Public Safety Committee (Meets 3rd Thursday of each month at 6:00 p.m.)

Proceedings of the Public Safety Committee October 20, 2021 Members Present: Councilor Elm Councilor Sutherland Councilor Ledin Others Present: Chief Alexander, Chief Gordon, Mayor Paine, Gary LaPorte, Kathy LaPorte, David Johnson, Shelley Nelson Some participants joined the meeting via Google Meet. Councilor Sutherland called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and noted that Donna Swanson recorded all participants for roll call. Approval of minutes: August 18, 2021 Motion by Councilor Ledin, seconded by Councilor Elm and carried to approve the Public Safety meeting minutes from August 18, 2021. Standing Agenda items: 1. Fire Department Update Chief Gordon talked about the Port Security grant that has allowed the department to purchase a new air boat. There were only two grants awarded in the entire port and the Fire Department received the larger grant. Next year members of the department will work with the steering committee to discuss how this boat will change our response for the entire port. We will have year-round response for our waterways. Chief Gordon said the shipping companies are very happy that this is happening. The bid process is currently taking place, and once a decision is made, Chief Gordon said they will then approach City Council for approval to make the purchase. Chief Gordon also spoke about the department protecting the Village of Superior. It is contractual, currently a three year contract. Chief Gordon said last year the department responded to the Village 214 times. The Village pays the City based on State Statute. Chief Gordon said he wanted to bring this issue to the committee for informational purposes, because it is a unique situation, and one that he was not previously aware of. Also Chief Gordon noted that the new ladder truck is due to arrive in a few weeks. Police Department Update Chief Alexander showed the committee a new software that the department recently implemented. The software is called SmartForce. Chief Alexander talked about different aspects of this software. It can serve as a briefing board to remind officers which areas currently need more enforcement. Officers document when they have gone to these areas, and how long they spent there, as well as tickets or warnings that were issued. It’ll allow us to more efficiently allocate our resources to the right places, and keep our officers more informed of many events that are happening. It will also be our online platform for taking complaints and compliments. We can track all pursuits and use of force incidents. He believes this software will be a valuable tool to the department in many different ways. No action New Business 1. Director Janigo: Update on parking-Weeks Avenue Director Janigo told the committee that an engineering firm looked at the parking in the area of Weeks Avenue near the new Central Flats building. Angle parking was suggested on the west side of the street as a possibility, however that would be a pretty extensive project and would require a complete redesign of the road and wouldn’t be economically feasible as only about three or four parking spots would be added. Other suggestions were made including tenants renting spots in nearby parking lots, permit type parking and two hour parking in certain areas. No action 2. Lt. Trone: WI Point parking Signage is in place on WI Point and Lt. Trone thinks that the signs have been effective. Parking problems aren’t an issue at this point since the weather has cooled off. No action 3. Permitting process for events at fairgrounds There was some discussion on events that occur on the Douglas County Fairgrounds property. Since this is not City property, we cannot require permits. Chief Gordon said we would just like to have more information available for safety issues. Chief Gordon would like to be able to be prepared for events so first responders can do their job to the best of their ability and keep everyone safe. Mayor Paine suggested that a proposal be prepared and presented to the City/County committee for consideration. Motion by Councilor Ledin, seconded by Councilor Elm and carried to refer this item to the City County committee. Citizen Dave Johnson spoke about stop signs in Billings Park and some stop lines that have not been painted near these new stop signs. Meeting was adjourned at 6:50 p.m.