Central Vermont Public Safety Authority

Central Vermont Public Safety Authority Central Vermont Chamber of Commerce Building August 6, 2015 Meeting Minutes – Draft Directors present: Kim Cheney and Alexandra Pastor at-large directors; Michael Smith, representing Barre City; Tom Golonka, representing the City of Montpelier. Directors absent: Doug Hoyt, at-large director; Martin Prevost, representing Barre City and; Dona Bate, representing the City of Montpelier. Others attending: Francis “Paco” Aumand, CVPSA Executive Director; Nick Bresette; Michael Charbonneau; David Delcore, Times Argus reporter; Tony Facos; Bob Sager, CVPSA Treasurer; David Rubalcaba; Azailiah Tautfest; Zack Tillinghast. The meeting was opened by Tom at 6:34pm. A motion to approve the agenda as presented, with an addition, was made by Michael, seconded by Alexandra. Motion passed. A motion to approve the minutes of the July 16th meeting, as presented, was made by Kim, seconded by Alexandra. Motion passed. The Board had a discussion around the Executive Director’s report. Paco briefed the Board on his activities since he officially started work on July 27th. Activities including: securing office space; visiting the Lamoile Co. Dispatch center; and meeting with several individuals (groups) involved directly, or indirectly, with public safety in Barre and Montpelier. Paco said his discussions centered around three broad issues: 1. Develop a plan for regionalizing dispatch- have models for the Board’s consideration. 2. List of other (value added) services that the Authority could potentially provide to enhance public safety. 3. Obstacles/challenges/opportunities for attracting/partnering with Berlin and Barre Town. Paco outlined some of the more common concerns that he heard meeting with public safety individuals including: fear of job loss; loss of individual (municipal) identity and; if the system is working well now, why change it? The conversations included the business requirements of dispatch including: administrative services; dealing with walk-ins (a physical presence in the community) and; jail (holding cell) supervision as well as other video monitoring. The Board had a general discussion about dispatch starting with – what, if anything, needs fixing? What are the glitches in the current dispatch system? In the immediate four municipality region there are several different dispatch systems which can create problems. The Board discussed having one communication system for the region well recognizing the problem of individual control. Costs were discussed along with the possibility of grants to create a regional dispatch model. The current dispatch systems – Spillman (Barre City) and Valcour (Montpelier) – were discussed along with the possibility of operating two parallel systems, at least initially. The Board had a discussion regarding the website development including: developing a RFP for building a website (utilizing the two municipalities’ RFP’s as guides); do it yourself website development, with costs; what the Board would like/need for its website; keeping domain names separate from the website and; how much time and money does the Board want to spend on this? The basics for a CVPSA website would include: what we are; who we are and; what we are doing. The Board discussed investing in a computer that would serve as a backup for the website. A motion to authorize the Executive Director and the Communications committee to secure domain name(s) and to develop the web site, increasing the amount to be spent to no more than $1000, was made by Michael, seconded by Alexandra. Motion passed. The Board had a discussion about adopting a purchasing policy. Paco offered a draft policy for the Board’s review and comment. The Board decided to refer the draft policy to the, as yet unnamed, Rules Committee, with the exception of section 16, dealing with employee reimbursement, for a more in depth review and recommendation. A motion to adopt section 16 of the purchasing policy, with one small change, was made by Kim, seconded by Michael. Motion passed. The approved version reads: 16. EMPLOYEE REIMBURSEMENT The use of personal credit cards, cash or personal checks to make purchases for the Authority is allowed in limited circumstances until such time as a purchasing mechanism for the Authority is put in place. The purchase of disposable office supplies by the Executive Director for the purpose of operating the Authority is authorized. The Executive Director shall produce a receipt and may be reimbursed upon submittal to the Treasurer of the Authority. Other purchases using a personal credit card, necessary for the operation of the Authority may be made with the approval of the Board Treasurer. A motion to establish the Rules Committee and appoint Kim, Donna and, Doug to be its members was made by Michael, seconded by Alexandra. Motion passed. Paco presented an updated version of the CVPSA Business Plan for FY 16 with the addition of a Business Model section. He asked Board members to take another look at it offer feedback, emphasizing that it is a work in progress. Paco announced that he had secured office space at the Central Vermont Chamber of Commerce which was offered to the Authority for $1/month with the understanding that if the Chamber was able to rent that space at market value, the Authority office space would need to be moved. The new address for the Authority is 963 Paine Turnpike North, Suite E. A motion to accept the offer of the Chamber for office space and to authorize the Executive Director to make that agreement was made by Michael, seconded by Alexandra. Motion passed. On behalf of the Board Tom thanked the Chamber, and specifically George Malek, Chamber President, for their (his) hospitality. A motion to adjourn was made by Michael, seconded by Kim. Motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 7:58pm. Respectfully submitted by, Michael Smith CVPSA Secretary The Next regularly scheduled meeting of the Central Vermont Public Safety Authority will be held August 20th 6:30pm at the Central Vermont Chamber of Commerce Building .