Public Safety Committee

CITY OF GALT PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES ANTHONY PESCETTI COMMUNITY ROOM 455 INDUSTRIAL DRIVE, GALT, CALIFORNIA Monday, July 24, 2017, 6:00 PM Dana Wilkerson called the meeting to order at 6:05pm. The roll call found Dahlgren, Lagge, Shelton and Tellyer present. City Manager, Gene Palazzo, was in attendance as well. Chief Sockman led us as we saluted the American Flag. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION: 1. The minutes of the last meeting were presented to all members. The motion to approve made by Lagge, seconded by Shelton, carried by unanimous vote. 2. Dana advised the Committee that member, Bill Willmon, had resigned from the committee. 3. Bill Forrest of Public Works presented the City’s Hazard Mitigation Plan and solicited questions. Discussion followed regarding data transmission upgrades as well as flood/drain improvements. Lagge requested the document be corrected to accurately describe the land acquisition. Shelton thanked Forrest for the efforts in preparing the document, noting its importance in pursuit of grants and aid in the future. ROUND TABLE: Lagge asked that the intersection of West Elm and Sparrow be revisited as motorist continue to speed and run the stop sign, suggesting that a “STOP AHEAD” warning would help. Also noting that as a result of the street being so wide, the stop sign to the right is so far that motorist don’t see it. Chief Sockman advised he’d have our traffic unit check it out. Tellyer added there are similar issues at Quail Hollow and Grouse. Forrest followed up on a previous agenda item regarding, side walk buckling caused by two large redwood trees on Lois Avenue. The trees have been remedied as has one section of the damaged side walk. The other part of the sidewalk is still an issue but will be repaired. Forrest also advised of progress being made regarding grates around trees in the area of the VFW hall. The grates have been removed and the repairs to the lifted concrete are in the works. The grates in front of Velvet Grill, he advised, are the responsibility of The Galt Place. Dahlgren noted how impressed he is with the new blinking crosswalks that he has had the opportunity to use, specifically crossing C Street from Denny’s to  Mama’s Sushi. Vice Mayor Crews had told us these were on the horizon at our meeting in January. Shelton asked why it had been so long since the Committee had met. We apologized that our last two meetings had to be cancelled, mainly for lack of agenda items. In an effort to thwart this in the future Dana will be sending out reminders and requests for agenda items approximately 10-14 days prior to the meetings. Shelton asked about the homeless and unauthorized campers in our city. Chief Sockman advised that we really have only about 7-12 actual homeless. Once we get a call, we investigate and then have to follow policy to move them along. The City Manager added that the ones just north of Twin Cities Road near Hwy 99 are not our jurisdiction now, but will be once the annexation of that area is complete. This will allow us to work more effectively with property owners to address this problem. Chief encouraged everyone to call these things in as they see them as we can’t monitor social media as a way of receiving calls for service. Shelton advised that the low hanging limbs that often block street and traffic signs in his neighborhood have been trimmed and are looking nice but there are still some that need addressed in the areas of Lincoln and Pringle, 5th and E Streets and 5th and D Streets. Shelton asked who’s jurisdictions the Twin Cities Road Round Abouts are in as he observes speeding and failure to yield almost daily. Chief Sockman advised that although we do patrol and cite, often, in that area, the jurisdiction is technically Cal Trans. This discussion continued, noting there are many DUI arrests in the area, seemingly coming from the freeway to the fast food businesses. Dahlgren asked if the Stuckey’s bar was going to reopen. Forrest advised he didn’t think so. Forrest updated us on a previous topic of questionable speed limits, noting that the City announced several speed limits being reduced to 25mph in the areas of West C from Rowland, Emerald Oak from C, 1st from Kost and F from New Hope. Dahlgren asked if the City had to file any claims as a result of recent flooding. We had not, as flooding within the City was minimal. The Police Department did, however, provide mutual aid to the Oroville Dam threat. Our next meeting will be at 6:00 PM Monday, September 25, 2017. Meeting was adjourned at 7:34pm.