Committee of the Whole Meeting Packets

COLUMBUS COMMON COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE AGENDA TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2023 – 6:40 PM COLUMBUS CITY HALL 1. Roll Call 2. Notice of Open Meeting 3. Approve Agenda 4. Citizen Comments 5. Department Reports: • DPW, Fire, Library, Police, Treasurer, WWTP 6. Discuss 2024 Eastern Columbia County Joint Municipal Court budget 7. Discuss wages for specific City positions 8. Adjourn  CITY COUNCIL REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 19, 2023 MEETING LEVEL OF STAFFING - AS OF 08/31/2023 25 Paid on Call Firefighters - Non-Probationary Members 9 Paid on Call Firefighters - Probationary Members 1 Fire Chief 35 Total Active Members 5 Vacant Firefighter Positions 0 Hiring Process 0 Eligibility List Full staff level for active fire personnel is 40  INCIDENT RESPONSES August 2023 Alarm End City Rural # of Run # Alarm Date Time Time Incident Location Incident Incident Incident Type F.F. 23-145 08/01 09:53 11:00 128 ½ W James St X CPR Assist 5 23-146 08/02 09:09 09:35 592 River Road #16 X CPR Assist 3 23-147 08/02 09:38 10:11 906 Waterloo St #8 X EMS Assist 3 23-148 08/05 02:18 03:40 Otsego Road X MVA 10 23-149 08/05 14:21 15:10 211 N Ludington St X Unattended Fire 10 23-150 08/08 06:29 07:30 159 W James St X Gas Leak 9 23-151 08/09 21:09 21:20 Hwy 151 @ Hwy V X MVA 5 MABAS 23-152 08/10 16:45 19:50 N5391 Hwy DG X 1 Randolph 23-153 08/11 14:18 14:50 1040 Park Ave X Porch on Fire 9 23-154 08/11 16:20 16:45 110 Stuart St X Alarm 1 23-155 08/15 08:57 09:19 2280 W James St X Fire Alarm 7 Fire Alarm 23-156 08/23 08:08 08:09 1515 Park Ave X 1 (False Alarm) 23-157 08/23 12:06 14:00 N812 Hwy 89 X MVA 5 23-158 08/23 16:30 16:59 Hwy 60 & Hwy A X MVA 6 23-159 08/24 20:19 21:15 11070 Hwy 16/60 X EMS Assist 9 23-160 08/27 16:40 18:00 Hwy 151 MM 120 X MVA 8 23-161 08/30 13:43 13:57 1164 Farnham St X Fire Alarm 6 Current Monthly Total: 17 Total Runs by Month: Jan 19 July 25 Feb 11 Aug 17 Mar 17 Sep Apr 21 Oct May 33 Nov June 18 Dec Year to date total 161 Last Year at this time 120  TRAININGS, MEETINGS, AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES AUGUST 2023 08/01 Activity – National Night Out – Fireman’s Park – 16 Firefighters 08/02 Training – CFD – Driver – 2 Firefighters 08/06 Activity – Arlington Parade – Arlington – 5 Firefighters 08/07 Meeting – CFD – Officers – 9 Firefighters 08/08 Meeting – CFD – Regular Monthly – 27 Firefighters Training – CFD – Elevator Emergencies – 27 Firefighters 08/21 Training – Unknown - Minimum Standards Training Prep – 5 Firefighters Training – Beaver Dam – Confined Space Rescue – 2 Firefighters 08/22 Training – Beaver Dam – Confined Space Rescue – 2 Firefighters Training – Mazomanie – Entry Level Fire Class – 2 Firefighters Training – CFD – Minimum – 24 Firefighters 08/23 Training – Poynette Fire – Hazmat – 3 Firefighters Training – Beaver Dam – Confined Space – 2 Firefighters 08/24 Training – Beaver Dam FD – Confined Space – 2 Firefighters 08/25 Training – Beaver Dam FD – Confined Space – 2 Firefighters 08/28 Training – Columbus – MATC Driver Operator – 5 Firefighters 08/29 Meeting – CFD – Apparatus Division – 2 Firefighters Training – Duffys – Grain Bin Rescue – 23 Firefighters Training – Mazomanie – Entry Level Fire Class – 2 Firefighters 08/30 Training – Poynette – Hazmat – 4 Firefighters 08/31 Training – MATC – Fire Firefighter 2 Class – 3 Firefighters  ITEMS OF NOTE FOR AUGUST We recently received donations of approximately $2250 for the Fred Dartt Memorial towards the restoration of the antique fire truck, and a donation from American Packaging for $5000 to be used for purchasing new fire hose for a couple of the trucks. We 15 members going to classes for certifications to improve themselves and for the community. We have 2 new members taking Entry Level FF class in Mazomanie (they are not approved to do interior firefighting until they take this class and pass, along with our interior training requirements approval, and going on mutual Aid MABAS calls in our territory). We have 5 members taking FF1 State Certification class in Poynette (to also be able to respond to mutual aid MABAS calls within our territory and neighboring department