Public Safety Committee

Regular Meeting of the Public Safety Committee Held in the Conference Room at City Hall April 16, 2019 @ 4:30 p.m. Notice of this meeting was given to the public in compliance with Sections 10-15-1 through 10-15-4 NMSA 1978 and Resolution 1 8 - 5 5 . ROLL CALL The meeting convened at 4:30 p.m. with Chair Best presiding, Councilor Moore, Councilor Foster and Councilor Henderson being present. Staff present: Mike Mathews, Deputy City Manager, Karen Sanders, Chaves County Emergency Manager, Devin Graham, Fire Chief, Angela Vegara, Fire Department, Michael Taylor, Police Captain of Investigation Services, Michael Stanton, Police Deputy Chief Guests Present: Tracy Laney, Consolidated Dispatch, Larry Connelly, Samantha Rizo APPROVAL AGENDA Councilor Henderson motioned to approve the agenda of the April 16, 2019, Public Safety Committee meeting. Councilor Moore was the second, with a voice vote unanimous, and the motion passed 4-0. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES 1. Councilor Moore motioned to approve the minutes of the March 19, 2019, Public Safety Committee meeting. Councilor Foster was the second, with a voice vote unanimous, and the motion passed 4-0. REGULAR ITEMS 2. None. NON-ACTION ITEMS 3. Ambulance Update Chief Devin Graham gave the Committee the current update. He informed the Committee that there is continuation of pursuit through PRC for a split certificate. There have been some temporary changes in Santa Fe, which make it difficult to contact anyone. The department is focused on splitting the certificate of necessity with Superior Ambulance to allow transport of patients. There are a couple of rescue type vehicles on the Fleet Replacement Plan and the vision is to replace those with rescue type vehicles and ambulance. There have been ongoing issues with the transport of  patients out of the community to surrounding cities. Splitting the certificate will allow the department to transport also. NON-ACTION ITEMS 4. Animal Control Update Mike Mathews gave the update to the Committee. Mr. Mathews met with Megan Tellez, Joseph Pacheco of Animal Control, along with Mr. Gonzales in updating ordinances for their department months ago. Mr. Mathews provided the Committee with a rough draft of the updates, revisions and removals of ordinances that will be proposed to the Committee. He asked that the Committee review and give their input or any suggestions within a three-month period to provide to City Council. They are currently working on implementing a new adoption process as well as the microchipping. The department is working on a new resolution to allow changes to ordinances and codes. One proposed change would be to require residents to microchip or maintain a city tag for their animals. Any animal adopted out of Animal Control will be microchipped with few exceptions such as medical or smaller breed animals. More discussion will be held prior to presenting it to the Committee. Mr. Mathews informed the Committee that he has secured the original contract with the Humane Society. He will have the property lease reviewed by rescue groups, Humane Society, and multiple organizations for their input. The purpose is to produce a useable, enforceable document that benefits the City of Roswell. A contract was drafted between the County and Animal Control pertaining to fees that the County will be responsible for paying to Animal Services. The contract should be completed by next month. Additional information will be provided as soon as available. NON-ACTION ITEMS 5. Combined Dispatch Update Mr. Mathews and Tracy Laney gave the staffing and dispatch update to the Committee. The PVRCC met with the new vendor Code3, to get costs and a proposal with EF Johnson who provide the engineering services. When the proposal was received, the recommendation was to conduct an engineering survey on the existing system. Through legislative appropriations last year, a grant was awarded to the Sherriff Department for $220,000 with $190,000 of that still being available. Of those funds, $70,000.00 will be used for the engineering survey. In the proposal, it was suggested that an additional channel be added for both Fire Department and the Police Department in order to have back up channels. All expenses will be split 60/40 with Chaves County. Mr. Laney informed the Committee that he has requested an additional quote for Kenna from Code3. The previous quote did not include Kenna, only the existing tower  sites. This quote will cost the County an additional $70,455 plus the original quote of $483,160. With the Sheriff Department grant funds of $190.000 that will leave $363,615.00. The PVRCC operates on 60/40 split which would be $145,446 due from the County and $218,169 due from the City. This will also include coverage for the Caprock site. There was a second quote received from another company for $672,829, it was not feasible to ask the County to split the expense 60/40. Dispatch was short five employees; three candidates hired with two remaining vacancies re-opened. NON-ACTION ITEMS 6. RPD Staffing Update Michael Stanton gave the current update to the Committee. There are currently twelve vacant positions, with four in the hiring process. For year 2019, there were forty-eight recruit applicants, four lateral applications, with ten recruits hired and zero lateral’s hired to date. Captain Gonzales and Lt. Brisco, will be retiring at the end of April but are currently accounted for until then. Five personnel have resigned, four applicants tested and none passed the testing procedures. Two additional applicants tested with both failing. One of the two applicants re-tested and passed. There are multitudes of reasons as to why they do not pass the testing procedures. Four applicants began in March, one resigned due to an injury sustained during training. The department is hopeful that recruit will re-apply when he recovers. There was an additional resignation received from the property custodian on March 15, 2019. INFORMATION Karen Sanders, Chaves County Emergency Manager updated the Committee on the costs of recovery of the Tornado in Dexter and high winds damage. Ms. Sanders informed the Committee that the threshold was $248,000 for the recovery. Eight separate entities applied including, City of Roswell, Chaves County, Town of Dexter, Town of Hagerman, Roswell Independent School District, CVE, PVC and Lea County. The cost of recovery totals were around $249,000, documentation has been re-submitted to the State to see if the Governor is going to provide additional funding. Additional updates will forth coming to the Committee when available. INFORMATION Chief Graham addressed the Committee regarding Fire Fighter Recruitment. There are currently nine vacant positions within the department with ten in the background process. There were concerns expressed from Councilor Foster regarding the vacancies. Chief Graham informed the Committee that if all ten pass  the background and training academy, there should be positions available for all applicants. INFORMATION Larry Connelly asked the Committee where the Splash Pad’s authorized location was. Councilor Foster addressed Mr. Connelly that its proposed location was Chisum Park, but the decision was made that Carpenter Park was more accessible. No further questions. Next meeting May 14, 2019 at 4:30 p.m., City Hall Mayor’s Conference Room. CHAIR ANNOUNCEMENTS/REPORTS None ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 5:25 p.m.