5-23-19 Public Safety Committee

Public Safety Committee May 23rd, 2019 Final Notes In attendance: Alice Jonsson, Shawn Gillen, Jason Patterson, Robert Bryson, George Shaw, John Branigin, William Moseley, Joel Fobes, Wanda Doyle, Julie Livingston, Monty Parks. Wanda Doyle called the meeting to order at 10 AM. John Branigin made a motion to approve the notes from the 4/25/19 meeting. Motion passed. Public Salary Update: Shawn said he will bring education and certification numbers to the Finance Committee. Expressed that hopefully a placeholder will be put in place in the budget. John Branigin explained the work the Finance Committee is doing on compensation and pay policies for all city employees. Budget Amendment for Ocean Rescue: covers equipment but not personnel. Chief Patterson explained that the Jet Ski is not on there as a purchase because of design changes. He will be revisiting that purchase later in the year as he learns more from the manufacturer. ‘Emily’ - Chief Patterson shared information and quotes on this piece of equipment. There is a 7-14 day turnaround. Training can start right away once acquired. Slip at AJ’s – will have information soon. He is waiting on a write-up. Should be about 100-150 dollars per month. Emergency Equipment – Lights and Speakers – Chief Patterson is working with manufacturers. May come in August. He will keep group updated. Chief Patterson gave a personnel update. Drones – policies need to be worked out ORCA – in the next budget cycle – test-driving it this summer. Wanda would like for group to consider attaching a fine to going out on sandbar. Shawn shared that Bubba says we can start enforcing the ordinance and charging a fine. We can charge up to a thousand dollars and asked group to consider if the city also wants to charge for the cost of the call. Would like to get signs up as quickly as possible warning about the fine. John Branigin asked if sign should also say you may be liable. Group discussed complexities of ordering permanent signs and talked through various sandbar ordinance violation scenarios and the need to define “intentional disregard for safety”. Orange Crush Traffic Controls: Shawn updated group on what city deduced from the approaches taken to controlling traffic during Orange Crush. Approaches were largely successful. There may be some different placement of barricades for the next event. Group discussed how traffic flowed on island. Chief Bryson said it was a huge crowd and that it was very helpful having support from other agencies and that the TIPD wrote a lot of tickets. He believes the barricades were very helpful and created a visual sense of control. GA State Patrol really stepped up and were great. Wanda suggested that some city representatives meet with some concerned citizens after Memorial Day. Shawn talked about plans for traffic control for July 4th. Plans at this point are for the controls to increase at the end of the day. Shawn and Joel Fobes went over plans for July 4th with the group with a map. Myriad one-ways will be created. The traffic circle will be partially blocked. “Parking Full” signs will be used. We will let the spaces fill on the south end of the island and then gradually start closing off areas to guide people to open parking areas and reduce circling looking for spaces. Joel Fobes is confident it will help with pedestrian vs car issues. They will also be controlling traffic lights to help with the flow. Shawn said they will be hosting a public meeting in June to share the plans with the public so people don’t feel surprised. Lanes will also be merged in various locations. 2nd Ave. Stop Signs- Shawn asked if committee would like signs at 9th and 10th. Wanda said yes and that she would bring it to the Council that night for their blessing. Julie Livingston and Wanda Doyle both shared that they do not support speed humps on 2nd. The group discussed placing signs at Taylor and Pulaski and decided Council approval would be needed. Julie brought up that parking and pedestrian usage is increasing all over the north end of the island and believes that stop signs can help with safety. Group discussed various community concerns about different stop sign placements all around the island. Group agreed all sign placement and one-ways needs to be carefully thought out and brought to residents before changes are made. Group discussed myriad options for bus drop-off near lighthouse/fort area. New Business: Chief Patterson went over staffing projections for TIFD. He is scheduling a lot of overtime shifts and sees that as only a temporary solution to the staffing problem. He shared different staffing models with the group that he feels would work better long-term. Most incidents on the sandbar, for example, are occurring when part-time staff and Ocean Rescue are not on duty. Shared that it will take approximately six months to hire and on-board new people. Golf Cart Registration and inspection was discussed as a group. Various ideas were shared about how we could inspect and register them more effectively. Group also discussed how golf carts are being used to move around the island and where it’s working and not working. Ship Wake: Group discussed issues surround large container ship wakes that are endangering beach-goers on the northern end of the island. Shawn said it’s a complex issue and that he and Chief Patterson will be meeting to discuss possible solutions. Wanda Doyle made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Motion passed and meeting adjourned at 11:15.