calls). We have 3 members taking FF2 state certification at MATC to improve their skills. We have 5 members talking MPO (Mechanical Pump Operator) state certification to have current engine pump operators getting their certifications, and new Pump Operators, as with retirements we need to get more experienced operators on our department with the youth turnover we are experiencing. It is great to get new members on to carry on the legacies and keeping the roster up, but the time needed to get new firefighters trained and up to speed takes time, lots of training, along with we pay for them talking class, and reimbursement of mileage if the department pickup is not available. Thus, our budget line for training wages with all these classes, and with the past of 15-20 coming to trainings changing to 25-30, this all adds up, and our budget line is experiencing almost used up. We currently do not know where our future station will be, and building maintenance taking its toll and not enough in the budget line to support repairs, I’ve had to hold a $2,700 repair to one of the doors because we just had one of our AC units go down, and that quote from TAS Heating was $6,650 to replace it. I have emailed the administrator on these, and have not hear back on what to do. So, with $2,400 left in the budget line, and not enough to cover either one of these, I cannot move forward so firefighters have to deal with a warm station and the chance of the door that was going to repair costing us more if we do not repair it to last. With the increase of calls, this also means the trucks are running on more calls, and bay doors opening and shutting more, causing more maintenance costs, hence, the reason the maintenance budget lines are already over. With cutting my hours back to 20 hours per week per what my current responsibilities at half-time employment as chief are, inspections are starting to suffer falling behind on again. Until you realize that we need at least one full-time position to help with inspections, and keep our response times up to the quick responses we have as a volunteer department, the safety of business and public buildings will suffer, and response times will once again be delayed. You all need to read the Fire Chief job description, and then tell me that can be accomplished on 20 hours per week. Retired Chief Randy Koehn also strongly agrees that this is NOT a half-time position anymore. With the infrastructure of 15 miles of 151, many miles of two-lane highways, a hospital, numerous large industrial buildings, CP Rail and Amtrak, having a Fire Chief on 20 hours per week is laughable at best. Between the city and rural group 2% money that comes in every year, if we are not keeping up with inspections and public education prevention, both are in danger of losing that amount of approximately $30,000. This goes for the rural group using to pays the wages and I use the cities amount to purchase PPE (helmets, hoods, gloves, boots, coat, and pants). Per firefighter, replacing one firefighter with just these items cost in the neighborhood of $3,700 each member. We recently gave proclamations to 4 retired members at City council meeting last Tuesday, September 5th. Ryan Rostad (19 years, retiring as Assistant Chief), Marty Powers (18 years, retiring as Lieutenant), Sue Groh (18 years, retiring as Firefighter and Public Education Coordinator), and Christopher Orange (18 years, retiring as a firefighter). In conclusion, I have asked for a substantial increase to the budget, as being 40+ calls ahead of last year’s pace, surpassing 2020, almost to 2021, and blowing away 2022 calls as of this date. With this increase, this means more people at the station, more times the bay doors open and shut, more times the trucks are out on calls and trainings, causing more maintenance work to keep them in response condition. Not including we have 2 furnaces that are over 26 years old, and last repair was hard to find parts, so need to be prepared on replacing these when they go down. Hopefully you take keeping our firefighters as safe as possible seriously, and give me the tools to take care of them. They would risk their lives for you, and training constantly to do so. Scott Hazeltine – Columbus