Board of Commissioners Meetings

99 CITY OF HENDERSON – RECORD BOOK Record of Minutes of A Work Session Meeting on July 20, 2021 A Work Session of the Board of Commissioners of the City of Henderson, Kentucky, was held on Tuesday, July 20, 2021, at 3:00 p.m., prevailing time , in the third floor Assembly Room located in the Municipal Center Building at 222 First Street, Henderson, Kentucky. Limited public attendance was permitted at this work session due to the highly contagious nature of COVID-19; therefore, the meeting was conducted in accordance with KRS 61.826 and SB150. There were present Mayor Steve Austin presiding: PRESENT: Commissioner Austin P. Vowels Commissioner Rodney Thomas ABSENT: Commissioner Robert N. Pruitt Commissioner Bradley S. Staton CITY STAFF MEMBERS included: William L. “Buzzy” Newman, Jr., City Manager; Dawn Kelsey, City Attorney; Maree Collins, City Clerk; Donna Stinnett, Community Relations Manager/Public Information Officer; Robert Gunter, Finance Director; Heath Cox, Police Chief; Scott Foreman, Fire Chief; Jordan Webb, 911 Communications Director; Connie Galloway, Human Resources Director; Brian Williams, Public Works Director; Jeff Putman, Municipal Facilities Superintendent; Dylan Ward, Project Manager; Greg Nunn, IT Director (via Zoom); Cory Fischbeck, IT Applications Programming Manager (via Zoom); Bill Raleigh, IT Support Specialist; and Travis Owen, IT Programmer/Analyst ALSO PRESENT: Scott Csendes, KZF Vice President and Director of Civic and Public Safety Group (via Zoon Panelist); Erin Baird, KZF Design Project Manager (via Zoon Panelist); and Kevin Patton, The Gleaner (via Zoom) THE FOLLOWING AGENDA ITEMS WERE DISCUSSED: 1. Riverfront Water Feature Update  Mr. William L. “Buzzy” Newman, Jr., City Manager, introduced Jeff Putman, Municipal Facilities Maintenance Superintendent, to give a brief update on the various issues with the Riverfront Water Feature. Mr. Putman reported that short- term repairs had been completed and it should be up and running later this afternoon.  Mayor Austin reported that a crane should be coming in tomorrow to remove the Central Park Fountain for renovations. NO FORMAL ACTION WAS TAKEN BY THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS. ________________________ 2. Police Department Update Report  Heath Cox, Police Chief, reported that he had just returned from Frankfort where he testified before Senator Mills and his committee on police officer recruitment. He indicated that millennials change jobs on average every four to six years. He further indicated that he and others are currently working to add classes at Richmond and/or create a Western Kentucky Academy to assist with the training process.  Chief Cox reported on Recruitment and Retention for the department which includes:  Shift differential; Pay raise; Additional promotions; Lateral program; Retired officer program; Load bearing vests; Take home vehicles (in county); Awards banquet reinstated; and Replenished the vehicle fleet  100 CITY OF HENDERSON – RECORD BOOK Record of Minutes of A Work Session Meeting on July 20, 2021  Current Reality:  Currently have six recruits in training which won’t be on their own until September or October 2022; Have had 11 retirements and have an additional four retirements in the next 12 to 14 months; No designated Public Information Officer; No Dare Officer; Pulled officers in the school back to the streets; and Two open supervisor positions  Plan to Address Current Reality:  12-hour shifts to maximize current manpower; Better work schedule for work life balance; Adjacent county take home vehicles in Kentucky (Webster, McLean, Union and Daviess Counties); and Authorization to hire two Public Safety Officers  Cost of 12-hour Shifts:  The cost for 36 officers receiving the extra overtime will cost $260,000 for the entire year. Currently have 28 officers who would receive this  Cost of Adjacent County Take Home in Kentucky  The cost for take home vehicles would be around $3,000 per vehicle.  Public Safety Officer:  A non-sworn position responsible for performing non-hazardous and non- emergency calls for service and assisting police officers with routine duties. Handles crowd control at parades, street fairs, sports events, and other special events. May also be called to testify in court, assist citizens and monitor parking lots for parking violators.  Public Safety Officers are governed by KRS83A.088  Types of calls include:  Accidents; Parking problems/Motorist assist; Street obstructions/Abandoned/Junk vehicles (On roadway); Gas station drive- off  Traffic control at fire scene; Found property reports; and Theft reports, criminal mischief reports, and other misdemeanor reports where there is no suspect or evidence to be collected.  Number of above type of calls is estimated at over 3,000 per year.  Cost of a Public Safety Officer would be approximately $68,000 for salary and benefits.  