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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Protection Committee 04-12-07 t. r�. NOTICE OF MEETING AND AGENDA PUBLIC PROTECTION COMMITTEE APRIL 12, 2007 - 8:30AM ST. CROIX COUNTY GOVERNMENT CENTER ROOM 1281 1101 CARMICHAEL ROAD HUDSON, WISCONSIN CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING — March 6, 2007 DATE OF NEXT MEETING — May 10, 2007 OLD AND NEW BUSINESS 1. Web Browser/Visions Update 2. Bills and Vouchers* 3. Storage Facility* 4. Medical Examiner — Casey Swetlik 5. Child Support Administrator — Katy Kapaun a. Unpaid Fines /Collections b. Wage Grid/PAWG Committee 6. District Attorney Eric Johnson / Victim Witness Coordinator Ann Gustafson 7. Sheriff Dennis Hillstead, Chief Deputy Bob Klanderman, Patrol Captain John Shilts, Jail Captain Karen Humphrey, Office Manager Mary Martell a. Expenditures: Drug Fund /Confiscated Acct. /Jail Assessment b. Renting of Jail Space /Costs 8. * *Human Resources /Persom Issues* 9. * *WI -DOT Stillwater Bridge Bike/Pedestrian Loop Trail Considerations (Tim Ramberg) — Approximately 10:30am 10. * *Goal Setting ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE ADJOURN (Items may be taken in different order) * These items will be heard by each Department * * Additions /Changes /Corrections Submitted by: Julie Speer Date: March 22, 2007 Copies to: County Board office News Media County Clerk Committee Members Respective Department Heads Items for County Board approval must be submitted to the County Clerk's office by Wednesday morning preceding a County Board meeting. 3/23/2007 12:11 PM PUBLIC PROTECTION COMMITTEE MEETING April 12, 2007 Official MEMBERS PRESENT: Julie Speer, Denise Gunderson, John Borup, Chuck Mehls. Absent and excused: Tom Dowd. STAFF PRESENT: Sheriff Dennis Hillstead, Patrol Captain John Shilts, Medical Examiner Casey Swetlik, Child Support Director Katy Kapaun, District Attorney Eric Johnson, Diversion Coordinator Lisa Multhauf, Paralegal Intern Jamie Palesh, Highway Commissioner Tim Ramberg and Amy Geurkink. OTHERS PRESENT: Town of St. Joseph Chair Theresa Johnson and Town of Hudson Supervisor Gayle Qualls. Meeting called to order at 8:30am by Chairperson Speer. Next regular meeting will be May 10 at 8:30am. The June meeting will be held on the Stn. Motion by Mehls, 2nd by Borup to adopt the agenda. Carried unanimously. Motion by Borup, 2 by Gunderson to approve the minutes of March 6, 2007. Carried unanimously. MEDICAL EXAMINER'S REPORT: Swetlik presented March Medical Examiner bills in the amount of $4,043.53. Motion by Borup, 2 by Mehls to approve the bills as presented. Carried unanimously. Swetlik reported calls for service are on track and noted there are four outstanding autopsies. Swetlik clarified the expense concerning eight flash drives, described the capabilities for storage of photos as well as security aspects and explained the photos are stored on the county server and kept indefinitely. Swetlik presented information concerning a training session he plans to attend in Minocqua, Wisconsin entitled Local Child Death Review Team Training. He described what the training entails and explained there are specific procedural requirements when the death of a child is involved. Swetlik provided a handout and reported there are updated recommendations concerning the disposal of Fentanyl. Discussion regarding providing the information to the Public Health Department; discussion regarding proper disposal of all medications. Discussion regarding traffic fatality statistics of the Medical Examiner's office and that of law enforcement and why the numbers may vary. HUMAN RESOURCES/PERSONNEL ISSUES: Speer commenced discussion regarding conducting a survey of county employees in an attempt to receive feedback concerning employee satisfaction and improvement suggestions, etc. Discussion regarding various methods of survey, the responses remaining anonymous, questions to present, time frame involved and the survey being specific to departments that report to the Public Protection Committee. CHILD SUPPORT REPORT: Child Support Director Katy Kapaun presented March bills in the amount of $1,381.53. Motion by Borup, 2nd by Mehls to approve the bills as presented. Carried unanimously. Kapaun provided the budget status report, noting costs for language interpretation services are high and explained the interpretation process using the call -in service; discussion regarding the state requirement to provide interpretation services. Kapaun reported collections are up approximately six percent (6 %) and credits administrative enforcement particularly license suspensions for the increase. Discussion regarding the amount of information available for the collection process. Kapaun provided an update concerning the collection project in the Clerk of Court office. She indicated there was significant time spent cleaning up data and summarized the actual collection work has now begun. Kapaun reported St. Croix County recently hosted an interstate project in which several counties from Wisconsin and Minnesota participated. She reported St. Croix County has a significant number of out of state cases, the project was an excellent exchange of information and they will meet again in June. Kapaun also described the worker exchange program that will take place in May. DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S REPORT: March bills were presented in the amount of $2,177.56. Motion by Gunderson, 2 by Mehls to approve the bills as presented. Carried unanimously. Johnson reported the budget is in good shape overall. Discussion regarding the "Hitting the Mark" conference; Johnson explained the conference involved training on how to identify people carrying guns. Johnson described the high fines as part of the problem with traffic ticket intercept and explained how the charges multiply