Fire Chief  August 2023 DIRECTOR’S REPORT LIBRARY NEWS July and August have been all about outreach for the Library. We’ve attended a Farmer’s Market each month at Savanna Oaks, had a table at National Night Out, and are planning on attending open house nights at both Fall River Elementary and Columbus Elementary. September is Library Card Sign Up Month. We will be celebrating by offering raffle tickets to anyone who signs up for a new card or anyone with a card that makes sure their information is up-to-date. Our prizes have been donated by Madison Children’s Museum and the Green Bay Packers. PROGRAMS The Summer Library Program wrapped up with a party on Wednesday, August 9. Overall we had 320 participants in the reading challenge part of the program. In September we will be welcoming the “We Stand on Their Shoulders” display from the Wisconsin Historical Society. The 8 panels depicting women’s suffrage in WI will be displayed in the upstairs of the library from September 8 through October 6. We will have an opening night reception on September 8 sponsored by the Friends of the Library. BUILDINGS SNS Electric came and installed a new LED light in Room 7. The old light would no longer turn on even with a new bulb. Andy Black will be repairing the trim where the radiator was removed from behind the circulation area. Automatic Entrances did their annual inspection of the doors which are good. He also put together a quote on automatic entrances for our bathrooms that we can work on getting grants to pay for. Hammes Fire & Safety inspected our fire alarms. We needed a new heat sensor as ours was 15 years old, and that is the expiration date on them. MEETINGS The SCLS All Directors meeting took place on Thursday, July 20 where we voted on fees for next year. In the afternoon we had a training on book challenges. On Friday, July 21 the Columbia County Library Board met and the Columbia County Directors. We talked extensively about the budget for 2024. The County requested a “hold the line” budget, and we will be writing our budget to comply with that request. August 30 we will be having a staff meeting over lunch to discuss the upcoming months. DIRECTOR GOALS Goal #2- Maintain Library Buildings so they remain structurally sound and safe for staff and patrons. *See under “Buildings” above. MONTHLY PROGRAMS In-Person In-Person Virtual Virtual Take & Make & Live Virtual & Live Virtual (# programs) (# views) (# kits taken) (# programs) (# attended) Future Readers 0 0 6 149 4 Children 0 0 6 98 0 Teen 0 0 1 7 0 Adult 0 N/A 5 43 N/A General Interest 0 0 4 125 0 2023 2023 2022 2022 STATISTICS Month YTD YTD Total Visits (# door counts) 5,436 37,035 31,756 55,474 Items Borrowed (total) 4,782 31,099 30,867 53,701 % Columbus residents 52% 55% % Fall River residents 12% 10% % Other Columbia County 20% 21% % Dodge County 11% 10% % Other 5% 4% Digital Items Borrowed (# checkouts) 1,174 7,887 7,809 12,984 Books by Mail (# items sent) 20 205 138 193 Public WiFi (# sessions) 5,892 38,880 41,189 68,502 Public Computer Use (# sessions) 224 1,583 1,349 2,380 Wireless Printing & Faxing (# jobs) 90 593 413 761 Community Use of Rooms (# attended) 99 599 178 518 Patrons Added (# added) 37 206 149 255 August 2023  COLUMBUS POLICE DEPARTMENT 159 S. Ludington St. Columbus, WI. 53925 920-623-5919 (Main) 920-623-5930 (Fax) September 14, 2023 Mayor Hammer Members of the Common Council Columbus Police and Fire Commission: RE: POLICE DEPARTMENT ACTIVITY REPORT, August 2023 Attached is the monthly report for the Columbus Police Department. Please feel free to contact me at any time if you have questions. Chief Dennis Weiner www.cityofcolumbuswi.com Dennis R. Weiner, Chief of Police  COLUMBUS POLICE DEPARTMENT 159 S. Ludington St. Columbus, WI. 53925 920-623-5919 (Main) 920-623-5930 (Fax) PERSONNEL The department is not fully staffed. Current staffing as of September 14, 2023: Authorized by Budget Actual Sworn Officers Full-time sworn police positions: 10 8 (Position breakdown) Patrol Officer 6 4 Sergeant 1 1 Lieutenant 2 2 Chief 1 1 Clerical Office Manager (full-time) 1 1 Clerk (full-time) 1 1 Current personnel: Name Date of Hire Chief Dennis Weiner 02/18/2008 Lieutenant Roger Witthun 12/17/2001 Lieutenant Darrel Ward 