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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Protection Committee 01-09-07 PUBLIC PROTECTION COMMITTEE MEETING January 9, 2007 Official MEMBERS PRESENT: Julie Speer, Denise Gunderson, John Borup, Chuck Mehls and Tom Dowd. Absent: None. STAFF PRESENT: Sheriff Dennis Hillstead, Patrol Captain John Shilts, Office Manager Mary Martell, Medical Examiner Casey Swetlik, Child Support Director Katy Kapaun, District Attorney Eric Johnson, Selena Peterson and Amy Geurkink. OTHERS PRESENT: Bill Cranmer. Meeting called to order at 8:35am by Chairperson Speer. Next regular meeting will be February 9, 2007 at 8:30am. Motion by Gunderson, 2nd by Borup to adopt the agenda. Carried unanimously. Motion by Gunderson, 2 nd by Mehls to approve the minutes of December 12, 2006. Carried unanimously. Discussion regarding the presentation at the December 14, 2006 joint meeting with the Finance Committee. Discussion regarding the Finance Committee not recognizing what the Public Protection Committee is asking as the presentation did not address the concerns presented. Mehls read his written statement regarding the joint meeting. The committee members agreed with his statement and asked that it be included in the minutes; Mehls' written statement is as follows: , 'Following a lengthy delay, the Public Protection Committee was finally scheduled for a joint meeting with the Finance Committee as part of the Finance Committee's agenda. For some reason the majority of our allotted time, including a twenty -five minute "historical review" on power point, was devoted to paper storage consideration only and did not address the principal reason why the Public Protection Committee requested the meeting. The question is: would it be more practical to use the money presently being spent on off -site storage sites (New Brighton covers the paper issue only) such cis the Baldwin Ag Center, Baldwin Community Garage and North Hudson Storage sheds. This question could only be answered if the Public Protection Committee and all parties knew: a) past, present and 2007 rental costs, b) location of facilities presently being rented, c) level of security at these sites and, d) ease of access. Because agenda time ran out there was no discussion of other storage issues. If the paper storage were the only issue, that topic was more than adequately covered during the December Board meeting. Bottom line: apparently there was misinterpretation of the No. 2 Finance Committee agenda item concerning building storage issues. Does the Finance Committee really understand the reason for requesting the joint meeting? " Motion by Mehls, 2 by Dowd to approve the minutes of December 14, 2006. Carried unanimously. MEDICAL EXAMINER'S REPORT: Swetlik presented December 2006 Medical Examiner bills in the amount of $2,145.85. Motion by Borup, 2 by Mehls to approve the bills as presented. Carried unanimously. Swetlik outlined the department budget summary and noted autopsies are nearly at the predicted budget number and cremation revenue is substantially over budget. Discussion regarding services provided by Dr. McGee. Swetlik reported he is still waiting for a price quote concerning the body removal /transport issue stating he needs a number to be able to move it forward. Discussion regarding the services provided, consistency of fees and setting a precedence; Swetlik reported a reasonable fee would be $175 or under. Discussion regarding an outstanding payment due for a removal fee; the Committee agreed Swetlik will send $125 to have it taken care of Swetlik reported he will be attending a conference in Wausau and the hotel will honor the governmental rate. Motion by Gunderson, 2nd by Borup to authorize Swetlik's attendance at the Wausau conference. Carried unanimously. Swetlik reported the contract regarding WI Act 230 concerning donor services remains with RTI for review. Swetlik reported on a situation that raised some concern regarding the mailing address for the Medical Examiner; he summarized the situation appears to be remedied and clarified all mail has been received. Swetlik reported there is a facility in Eau Claire that performs autopsies to investigate deaths due to family history, heart disease, etc. Swetlik indicated the service is provided for about half the cost. He will explore the options of this service and report back. Discussion regarding public information concerning the prescription drug Fentanyl is more widespread. Swetlik reported he recently appeared on an Eau Claire news television station and also indicated he is working with others toward steps that may result in a label change for the drug. CHILD SUPPORT REPORT: Child Support Director Katy Kapaun provided December 2006 bills in the amount of $2,845.45. Kapaun reported the budget report does not reflect the total 2006 numbers and she clarified the numbers concerning health insurance, process service and professional services; brief discussion regarding translation services. Kapaun summarized overall her department is expected to come in under budget. Motion by Mehls, 2 by Borup to approve the bills as presented. Carried unanimously. Discussion regarding two Child Support staff providing hours in the Clerk of Court office for the purpose of unpaid fine collections. Kapaun indicated the persons may start January 11 and noted it will be interesting to see the results of their different collection methods. Kapaun provided an overview concerning the Westlaw program search capabilities, clarified the subscription fees and noted she has already seen benefits of the Westlaw features. Kapaun reported the state has increased the application fee from twenty dollars to twenty -five but indicated she feels it will not make a tremendous difference. -2- Kapaun addressed the subject of the new wage grid that was recently approved by the County Board explaining the elimination of certain pay grades has created a dilemma within her department. Kapaun indicated she notified Scott Guinter, Compensation Classification Specialist and asked the situation be addressed at the next PAWG meeting. Kapaun commended her staff as a whole and recognized the importance and benefit of all positions for department efficiency. Speer reminded Kapaun of her upcoming performance evaluation. Brief discussion regarding the departmental annual reports to the County Board and the inconvenience to Department Heads in having to wait to give their reports; discussion to have the reports placed first on the agenda; Speer will address this issue with the person(s) involved with preparing the agenda. DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S REPORT: Johnson introduced Selena Peterson from the Victim Witness office and reported she performs work involved with restraining orders. Johnson explained