for some individuals, summarizing there would be more payments if the amounts were less. Discussion regarding state mandated charges and the hardships created by license suspensions. Johnson introduced Diversion Coordinator Lisa Mutlauf and commenced discussion regarding concern of funding for the diversion program. He reported there will no funding through grants in the future and indicated the program will be emphasized in the 2008 budget. Mutlauf described certain aspects of her position, explained the benefits of the program for both the offender and taxpayer and outlined the success rate since the implementation of the program in January of 2005. Discussion regarding obtaining testaments of success stories to present to the County Board. Johnson introduced Jamie Palesh, a WITC paralegal student who is currently interning in the District Attorney's office. Johnson reported he will continue to push for the half -time ADA position to become a full time position; discussion regarding staffing /personnel issues. Speer read a letter concerning $34,004.66 as Victim Witness program reimbursement. -2- Johnson reported a private entity offers a service for the processing of bad checks and explained businesses now have an alternative source for this service. Short break taken at 10:10 am; reconvened at 10:20am. REPORTS OF THE SHERIFF DEPT / JAIL / PATROL CAPTAIN: Hillstead reported there are no bills to present at this time and indicated the February and March bills will be submitted for approval at the May meeting. Hillstead reported there are a number of employee retirements and summarized the challenges involved with losing that amount of staff experience. Discussion regarding advertising for the positions; Shilts reported the interview process will include a certain amount of focus on individual character. Hillstead provided an update on the process of the jail death investigation and summarized there are no definitive answers yet. Hillstead and Shilts reported the seventh, eighth and ninth county traffic fatalities of the year occurred recently. Discussion regarding a support mechanism offered for officers dealing with deaths and other high stress incidences. Hillstead reported there has been a tremendous increase in the amount of burglaries indicating construction sites, spec homes, machine sheds, garages, residences, as well as a couple of businesses have been targets. Discussion regarding getting a handle on methods used as well as mapping out crime areas. Shilts reported the department will receive a second dog for the canine program and reported the monies for the dog as well as training are from donated funds; discussion regarding preparing a press release. Hillstead reported there has not been any contact concerning jail space rental; although there may be potential for added revenue through probation and parole. Shilts presented a blueprint proposal for the remodeling of the evidence room and indicated the remodeling would include movable storage shelves that would create more space. Hillstead reported they have used a similar system in the jail for the past several years and it has worked fine; discussion regarding cost. Hillstead reported funds are needed for the remodeling of the squad room and proposes obtaining funds from the asset forfeiture fund. Motion by Gunderson, 2 nd by Mehls to authorize the amount of $7,679.00 from the asset forfeiture fund to be allocated for squad room remodeling. Carried unanimously. Hillstead reported another circuit was added in the jail and reported the bill was much higher than the original estimate and the amount is not in the budget; discussion regarding the variables that caused the cost increase. Motion by Mehls, 2 nd by Gunderson to approve the amount of -3- $1,743.43 from the jail assessment fund to be allocated for additional circuit costs. Carried unanimously. Shilts provided a handout regarding the most recent numbers for the state concerning meth use. WI -DOT STILLWATER BRIDGE BIKE/PEDESTRIAN LOOP TRAIL CONSIDERATIONS (TIM RAMBERG): Theresa Johnson, Chair from the Township of St. Joseph clarified this is an information -only meeting. She reported the WI Department of Transportation intends to build the pedestrian/bike trail at the time the Stillwater Bridge is built. Ramberg reported the DOT will construct the trail and all maintenance will have to be provided by whoever takes ownership. Hillstead questioned who would be responsible for security. Discussion regarding the time frame for bridge work construction; Ramberg reported it depends on funding. Johnson described the proposed trail path and described the various challenges faced by who takes ownership. Discussion regarding concerns of costs, maintenance, security, safety, rescue challenges and the trail being another party hot -spot and the problems created for law enforcement. Ramberg reported the state is only focusing on building the trail and all other issues pertain to ownership. Discussion regarding the drawbacks of ownership for the county or township(s) and the benefits for the state of Minnesota, particularly the Stillwater area because of lakefront property. Discussion regarding liability issues and the specialized equipment necessary for safety and rescue. Discussion concerning usage projection, the potential for connectivity with other trails and limits on access hours and seasons of use, etc. Ramberg summarized the state is obligated to build the trail, we are forced to deal with it and it is essential to keep a common sense approach to the planning. Discussion regarding the need for several departments to communicate concerning this issue. Ramberg reported he has an informational DVD for viewing for anyone interested. STORAGE ISSUE: Nothing new for discussion. Meeting adjourned at 11:40am. John Borup, Secretary Amy Geurkink, Recording Secretary _approved 1tfa 10, 2007 -4-