09/19/2022 Sergeant Mike Rosecky 12/30/2022 Officer Matt Schultz 12/23/2002 Officer Julia Knoll 01/03/2022 Officer Matt Dammen 01/03/2023 Officer Spencer Trevorrow 07/31/2023 Officer vacant Officer vacant Office Manager Erika Kellar 02/04/1999 Public Safety Clerk Bonnie Langsdorf 09/30/2006 www.cityofcolumbuswi.com Dennis R. Weiner, Chief of Police  COLUMBUS POLICE DEPARTMENT 159 S. Ludington St. Columbus, WI. 53925 920-623-5919 (Main) 920-623-5930 (Fax) PERSONNEL: Spencer Trevorrow, our newest hire, began the police academy at Madison College on August 14. He will graduate December 15 and return for local training. James Kicmol has been hired as a part time police officer. He retired from the Wisconsin State Patrol after 33 years and retired as a Lieutenant. He has extensive patrol and management training, including holding Instructor level status in a few law enforcement disciplines. He will begin training October 2, due to some commitments he previously made during September. That training is expected to be quite accelerated based on his experience. It will give us a little breathing room in our schedule. He is limited on the hours he can work due to WRS (Wisconsin Retirement System) rules, but will still benefit us. A Side Letter, sometimes referred to as an MOU (memo of understanding) was agreed to with the police union regarding hiring sworn officers and accelerating them thru the pay and benefit scale based on prior full-time experience. This is known as Lateral Entry. This is becoming extremely common in law enforcement due to the extreme shortages and agencies literally hiring staff from other departments at a better entry wage than they were making at their current department. I have posted the 2 positions on the state job site in. Applications are due September 25. COMMUNITY EVENT: Fire Chief Hazeltine and I read to children at the library on August 7, during community helper story time. It concluded with tours of a fire truck, squad car, and photos. We both enjoyed being part of this event. FLEET: As explained at the August 22, 2023 Committee of the Whole, the ordering, delivery, and pricing of new squads for all police manufacturers is in absolute chaos. Pricing is due to be released in September or October, and orders to begin very promptly after the release, with a manufacturer limit of orders being taken. Squads have increased in price at least $10,000+ each in the last year. Some are now delivering squads that were ordered in the spring of 2022. We will have a squad ready for retirement in 2024 and will examine ordering options when pricing lists come out based on the direction given by the council. Lieutenant Ward has continued to monitor the military surplus website, where we got the UTV for $0. We recently obtained new and unused first aid kits and extra first aid supplies for all the squads. These kits are easily worth several hundred dollars and we paid $0 for them and $70 for the shipping. BODY CAMERA GRANT: We received the 50% reimbursement check from the Wisconsin Department of Justice for their portion of the body camera grant. It was slightly over $32,000. The project was completed under budget even with adding more server storage space recently, which they offered to add on, even though the grant was closed. SPEED TRAILER: We experienced some electrical issues with the speed trailer this month. We feared it was the battery, which is very large and we believed to be proprietary to the brand and expensive. We were happy to learn it is just a commercial battery and we were able to purchase one locally at an auto parts store for $250. That solved the issue. We have had trailer over 6 years. www.cityofcolumbuswi.com Dennis R. Weiner, Chief of Police  COLUMBUS POLICE DEPARTMENT 159 S. Ludington St. Columbus, WI. 53925 920-623-5919 (Main) 920-623-5930 (Fax) TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT: We ran a speed enforcement event on USH 151 on August 14 for approximately 3 hours, using 2 squads. We wrote 34 speeding tickets and a couple were for 90+ miles per hour. We are dispatched out there regularly for complaints of speeding or reckless vehicles and try to do these events several times a year. During the month of August officers