Public Safety (Subcommittee of the City Council)

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MINUTES Wednesday May 8, 2013 Laurel Hill Fire Department 7:00 P.M. Committee Members Present Alderman Mark Bettencourt Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Jr. Committee Members Not Present Alderwoman Sofee Noblick Administration and Staff Present Alan H. Bergren, City Manager Chief Scandariato, Norwich Fire Department Chief Timothy Jencks, Taftville Fire Department Chief Frank Blanchard, Yantic Fire Department Patrick Daley, Norwich Police Lieutenant / Chief East Great Plains Fire Department Chief Aaron Westervelt, Laurel Hill Fire Dept. Gene Arters, Director OEM Deputy Chief Bob LaChapelle, Occum Fire Department Volunteer/Central Fire Departments and Others Chris LaRose, Norwich Public Utilities Jerry Strange, Laurel Hill Fire Department Ken Leo, Yantic Fire Department Carroll Spaulding, Occum Fire Department Scott Stanley, Occum Fire Department Darrell Dunnum, Occum Fire Department Mark R. Gagne, Norwich Resident Anne Vitouladitis, Norwich Resident Paula Vitouladitis, Norwich Resident Brian F. Kobylarz, Norwich Resident I. Call to Order – Quorum Alderman Mark Bettencourt called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. It was determined a quorum is present. II. Approval of Minutes - Minutes of April 10, 2013. Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Jr. motioned to approve the April 10, 2013 minutes, seconded by Alderman Mark Bettencourt. All in favor the motion passed unanimously. III. Correspondence – 395 Turn Around letter from City Manager Alan H Bergren to the State and their reply. Public Safety Meeting Minutes May 8, 2013 Page 2 IV. Citizen Comment – Brian Kobylarz addresses the committee to ask them to encourage the Council to make an ordinance to make the use of public streets and areas require involvement from the Police department. He handed out pictures of St. Patrick’s Day when the Harp and Dragon was cooking on the streets with propane tanks in front of the cooking area they set up which was in the street with no barriers to protect the tanks from being hit by vehicles which was a danger to both traffic and pedestrians (see attached photo’s). Alderman Mark Bettencourt asks City Manager Alan H Bergren if he thinks the street barbecue was permitted. City Manager Alan Bergren states that it probably was. He would have to check with planning. They may have had a zoning permit. Brian Kobylarz states that he showed the pictures at the local fire house and they stated they didn’t know about it. Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Jr. motions to suspend the rules to add the Soup Kitchen to the agenda under old business, seconded by Alderman Mark Bettencourt. All in favor the motion passed unanimously. V. New Business a. Budget Items – Spare Fire Apparatus in the City Chief Blanchard states that Engine 33 is failing. It is getting repairs but there is a 3 – 4 week time frame. He looked for others to fill the need. He can’t find any and this is a long duration without it and the other trucks can’t handle the apparatus that Engine 33 carries. He spoke with John Raymond. There is 1 spare truck. There is a need for spares. Maybe when a truck is retired it should be kept as a spare. Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Jr. asks if there has been any luck sharing with other houses in the community. Chief Blanchard states he talked with other houses. They don’t have anything that could handle the equipment that Engine 33 carries nor any that could handle what it is needed for. Alderman Mark Bettencourt states he is concerned about losing another. Being down 1 truck that is a busy piece of equipment already makes that a concern. Chief Blanchard states it is a busy house. It makes it tough to be quick. VI. Old Business Public Safety Meeting Minutes May 8, 2013 Page 3 a. 395 Turn-Around Alderman Mark Bettencourt states he’s not sure what the next step is. They are not budging on this issue. Maybe it can be pitched as limited use. Pat Daley states that this will not get done without legislation. Chief Blanchard states they met with the legislators. Maybe it’s time to reach out to them again. b. Update on FD radios onto fiber project Chris LaRose with NPU states that Plain Hill and PD are done. They’re working on Orchard Street now. Installing EPS’s now. Alderman Mark Bettencourt asks how big the EPS’s are and what’s their voltage. Chris LaRose states he will let him know. He also states that additional work is needed at the Occum house and Backus. There are space constraints. They also came up with network issues and they are working on them now. c. Discuss the City Involvement for the Statewide drill OEM Gene Arters states that the scenarios haven’t changed. Our involvement is to open the EOC with a unified command and open shelters. This will be very easy for Region 4. He also states that WEB EOC is going through an overhaul to be more