The Cost of a public safety vehicle will be around $25,000  The total cost of two Public Safety Officers and public safety vehicles will be approximately $186,000  Total Cost - $458,000  12-hour Shift O/T - $260,000; Adjacent County Take Home - $12,000; Public Safety Officer - $136,000; and Public Safety Officer Vehicles - $50,000 DISCUSSION WAS HELD relating to the long-term impact on the budget and how hiring two PSOs and implementing 12-hour shifts will allow getting officers back in the schools and assist with non-emergency calls. NO FORMAL ACTION WAS TAKEN BY THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS. ________________________ 3. City/State/Federal Paid Holidays  Mr. William L. “Buzzy” Newman, Jr., City Manager, gave a brief report on the various paid holidays observed by the City vs. State vs. Federal. He further reported that a Kentucky City/County Management Association poll indicated that over 50% of respondents have 11 paid holidays, with most of those including Veterans Day; 20% of respondents have 12 paid holidays, including Veterans Day and Presidents Day. Less the 50% of respondents are considering the addition of another holiday.  The City currently has ten paid holidays; The State currently has 11 ½ paid holidays; and There are currently 11 paid holidays + (inauguration in election years) for Federal employees  101 CITY OF HENDERSON – RECORD BOOK Record of Minutes of A Work Session Meeting on July 20, 2021  Floating holiday  Estimated cost to add a holiday is approximately $78,000.00 DISCUSSION WAS HELD relating to the overall impact the addition of two holidays (Juneteenth and Veterans Day) would have on the budget; the possibility of a floating holiday which would allow the employee the option to choose which one additional Federal holiday they would prefer-there are four Federal holidays that the City does not observe; and that staff requested direction for ordinance review. NO FORMAL ACTION WAS TAKEN BY THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS. ________________________ 4. Report on Fire Station Study  Mr. William L. “Buzzy” Newman, Jr., City Manager, introduced Scott Csendes, KZF Vice President and Director of Civic and Public Safety Group, Erin Baird, KZF Design Project Manager, to give a brief report on the Fire Station Study.  Erin Baird reported on the methodology for using GIS mapping to run through various scenarios relating to the study of a three-station vs. four-station concept for best station locations and response times.  Evaluated current response times and found three areas outside of the target four-minute response time.  Evaluated six-minute range with existing four stations  Evaluated moving Station #1 to the IBT location for four-minute response  Evaluated moving Station #1 and removing Station #2 on four-minute response with limited overlap  Evaluated various locations for Station #1 for the three-station concept  Ideal location would be Second and Priest Streets – No potential properties at that location  15% of calls evaluated are outside of the four-minute target response time  Recommendation to replace Station #1 at IBT location, keep Station #2 and a four-station concept in order to plan for future unknowns of I-69 construction  Recommended to re-evaluate in approximately five years DISCUSSION WAS HELD relating to the types of calls (fire/medical) studied and how many of those are outside of the target response time; that fire doubles in size every 15 seconds and that time is critical; that Station #2 should be addressed in the future; that a fair amount of calls are from a small dense area on the east side; and that the size of the lot required for re- location of Station #2 is two acres. The following four recommendations were made: 1) Proceed with the four-station concept; 2) Proceed with demolition of the IBT building; 3) Proceed with final design of Station #1 with four station concept – to be ready by spring or summer of next year; and 4) Continue search for future location of Station #2. Staff will focus on task order for final design of Station #1 and bid package for demolition of IBT building. NO FORMAL ACTION WAS TAKEN BY THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS. ________________________  102 CITY OF HENDERSON – RECORD BOOK Record of Minutes of A Work Session Meeting on July 20, 2021 MEETING ADJOURN: MOTION by Commissioner Thomas, seconded by Commissioner Vowels to adjourn. The vote was called. On roll call, the vote stood: Commissioner Vowels --- Aye: Commissioner Pruitt ----- Absent: Commissioner Staton ---- Absent: Commissioner Thomas -- Aye: Mayor Austin ------------- Aye: WHEREUPON Mayor Austin declared the work session adjourned at approximately 4:35 p.m. ATTEST: ________________________ Steve Austin, Mayor ________________________ June 14, 2022 Maree Collins, CKMC City Clerk