complete by August 31st of this year. The Mayor once again reiterated that this is the #1 priority of the fire department / fire chief for 2014 and will be disappointed if pre-plans are not in place and inspections completed. C. Paid on Call Recruitment – The Administrator offered a five-part recruitment strategy jointly developed by the Chief, Taxpayer Relations Coordinator MacLeod and himself. (See attached). The Mayor noted that he would like to see a more concerted effort with the schools as he had been discussed before with apparently no action to date. Zuleger noted that he was working with the Stillwater School District on variety of issues and this is one of them. It would be the hope of staff that a recruitment opportunity be allowed in both vocational ed and health classes. The Committee explored the option of having City staff and employees from local business cross trained to act as first responders during the hard to cover daytime hours. Nelson noted that it was important for the Chief to be specific and show the benefits to local businesses in letting their employees serve the community. Al Bever was asked to look at the Art Center for its potential as living quarters for firefighters who may be interested in serving in a firefighter training residency program. The Chief noted that he had the opportunity to speak to Rotary and they had a few good ideas on recruitment that he was looking into. Nelson and Bevers expressed a strong desire to have a consistent, deliberate recruiting program put in place. D. Collaboration / Shared Services – The Chief outlined several instances where he has reached out to other Departments. The LEFD is currently working with the Valley District on a standardized water supply protocol that is going very well. The LEFD is also training as tenders with the Washington County Fire Department Water Rescue Team. The Chief noted he continues to explore opportunities to partner with other communities on the purchase of SCBAS that need replacement per NFPA code. Currently, Departments have not been able to concur on SCBA specs but most brands provide the same capabilities. The Chief noted that they will try to train with Bayport on a quarterly basis and utilize the new training center in concert with Century College. He has reached out to the Bayport Chief on the possibility of shared services and a possible fire district. The Bayport Chief stated that he was not interested. The Mayor noted he has also reached out to Oak Park Heights, West Lakeland and Bayport to gauge their level of interest. He noted that in light of the fact that Bayport is building a new station that there may be some economy of scale and efficiencies that could result with collaboration. Discussion was had regarding Bayports request that Lake Elmo explicitly service parts of West Lakeland. It was agreed that further collaboration efforts will be coordinated by the Mayor and the Administrator with the Chief in a support role. Nelson inquired whether the county and Commissioner Kriesel could help facilitate these potential discussions.
LAKE ELMO PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MINUTES
JANUARY 24, 2014
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E. Departmental Restructuring – The Chief noted that due to personnel changes he has implemented changes to the organizational structure of the department. The position of District Chief has been eliminated and a position of Deputy Chief was created. There will now be two Captains and two lieutenants at each District. The Chief will absorb the additional duties that were handled by the District Chiefs. Job descriptions are being written for the new structure that are being reviewed by the Officer Corps for continuity. New Business V. a. Code Enforcement Update – Administrator Zuleger handed out the 2012-13 Code Enforcement Progress Report detailing 41 nuisance issues in the community (see attached). The Building Inspector has achieved a 90% closure rate on nuisance issues with resolution of 9447 Stillwater Blvd. as the biggest success. The Committee applauded the efforts of staff and was pleased with overall compliance of properties has been greatly improved and the amount of nuisance properties have been minimized. b. Meeting w/ Washington County Sheriff on Growth – Mr. Zuleger suggested that at some point soon we should get together with the Sheriff in order to prepare them for the future growth of the city. Discussions were had about a potential timetable. c. The Public Safety Committee, by acclamation, endorsed Cullen Case Jr. as a new member of the Public Safety Committee. Mayor Pearson adjourned the meeting at 5:05 PM.
_______________________________________ Mike Pearson, Mayor