City Council Minutes 2014 10 14 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes October 14, 2014 Page 8 of 23 Council member Loo addressed the Open Space/ Park Ranger position and that the positions should be looked at in the future. She noted there are more people and more conflicts in the open space areas. POLICE DEPARTMENT Mayor Muckle supported a $20,000 matching fund contribution for the Helburg Memorial Fund and $10,000 in seed money for 2015. Mayor Pro Tem Dalton agreed with Mayor Muckle on the $10,000 seed money for the Helburg Memorial Park and a $20,000 matching grant when the Helburg Committee has $20,000 in matching fundd. He stated his understanding the Helburg Committee was to apply for grants. He encouraged the committee to apply for grants. Council member Keany stated his desire for the Helburg Committee to be a City sponsored committee and not an Ad Hoc Committee. Mayor Muckle supported a city sponsored committee. Council member Lipton generally agreed, but felt this project could be pushed to the middle of the year. The City could do some funding and a ground breaking in 2015, but he was not sure there could be a commitment for construction. Council member Stolzmann felt there were a number of valid requests coming from the police department. She supported the additional code enforcement position and a police presence for educational purposes. She agreed with Council member Lipton on the fund balances and stated the Council will have to make some choices. She felt there were other areas which could be reduced. Council member Lipton asked Chief Hayes about the Strategic Plan for the department and when it would be completed. He also asked whether Chief Hayes felt the Department was the right size. Chief Hayes reported in terms of staffing, he has been on the job for six months and did not know whether any new positions would be needed. He felt there are sufficient police officers, but one never knows what the future brings. With respect to the Police Master Plan, he explained it is a 2015 Goal, and is not only about staffing, it will help define how police operations can be done better and more efficiently. Mayor Pro Tem Dalton addressed the additional code enforcement officer and inquired about the number of code enforcement calls made over the years. Chief Hayes stated the code enforcement calls have been static for a few years. Dispatched code enforcement calls are tracked, but calls from other City Departments and other areas are not. He felt the untracked calls are going up in numbers. In 2015 the Police Department will look at other City violations. Requests for services are up and the two Code Enforcement Officers do many things and adding the downtown parking enforcement adds more work to their day.