Public Safety Committee (Building & Codes, Fire, Police)

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES June 17, 2020 - 4:00 P.M. via Google Meets CALL TO ORDER: A meeting of the City of Clarksville Public Safety Committee was called to order by Chairman Jeff Henley on Wednesday, June 17, 2020 at 4:00 p.m. This meeting was conducted via Google Meets. ATTENDANCE: The following members responded to roll call and were cormected to the meeting: Councilman JeffHenley, Chair; Councilman Ron Erb; Councilman Vondell fuchmond; Councilman Travis Holleman; Councilwoman Wanda Smith Others Participating: Mayor Joe Pitts, Building Official/Deputy Director Justin Crosby, Deputy Chief David Crockarell, Deputy Chief Rick Stalder, Fire Chief Freddie Montgomery, Councilwoman Stacey Streetman, Neil Stauffer, City Attomey and Paula McWhirter APPROYAL OF ELECTRONIC MEETING: In order to comply with the technical aspects of the Governor's Executive Order regarding holding open meetings in a forum other than in the open and in public, the Public Safety Committee determines that meeting electronically is necessaly to protect the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens due to the COVID-L9 outbreak Councilwoman Smith made a motion to approve the electronic meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilman Holleman. The vote for the motion to conduct this meeting by electronic means was approved unanimously by the Committee. Minutes from the February 19,2020 meeting were approved by the committee after a motion was made by councilwoman Smith, seconded by corlncilman Holleman. The vote for motion was unanimous. BUILDING & CODES DEPARTMENT: o Justin Crosby presented the department's monthly report and gave a brief overview of the department's stats and stated he would answer any questions. o Mayor Pitts asked Mr. crosby to give an update on the Multi purpose Event center. Mr. crosby gave a brief update stating the county has started the planning and permitting process for the Multi Purpose Event center and he, Mr. Smith and the Building & codes  staff have been working directly with the general contractor and county staff to ensure open communication and provide construction guidelines and information to ensure a smooth permitting process. Councilwoman Smith asked where the event center will be located and what the square footage ofthe building will be. Mr. Crosby advised the location is between 1st and 2nd Street and because they are still in the design stage, the square footage has not been finalized. POLICE DEPARTMENT.. o Deputy Chief Crockareli presented the department's monthly report and advised he would answer any questions. Deputy Chief Crockarell informed the Committee the department's lobbies are now open to the public. The department is in a time oftransition with Chief Ansley on annual leave as of June 12,2020 with his official retirement being June 30, 2020. o Deputy Chief Crockarell updated the Committee on the demonstration that took place May 301h on Wilma Rudolph Blvd. stating the demonstration was positive and the department is being invited to similar demonstrations in an endeavor to demonstrate an open dialogue. He also stated in an effort to build up a community comection it is important to understand and listen and create conversations. Councilwoman Smith expressed concerns and asked how does the department address the type of situation as in the case of George Floyd? Deputy Chief Crockarell advised under no circumstance should an officer kneel on someone's neck and actually once a person is handcuffed the officer is responsible to ensure hislher safety. Deputy Chief Crockarell further stated an offrcer has a responsibility to aid an arrested individual who is in dishess and any.thing less than that other officers have a duty to intervene. Councilman Richmond asked Deputy Chief Crockarell and Mayor Pitts if they would be open to having a workshop/training in an effort to better educate and inform the City Council members and constituents on these tlpe of issues; both the Mayor and Deputy Chief Crockarell stated they were very open to having open dialogue virtually and/or in small groups. . Deputy Chief Crockarell stated the department needs to mirror the community in which they serve and advised the Committee a top priority for CPD is diversity in the workplace. In a contirued effort to become more diverse he stated the department has gone to traditional job fairs, expanding exposure through social media, working closely with Ft. Campbell as weil as maintaining contact with the Police Academy. He firther stated they have a long way to go but he is committed to building a much more diverse department. . Deputy Chief Crockarell informed the Committee the ground breaking for District 3 Precinct is scheduled for June 26,2020. [.IRE DEPARTMENT: o Chief Montgomery presented the department's monthly report and gave a brief breakdown by Division and stated he would answer any questions. r Chief Montgomery stated COVID-19 has presented interesting times; however, the department is presently at 100%. Run numbers are starting to rebound, with rescue related calls beingT2o/o arid approximately $210,000 in fire related loss. o Blue Way training is complete and Clarksville Fire Rescue is properly trained and equipped to provide rescues on the blueway.  . Chief Montgomery advised Fire Prevention has performed 76 inspections and 37 commercial burn permits have been issued (the designated phone number for information regarding "open buming" is working well). . The Training Division hosted 2 state testing events (online) with 510 attendees and conducted over 1700 training hours. Chief Montgomery informed the Committee of an upcoming hiring process that is set to focus on diversity and test a pool of approximately 600 candidates. . Councilwoman Smith thanked Chief Montgomery for his report and regarding new hires asked how many African Americans applied. Chief Montgomery advised out of the 60 applicants that took the written exam 1 was African American. Chief again reiterated the department is looking for diverse applicants and with that being said advised the department has scheduled two open practice events to allow applicants to get familiar with the requirements ofthe physical agility test. The events are scheduled for July 11 and July 18 at the Fire Station 1. Chairman Henley asked Chief Montgomery if he has tried to recruit from Ft. Campbell. Chief confirmed that is definitely on his radar and stated the department is presently working with the Fire Science Program at Rossview High School. Chairman Henley along with Councilwoman Smith stated there may be a need to look into changing the age from 21 to 18. COMMITTEE COUNCIL ACTION REQUIRED None CITY COUNCIL ACTION REQUIRED . Deputy Chief Crockarell explained Resolution l-2020-21 authorizing an Interlocal Agreement between the City of Clarksville, Tennessee and the E911 Emergency Communication District of Montgomery County, Tennessee. After general discussion motion for approval was made by Councilwoman Smith, seconded by Councilman fuchmond. The vote for the motion was unanimous. . Deputy Chief Crockarell explained Resolution2-2020-21 authorizing an Interlocal Agreement between the City of Clarksviile and Montgomery County related to shared expenses for autopsies. After general discussion motion for approval was made by Councilwoman Smith, seconded by Councilman Holleman. The vote for the motion was unanimous- . Chairman Henley recognized Councilwoman Sfteetman to present Ordinance l-2020-21: An Ordinance amending Title 5 ofthe Official City Code to add a new chapter entitled "Short-Term Rentals" to establish regulations pertaining to short-term rental units. Councilwoman Streetman gave a detailed overview of the Ordinance to include the application requirements and procedures such as permitting, inspections/re-inspections, insurance and other issues relating to protecting the health, safety and welfare of the public. After general discussion Councilwoman Smith stated because this is so much information presented at one time she would like to postpone any action until the Committee has more time to review what is being proposed and with that being said Councilwoman Smith made a motion to postpone action until a later date and the motion was seconded by Councilman fuchmond. The vote for the motion was three (3) in favor ard two (2) against (Councilman Henley and Councilman ErQ. Following the vote co,ncilwoman streetman advised the committee she is going forward with presenting this Ordinance and it will be on the June 23,2020 Finance Committee agenda. OTHER Deputy Chief Crockarell gave an overview of the department's policies and procedures specifically relating to amests, use offorce and the prevention ofpolice bias/racial profiling. In 2007 the department began the process to obtain a national accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) with the department receiving its initial accreditation in 2010 and scheduled to receive its fourth CALEA certification this year. Deputy Chief Crockarell stated the department is strong and well prepared because of its commitment to the accreditation requirements; conlrnitment to accountability as well as rcalizing and understanding the importance of communication, education and kaining. ADJOURNMENT There being no firrther discussion motion to adjoum was made by Councilwoman Smith, seconded by Councilman Richmond and approved by the committee. Submitted by: Paula McWhirter Building & Codes Department