Public Safety Committee

Public Safety Committee Meeting Held in the Roswell Museum and Art Center – Bassett Auditorium Tuesday, November 19, 2019, at 4:30 p.m. The meeting convened at 4:30 p.m. with Councilor Jeanine Best presiding, Councilor Angela Moore, Councilor Barry Foster and Mike Mathews present. Councilor Steve Henderson absent. Staff Present: Captain Mike Taylor, Chief Phil Smith, Deputy Chief Mike Stanton, Chief Devon Graham, Jill Pollock RFD Admin, Megan Telles Kennel Manager, Karen Sanders Emergency Manager. Others attending were: Melody Novak, Larry Connelly, Rhonda Wilkes, Don Wilkes, Abby Hess and Mike Alba. AGENDA APPROVAL A motion to approve the agenda was made by Councilor Foster and seconded by Councilor Moore. A voice vote was unanimous, and the motion passed with Councilor Henderson being absent. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. A motion to approve the Minutes for October 15, 2019 was made by Councilor Foster and seconded by Councilor Moore. A voice vote was unanimous, and the motion passed with Councilor Henderson being absent. REGULAR ITEMS 2. Animal Control new ordinance 20-XX: A motion to send the new Animal Control ordinance 20-XX to full City Council as presented, was made by Councilor Moore and seconded by Councilor Foster. A voice vote was unanimous, and the motion passed with Counselor Henderson being absent. 3. Animal Control Fines and Fees: Mike Mathews noted the plan for today was to finalize this document so it can be put into resolution form for approval at the December Public Safety Meeting. If approved the document will be sent to the City Council Meeting in January. Mike Mathews opened the discussion by stating the sellers permit was the only section still needing work. Megan Telles stated she revamped the seller’s permits and passed out a new master schedule of fees. Discussion among staff regarding the new fees was discussed. Mike Mathews stated he will bring the document in resolution form to the next meeting for approval. NON-ACTION ITEMS 4. None INFORMATION 5. Department Updates: Roswell Police: Chief Phil Smith started with staffing and recruiting numbers. He stated that currently for this year they have hired nineteen officers and lost twenty officers. There are fifteen vacant officer positions. In October six recruit officers graduated academy. In November two officers resigned and two officers were hired. Four officer applicants are in the background investigation process and five are awaiting the background process. Fifty-one people have applied for the PSA Career Path position with about half being eligible due to age. Eleven applicants have shown up for testing. One conditional offer has been extended and two candidates are in the background process. Chief Smith gave an overview of the recent increase in gun violence and stated he is working on a Highlight Newsletter for the City Council. Chief Smith stated that between November 13, 2019 and November 17, 2019 there were six shots fired events. Dates and descriptions of each event were given. Chief Smith finished his updates with a list of holiday safety tips. Roswell Fire: Chief Devin Graham introduced Jill Pollock the new administrative assistant for the fire department. He stated they currently have nine vacancies, with two more employees scheduled to retire at the end of the year. Six new recruits will begin in January. A new round of recruitment for applicants will begin next week and go through the beginning of January. The hiring process will begin in January. Successful candidates will be selected and the needed number people will be dropped into academy. Academy is currently scheduled to begin in February 2020. Chief Graham stated there have been several, recent motor vehicle accidents, causing three fatalities. He noted that highway 380 east continues to be a dangerous area for driving. Winter structure fire season has begun due to an increase in the heating of homes. He informed the committee he will have a list of winter tips out soon. Chief Graham concluded by stating the New Mexico Business Coalition had an awards banquet to honor Jeff Stroble and his family. A college scholarship has been set up for his daughter Katie.  Emergency Management: Karen Sanders stated they received a grant to update the hazard mitigation plan and noted a consultant has been hired to work on the grant. She stated the next step in this will be a survey that the public will participate in filling out. Another project being worked on is adding an annex to the current Emergency Operations plan. This is required by FEMA. A grant has been acquired for $19,410.00. A consultant will be hired to write the emergency operations annex. Paperwork is complete for all of the high wind/tornado damage in March. She stated this is a slow process and funds have not been received yet. Dispatch: Mike Mathews spoke on behalf of Teri Best, the new Chaves County Dispatch Director. He stated Teri is doing very well in her new position and is very active in the new communications project. He stated the new Communication Improvement Project was approved and will last about a year and a half. Dispatch is still short-handed at this time and interviews are ongoing. Code Enforcement: Mike Mathews stated they have been in the process of hiring two additional officers. During this process they had one current officer resign so they have reopened the position again. Mike Mathews stated the goal is to have five officers with smaller areas to cover. 6. 2020 Public Safety Committee Calendar: Mike Mathews stated the dates look good and meetings will continue to be the first Tuesday following the City Council meeting. 7. Councilor Jeanine Best announced the next meeting will be held December 17, 2019 at 4:30 pm at the library. CHAIR ANNOUNCEMENT / REPORTS None PUBLIC PARTICIPATION None ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 4:30 p.m.