user friendly. The state is looking to do a system like the VEOCI system that was presented at the Public Safety Meeting in February. And Dr. Gray released his hurricane forecast. He’s forecasting 18 named storms including 9 hurricanes, for of category 3 or higher. Maybe the June exercise can be used to tabletop a practice exercise. Chris LaRose agrees that it would make sense to use the time to do something productive. c. Soup Kitchen Status Brian Kobylarz brings up the increased traffic versus when it was a School. He was distressed about a report from Chief Fusaro that was not an accurate reflection of the increased traffic but was in fact his opinion. He stated that he found this information out when he made an FOI request. Public Safety Meeting Minutes May 8, 2013 Page 4 Brian Kobylarz states that as a businessman this does not look goo to his clients. He states that it isn’t right that there are Soup Kitchen clients sleeping on the sidewalks and taking apart computer monitors in the street (see attached photos). Alderman Mark Bettencourt asks for dates and times of incidents. Brian Kobylarz replies that PD has been very good about responding. They have been seen in the Cemetery with flashlights every evening trying to keep the vandalism down. He also states that Barry of Public Works has truly taken an interest in fixing the damage. Alderman Mark Bettencourt states that it is important that everyone calls when there is a problem. Keep vigilant. Otherwise he’s not sure what else can be done. Patrol has been increased. He asks how the police presence is. Also, is he reporting to St. Vin or just to PD. Maybe Jillian should be a resource. Brian Kobylarz replies that sometimes an event will break up before PD can arrive (5 minutes). And he tried calling Jillian but now he’s calling PD instead. Jillian tried to keep things quiet if he called her. Jillian has tried talking to her clients to keep the pressure down. Mark Gagne agrees that the concern with calling Jillian is that it doesn’t create a paper trail or public knowledge. That lack of a paper trail gets used against the community with the lack of calls to PD. There is heavy traffic between 8 and 10 am and 1 to 2:30 pm up towards Main. It gets loud and obnoxious. And on a daily basis at least 60 walk by his house. Brian Kobylarz adds that about the traffic, in the Cliff Street area there is a higher volume driving the wrong way. Alderman Mark Bettencourt asks when and how often. Mark Gagne replies that it’s mostly the mornings. Alderman Mark Bettencourt asks Pat Daley to have patrols park there to enforce the traffic laws. Paula Vitouladitis has 3 points she wishes to bring up. 1) She is constantly picking up beer and booze bottles. This was never a problem before. 2) When they bring their Pit Bulls they let them run loose in the parking lot. 3) On Friday April 26 at 12:30 pm there were many people at the glass doorway entrance. The patrons were trying to hide a belligerent drunken man and then they put him in Jillian’s car and she drove off. Alderman Mark Bettencourt states that Pat Daley has been taking notes and will be looking into this. Public Safety Meeting Minutes May 8, 2013 Page 5 Pat Daley states that the Dog Warden will probably want to get into this. VII. Other – City Manager Alan Bergren states that at the Mayors 1 City Forum there was a discussion afterwards about the problems with the numbering in the Sunnyside area. A postal rep and the Assessor and Barry are working together to resolve this. Anyone unfamiliar (Police, Fire, Ambulance) you won’t be able to find it. It was suggested to have a Public Safety meeting with Postal Officials at the Yantic Fire Department. Alderman Mark Bettencourt asks City Manager Alan Bergren to contact the Postal rep to set this up. Chris LaRose asks to be kept in the loop on this upcoming meeting as NPU will need to know too. Alderman Mark Bettencourt asks if there are people opposed. Chief Blanchard states that some residents are concerned. Alderman Mark Bettencourt wants the residents invited to the meeting. City Manager Alan Bergren states that they want to give sensible permanent addresses so mail can be delivered and it’s the City’s responsibility to number them Chief Blanchard replies that maybe we can use the E911 numbering. The Mayor wants a forum for residents to be informed. Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Jr. states it will be good to have an open forum to hear everyone’s concerns. b. Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Jr. asks how apparatus works going across the bridge. Ken Leo states they’ve never had any trouble there. Chief Blanchard states that the bridge is rated for the apparatus. VIII. Adjournment Upon a motion by Alderman H. Tucker Braddock Jr, seconded by Alderman Mark Bettencourt, the meeting was unanimously adjourned at 8:00 pm Respectfully submitted by Christine Averna Pictures from the Harp & Dragon on St. Patrick’s Day Soup Kitchen Photos