it is a grant- funded position and the grant will sustain the position for a couple more years. Peterson described a few aspects of her job and Johnson summarized it is a good service for the county. Johnson explained reasons for his office wanting to utilize the available space (large lunchroom area) in the Government Center. He described the current waiting area in the District Attorney's office and reported it is a very uncomfortable and often intimidating situation when the families, friends and attorneys of both the victim and defendant are required to share the same waiting area and restroom, etc. Discussion regarding other conference rooms and the fact they are often being used and are too small. Johnson summarized a proper setting is important for all persons involved; the Committee agreed and desires that the District Attorney's office get a portion of the available space. Johnson presented December 2006 bills in the amount of $10,380.48. Motion by Borup, 2 nd by Gunderson to approve the bills as presented. Carried unanimously. Discussion regarding the professional services category and the difficulty of predicting an amount for testimonies, etc. Discussion regarding the overall budget coming in under - budget and not being too concerned with individual line items. Break taken at 10:10am; reconvened at 10:20am. SHERIFF DEPT/JAIL REPORT: Hillstead reported Shilts and Demulling have worked on setting up the video conferencing room; Shilts welcomed the committee to view the room. Hillstead reported next years' budget may have to include a full -time person for computer work involving child pornography investigations, etc. Discussion regarding the computer age has enhanced such crimes. Discussion regarding the staff requirements for patrol dictation/transcription; Hillstead summarized it is much more economical to utilize clerical staff for transcription than to pay patrol officers to provide written reports. Hillstead reported the Star Prairie sub - station will be up and running soon and will save a lot of officer drive time. -3- Hillstead reported his department has renewed the contract with Nextel concerning the phone system. Discussion regarding the importance of calling 911 internally rather than calling court security numbers. Shilts and Hillstead reported they received another grant toward the purchase of mobile data computers. They reported the equipment is costly as the laptops need to be durable and the licensing is expensive summarizing it costs about $10,000 per vehicle to fully equip the squads. Hillstead reported the person contracted for the Jail Nurse continues to do very well. Hillstead also reported Dr. Young, who provides physician service has signed a contract with the company that provides jail medical care. Discussion regarding status of the Raboin issue. Hillstead reported a search warrant has been done, the people on the list have been contacted and they are still gathering information. Hillstead reported there are discrepancies in a few statements and polygraphs will provide clarification. Hillstead summarized he is not prepared to say one way or another about the issue. Hillstead presented an authorization to exceed hotel expenses concerning Martell's attendance at a Visionaire conference in North Carolina. Motion by Gunderson, 2nd by Dowd to approve the authorization. Carried unanimously. Martell outlined the aspects of the Visionaire conference and noted it was especially helpful to meet the people she deals with by phone on a routine basis. Hillstead reported he and Shilts have worked on implementing an "essential function" list to insure that the people they hire have the physical capability to perform the job. Currently there are two - hundred twenty -four items considered as essential functions and they will try to incorporate them in their next application process. They have passed the list on to Risk Manager Ziliak and Compensation Classification Specialist Guinter for review. Hillstead reported they are considering canceling out of the Bass Lake contract as it is difficult to get people to work the types of hours requested (sporadic hours to coincide with on- and -off the lake hours) and it does not work well scheduling -wise. Hillstead reported they will continue to do water patrol there as they do in every county lake. Hillstead reported close to $6,000 has been donated to the canine program and the dog will be selected in the next couple of weeks. He reported an officer has been selected to be the next canine officer and described the position as physically challenging and the training in St. Paul is extensive. Hillstead explained the personality of the handler is important because the dog will absorb aspects of that personality. Discussion regarding the issue of stray dogs; Hillstead reported they are not picking them up and the individual towns need to take care of it. December 2006 Jail bills in the amount of $35,765.25 were presented. Martell clarified some bills are not in yet but the bottom line is they are under budget in both the Sheriff and Jail departments. Motion by Mehls, 2 by Borup to approve the bills as presented. Carried unanimously. Discussion regarding the gasoline price, the price for vehicle maintenance and reimbursement for transports, etc. -4- Discussion regarding lowering the jail rate to match the surrounding counties; this item will be placed on next months agenda. Discussion regarding the Huber facility for low -risk minimum security inmates and electronic home monitoring, etc. December 2006 Sheriff Bills were presented in the amount of $66,481.89. Motion by Borup, 2nd by Dowd to approve the bills as presented. Carried unanimously. Hillstead clarified the probation and parole hold reimbursements. Shilts reported they ordered seven new squad cars at approximately $21,000 per car and the bid was awarded to Dave Holt Ford. Shilts also reported he researched the cost of "road- ready" squads and summarized it would be $5,000 to $6,000 more per car. Hillstead reported he and his staff have appreciated the level of support from the Public Protection Committee over the past year and they look forward to working with the Committee in 2007. STORAGE FACILITY: Discussion regarding disappointment with the results of the joint meeting with the Finance Committee; this item will be brought forward on the next agenda. Meeting adjourned at 11:48am. John Borup, Secretary Amy Geurkink, Recording Secretary -5- Page 1 of 1 Amy Geurkink From: Amy Geurkink Sent: Monday, February 12, 2007 8:02 AM To: Annette Massie Subject: Official minutes Attached are the official minutes from the January 9, 2007 Public Protection Committee meeting. Arny J. Geurkink First Deputy /St. Croix County Clerk St. Croix County Government Center 1101 Carmichael Road Hudson, WI 54016 Ph. 715- 386 -4609 2/12/2007