Public Safety & Transportation Committee

Village of Lombard Village Hall 255 East Wilson Ave. Lombard, IL 60148 villageoflombard.org Minutes Wednesday, June 2, 2021 7:00 PM Lorraine G. Gerhardt Community Room Public Safety & Transportation Committee Trustee Brian LaVaque, Chairperson Bob Bachner, Alternate Chairperson Jennifer Perkins, Michael Corso, John Larkin, Robert Corbino, Gary Cation, John Mullins and Rick Miller Public Safety & Transportation Minutes June 2, 2021 Committee 1.0 Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance The meeting was called to order by Chairperson LaVaque at 7:00 PM. 2.0 Roll Call Present 7 - Jennifer Perkins, Michael Corso, John Larkin Jr., Gary Cation, John Mullins, Rick Miller, and Brian LaVaque Absent 1 - Bob Corbino 3.0 Welcome and Introduction of Chairperson LaVaque Chairperson LaVaque introduced himself and said that wants to see how the committee can continue to look at how to make it safer, by looking at things such as safety infrastructure needs, crosswalks, bike lanes, etc. He added that community feedback is vital to what the Village does. 4.0 Public Participation 5.0 Approval of Minutes A motion was made by John Larkin, Jr., seconded by Gary Cation, that the Minutes of the March 3, 2021 meeting be approved. The motion carried unanimously. 6.0 Unfinished Business 7.0 New Business Perkins said that her neighbor tripped on a piece of sidewalk and was injured. She asked if there is any recourse financially and any program for looking at sidewalks. Chairperson LaVaque explained that a qualified trip hazard is an elevation difference of 1-1/4". Perkins was directed to have her neighbor contact the Village Manager's office regarding filing a claim. General discussion ensued regarding the sidewalk cutting work. Corso stated that he saw an article in the May 7th Lombardian regarding the Village repealing the section of ordinance for soliciting funds. He questioned why, since this committee had recommended banning this at one point, it wasn't brought back to the committee. He went on to say that recently he was on Finley at Roosevelt and a solicitor on the median fell into the drive lane after the green arrow activated. He said that he was able to stop and the solicitor got up right away, but a second earlier and he would've fell right in front of the car. Mullins added that by Portillos Village of Lombard Page 1 Public Safety & Transportation Minutes June 2, 2021 Committee they're actually walking into the turning lanes. Chairperson LaVaque replied that there was a change to the State statute, as the Supreme court ruled it was unconstitutional to disallow it and infringing on free speech. Mullins asked if, from the Police Department point of view, someone accidentally hits him because he's in the turn lane, is the driver at fault. Sgt. Menolascino replied that as long as they're not impeding traffic they're fine, however, if a pedestrian is walking in the roadway and not in the crosswalk, that's not necessarily your fault. Cation asked if PD can tell them that they have to be on the median, or in a specific area. Sgt. Menolascino responded that is what PD does. We just can't tell them that they have to leave. Corso pointed out that the median on Finley is not very wide and that intersection is one of our worst in town; it's an accident waiting to happen. Chairperson LaVaque added that if they are being belligerent, there's probably more that the Police can do. Sgt. Menolascino told the committee that the Police Department is currently doing a study at Berkshire and Lombard. A car went through the yield sign there and caused an accident, which is the second accident since 2018. The results will probably not be ready until August. 8.0 Other Business 9.0 Information Only 150468 Fire Department Reports/Information - July 2021 Monthly Report DC Kickert stated that the Department still remains very busy and Lombard is still the busiest agency dispatched by DuComm. In partnership with the Library, the Department was recently able to do several types of training at the old Mr. Z's building. The Department also partnered with the Lombard Park District by providing paramedics to assist pharmacists in doing thousands of COVID vaccines and we recently started doing homebound vaccines with the Health Department. Miller pointed out that calls were down last year and asked if the numbers for 2021 are back on pace with 2019. Chief Sander replied yes, if not higher. Cation asked what area Station 44 covers. DC Kickert answered that Wilson is the dividing line and pointed out that there are several senior homes and Yorktown in that area. Cation asked if when responding to senior homes, e.g. Beacon Hill, is that a regular call or are they charged. Chief Sander replied that each call there is a different residence, so it's a normal call. DC Kickert also pointed out that the senior homes account for 20% of EMS calls. Cation asked if the Fire Department is working on any wishlist for the next 3 years. Chief Sander answered that the Village of Lombard Page 2 Public Safety & Transportation Minutes June 2, 2021 Committee Department will be presenting something in the near future for a CPR machine which is a more advanced and consistent way to provide CPR, however, it is expensive. 150469 Police Department Reports/Information Sgt. Menolascino explained that all of the reports are reports required for accreditation. As the Fire Department pointed out, the Lombard Police Department is also the busiest agency with DuComm. Accidents were down last year because of Covid, but we're getting busier now. Looking at the Pursuits report, 20 years ago we used to get two chases per year, now we get 26. It's just how society is right now. However, with having the squad cameras now with we are able to take their picture and not chase. The Department just had the year 4 review for CALEA, which is the final year. We passed all 402 standards and we're all up to date with policies. The body cameras are up and running. Since we now have a picture of suspects, we don't have to rise to a use of force situation. We can just take a picture with the body camera and put it in the report. Mullins asked how the new tasers are working. Sgt. Menolascino replied they're great as well. Anytime a weapon or taser is unholstered, the body cameras automatically go on. Chairperson LaVaque added that Lombard is ahead of a lot of other departments in the State and that's something we should be proud of. Mullins asked what the numbers are for cell phone stops. Sgt. Menolascino replied that he would need to get those numbers, however, during Covid all traffic stops were down. However, Lombard has received a for traffic enforcement. Miller asked why there is such a disparity between the number of traffic stops and the number of citations issued. Sgt. Menolascino explained that writing a citation is at officer discretion. Officers are not told how many tickets they have to write. Additionally, during Covid, everyone is struggling. Most officers are writing tickets under the grant though. Cation stated that the reports are phenomonel and some of this information would be invaluable to show to high school students, particularly the DUI report. Perkins stated that she is appalled by percentage of people that refused a breathalyzer test and asked what the consequence is. Sgt. Menolascino explained that you'll lose your license for one year and have to have a breathalyzer in your car. If it's an aggravated dui and they refuse breath or blood, we can get a search warrant to require a blood sample. Perkins said that she heard a statistic not to long ago that a DUI in DuPage County is going to cost $10k. Plus if you have to get the breathalyzer device you're paying every month. Sgt. Menolascino added that offenders also pay Lombard $500. Village of Lombard Page 3 Public Safety & Transportation Minutes June 2, 2021 Committee 10. Adjournment 0 A motion was made by John Larkin, Jr., seconded by Gary Cation, to adjourn the meeting at 7:37 PM. The motion carried unanimously. Village of Lombard Page 4