Central Vermont Public Safety Authority

Central Vermont Public Safety Authority Central Vermont Chamber of Commerce Building March 5, 2015 Meeting Minutes – Draft Directors present: John Hannigan and Michael Smith representing Barre City; Dona Bate and Tom Golonka representing Montpelier; Kim Cheney and Alexandra Pastor, at-large directors. Director(s) absent: Doug Hoyt, at-large director. Others attending: Tim Bombardier, Barre City Director of Public Safety; Nick Bresette; Michael Charbonneau; David Delcore, Times Argus reporter; Tony Facos, Montpelier Chief of Police; Bob Sager, Board Treasurer; Zack Tillinghast; Azailyah Taughtfest. Tom opened the meeting at 6:30pm. A Motion to approve the agenda was made by Kim, seconded by Michael. Motion passed. A Motion to approve the minutes from the February 17th, 18th, and 19th Meetings was made by Michael, seconded by Kim. Motion passed. Tom thanked the Board’s visitors for coming and invited Public Safety Director Bombardier and Chief Facos to share with the Board their comments, concerns, and ideas on public safety. Both Director Bombardier and Chief Facos talked extensively about their experience, with dispatch primarily, but also about police, fire, and EMS; as well as what they see as barriers to merging these services. Some of the barriers discussed were: geographic-the two municipalities do not abut; the need to maintain a physical presence in both municipalities; if dispatch is relocated, who would cover some of the other functions dispatchers now perform – administrative tasks, jail monitoring etc.; and the need to have one software system for the newly integrated dispatch service. Other topics included: the utilization of technology to facilitate the process of regionalizing dispatch; the role of the State Police in providing dispatch to smaller municipalities – especially to the town of Berlin; and the extent to which the two municipalities share resources and work together already. Lastly, the chiefs suggested taking a look at what other areas have done with regionalizing public safety. The Board continued its discussion of the Executive Director Job description and advertisement including: content; wording of the ad; where to advertise; and how much to allot for advertising. A motion was made to approve the Executive Director Advertisement, pending minor changes, and approve an ad distribution budget not to exceed $1,500 by Dona, seconded by Alexandra. Motion passed. The Board continued a discussion regarding a website for the Authority. Michael said that he had talked to a couple of people about it and was expecting a proposal from one of them by the next meeting. Resident Michael Charbonneau said that there were two ways to create a website – a basic and a professional way – and he emphasized finding a reputable webmaster. The discussion included cost of developing a website, the amount of maintenance required, and the purchase of a domain name. Tom updated the Board on the issue of professional liability insurance saying he was in contact with the Vermont League of Cities and Towns and believes that the Authority could purchase insurance through them. He will look into this further. The Board talked briefly about setting up a hiring committee and ended the meeting with tasks for individual members to do for the next meeting. A motion to adjourn was made by Michael seconded by John. Motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 8:28pm. Respectfully submitted by Michael Smith CVPSA Secretary The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Central Vermont Public Safety Authority will be March 19th, 2015 at 6:30pm at the Central Vermont Chamber of Commerce Building.