issued 61 traffic citations, 13 ordinance citations and 61 warnings. Nature of Call Total Calls Received -------------------- -------------------- 911 HANG UP 12 ACCIDENT HIT AND RUN 1 ACCIDENT PROPERTY DAMAGE ONLY 5 ASSIST ANOTHER AGENCY 9 BURGLAR ALARM 2 FIRE ALARM 3 ANIMAL COMPLAINTS 11 ANIMAL BITE 2 BATTERY 1 MENTAL HEALTH COMMITMENT 2 CHILD SEXUAL ASSAULT 1 CITIZEN ASSIST 19 CIVIL 6 CONTROLLED 7 CONTROLLED BURN 1 CIVIL PROCESS 1 DISORDERLY CONDUCT 7 DEATH INVESTIGATION 2 DISABLED VEHICLE 4 DOMESTIC ABUSE 3 DRIVING COMPLAINT 13 EMS CALL 9 EXTRA PATROL 34 GENERAL FIRE 1 FIRE GAS LEAK/CARBON MONOXIDE 1 FLEET MAINTENANCE 1 FOOT PATROL 1 FRAUD 1 GAS DRIVE-OFF 2 ROAD HAZARD 7 JUVENILE INCIDENT 8 KEEP THE PEACE 1 CALL IN LOBBY 1 LOST AND FOUND 6 MISSING PERSON 1 NOISE COMPLAINT 1 OUT WITH PERSON 3 OPEN DOOR 3 ORDINANCE VIOLATION 1 OWI 2 www.cityofcolumbuswi.com Dennis R. Weiner, Chief of Police  COLUMBUS POLICE DEPARTMENT 159 S. Ludington St. Columbus, WI. 53925 920-623-5919 (Main) 920-623-5930 (Fax) PARKING ENFORCMENT 2 PARKING VIOLATION 6 PROPERTY DAMAGE 3 SECURITY 321 SLIDE OFF 1 SUSPICIOUS 18 THEFT 2 THREAT 2 TIPS/LEADS 2 TRAFFIC STOP 117 TRESPASS 1 VEH LOCKOUT 7 WARRANT 3 WELFARE 16 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Total Calls: 697 www.cityofcolumbuswi.com Dennis R. Weiner, Chief of Police  Synopsis of Wastewater Department Activities Aug 2023 Columbus Wastewater department was 100% in compliance for the month of August Duties and activities for Aug: • Weekly/daily lab tests for: BOD, TSS, PO4, Nh3, pH, DO tests complete. • Enter all data. • Submit WiDNR- DMR report for July • DNR inspection complete • Dome coating project finished • Hired 3rd Operator- Jeremy Roll • Hauled sludge to farm field • Sludge truck repairs • Decanting and pressing sludge throughout the month • Exercise LS Generators • All regular preventive maintenance complete • Billing for, Fall River and Ottery • Maintenance and checks on lift stations  City of Columbus July 2023 Time Activity Report Total Hours Plant Operation 600-577200-111 Laboratory 76 Plant OP Mgmt 42 Process Control 27 Treatment Plant 600-577230-111 Treatment plant Mgmt 23 TP Maintenace/Repair 14 Bio-Solids Processing 600-577250-111 Bio solids Management 14 Hauling 5 Dewatering 24 Bio Solids Maintenace/Repair 12 Collection System 600-577210-111 Collection System Management 9 Collection System Repairing 0 Flowing Monitoring 1 Jetting 3 Televising 0 Projects WWTP 20 Locates WWTP 14 Lift Stations 600-577220-111 Lift stations Maintenace/Repair 12 Cleaning 14 LS Management 7 Buildings and Ground 600-577240-111 Building Maintenance 13 Cleaning 15 Painting 0 Lighting 3 HVAC 0 Yard Maintenance 3 Mowing 9 Buildings mgmt 9 Training 600-577000-191 Training 0 369  2023 AGENDA ITEM Committee of the Whole Meeting date: September 19, 2023 ___________________________ Council Meeting date: ______________________________ ITEM: Wage Increases for specific city positions. _______________________________________________________ SUBMITTED BY: Lisa Wilson / Stephanie Masché ______________________________________________ DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SUBJECT MATTER: The 2022 wage and compensation survey was reviewed along with an updated 2023 compensation survey with willing municipalities from surrounding communities. It was noted many positions within the city are not within the wage range, but instead far below the low end of the wage ranges. LIST ALL SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION ATTACHED: ACTION REQUESTED OF COUNCIL: Please consider increasing current wages for Public Works employees and the City Clerk as listed on the Wage Ranges and Recommendations worksheet.  WAGE RANGES AND RECOMMENDATIONS RECOMMENDED 2024 POSITION LOW MEDIAN HIGH ACTUAL 2023 WITH 5% INCREASE INCREASE DPW Maintenance I $24.00 $26.00 $28.00 $23.83 $25.72 $27.00 DPW Maintenance II $22.00 $24.00 $26.00 $24.53 $24.77 $26.00 DPW Maintenance II $22.00 $24.00 $26.00 $22.17 $22.86 $24.00 DPW Maintenance II $22.00 $24.00 $26.00 $21.00 $22.38 $23.50 DPW Admin. Assistant $19.00 $21.00 $23.00 $18.72 $20.48 $21.50 Street Superintendent $32.00 $34.00 $36.00 Vacant $30.48 $32.00 City Clerk $31.25 $33.25 $35.25 $28.94 $30.48 $32.00