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04-23-1984 - Special/Workshop , , ~~ , o o CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER SPECIAL MEETING & WORKSHOP APRIL 23, 1984 MINUTES Mayor David Ledbetter called the Special Meeting and Workshop to order at 7:00PM in the Community Center. ROLL CALL Mayor David Ledbetter Councilman Melbourne Wargo Councilwoman Gigi Bennington Councilman Neil Asting Present Present Present Present Councilman Jack Spencer City Attorney JoselAlvarez City Clerk Connie Kinsey Police Chief Ed Overman Present Excused Present Present Also present were Mrs. Frances Olds, President of EVER, and Mr. George Kennedy, Fire Chief. Mayor Ledbetter stated the first item on the agenda was for Council to meet with a committee representing the Rotary Club to discuss the erection of a building for EVER. Councilman Spencer moved that the Council recess the Special Meeting into a Workshop session so they can discuss this with Rotary. Councilman Asting seconded the motion. Motion CARRIED 5-0. Mr. Gary Butt, of the Rotary Club, introduced the other members present, who included Bernard Sikes, Chip Niebel, Ron Carlisle, Warren Wilson, and John Wilbur. Mr. Butt stated that Rotary is a service organization and they raise money for community projects and have sponsored scholarships and athletic teams. He said they have 40 members and several are in the building trades so they have professional people to erect the building. Mrs. Olds presented plans for the building which were drawn up by an associate of Mr. Jessie Wall IS. She noted that George Kennedy had met with Rotary as she was unable to be at the meeting and Rotary members agreed the building would be no problem to put up. Councilman Spencer noted that it's a concrete block building. Mrs. Olds pointed out that there is a roll-up door for access for vehicles. Councilman Asting asked if there were two doors and Mrs. Olds said there's one standard and one roll-up door. She noted there was an additional door to the storage area to provide a little more security. Councilman Asting asked if two windows would be enough and Mrs. Olds said yes and there is sufficient lighting inside for classes and evening meetings, plus there's air conditioning and heat. Councilman Asting questioned the direction the roll-up door would face. Mr. Kennedy said it will face Rhode Island and this will be the same type structure as the existing building. Councilman Asting asked if the other door would be facing the east and Mr. Kennedy said it would be to the west. Councilwoman Bennington asked if it abuts the present Fire Station and Mr. Kennedy said no, but they'll keep the slab thatls there for future use. Council- woman Bennington asked if the City has to furnish anything and Mr. Butt said theylll furnish it all and hand over the keys. Mr. Carlisle said they just want the property to put it on. Councilman Asting asked the stipulations in regard to the construction of the building. Mr. Butt said it would be whatever is suitable to EVER. Councilman Asting said it would be a City Building but solely for the use of EVER. Mr. Butt agreed it would be for EVER's use. Mr. Sikes pointed out that they'd purchased equipment for EVER in the past and they don't want this to be changed in the future and it should be for EVER to use as long as they need it. He added that they'll want assurance that EVER will have a home as long as theylre in existence, and they may need something larger in the future. , i o o ~' Councilman Asting asked if there would be a problem if they became paid units instead of voluntary. Mr. Sikes said they just want assured that as long as there is a Rescue unit that they have a place to meet and operate from. Mayor Ledbetter asked if this building could be used the same way as the Community Center and Mr. Sikes said he saw no problem with that but a lot of people are unhappy because the Community Center is used for other things than what was originally planned. Mayor Ledbetter said it could be stipulated that as long as EVER is in existence the building will be used by them and the City will not kick them out to use it. Council- man Asting noted that a legal agreement should be drawn up and signed by Council and representatives of Rotary. Mayor Ledbetter pointed out that it would belong to the City but be for the use of EVER as long as they're in operation. Councilman Spencer said held like to have the building and appreciated their offer but it's difficult to anticipate what may happen in the future but the City should have the direct control over any buildings on any City property. He said the agreement should state that if the City decided to move EVER to some other place, it should be a place agreeable to EVER. Mr. Kennedy said Fire, EVER, and the Police are tired of being moved all the time and they'll have to take a stand at some point. Council- man Asting said the agreement should state the building is to be used by EVER as long as they have a Rescue squad. Councilman Spencer said he didn't want to do that. Councilwoman Bennington said if they built it they won't plan to kick Rescue out but it would be a permanent home until they need something larger. Mr. Kennedy noted that in the future they'll need a paid Fire and partly paid Rescue Department. Councilman Wargo said the County will have to get out of Rescue and let each individual community take care of its own, and he added that the Police station is what is most needed now, and if they build a new Police station they'll have a lot of area available for other use. He said he didn't want to tie any hands for the next five or ten years with an agreement they can't live with, and they need to look at other directions. Mrs. Olds pointed out that when they become a paid department, this will be an ideal building for their use. Mr. Kennedy noted that if they go paid, they'll have individuals manning the departments for 24 hours a day and seven days a week, and they could use part of the area for bunks and some of the storage area could be used for a mini-kitchen. Councilman Asting stated they can add on to this if the space is needed. Councilwoman Bennington said she didn't see how they could turn down the offer of a building from the civic organization as long as they can come to a mutual agreement. Mr. Don Bennington, from the audience, suggested the agreement be worded that the building would not be taken from Rescue until Rescue outgrows it and then to have equal or better quarters provided. Councilman Spencer noted if the City at a future date decided they want to use that building for another purpose they could do that provided EVER has equal and equitable space. Councilwoman Bennington pointed out that if EVER is dissolved, the agreement would be dissolved also. Mr. Kennedy stated there were two other stipulations and the first was a request to put a cornerstone on the building stating it was erected by Rotary and that the City pull the permits. Mayor Ledbetter said he didn't think that would be a problem. Councilwoman Bennington questioned if two bathrooms would be needed since it1s a public building and Councilman Asting asked if someone with Rotary could draw up the official plans. Mr. Butt said they would. Councilman Spencer noted that the State requires handicapped facilities. Mr. Wilbur suggested stemming in the bathroom and possibly putting it in in the future. Mr. Sikes said they could be a dual purpose with showers for contaminations. Councilman Spencer asked if there are roof vents and Chip Niebel said there would be. Councilwoman Bennington said she'd like to see the final plans if it's going to be a City property. Councilman Asting suggested there be a provision for heads and the side door facing to the west. Councilwoman Bennington asked if it would be brick or block and Mr. Niebel said it would be block. Mr. Sikes noted that they'd offered previously to develop Menard Park but the offer was rejected. Councilman Asting moved to go back into the Special Meeting. Councilwoman Bennington seconded the motion. Motion CARRIED 5-0. -2- Council Special Meeting & Workshop Minutes April 23, 1984 . ~ . . Q o "t .. Councilman Asting moved that Council express its intent to accept the building proposal of the Edgewater Rotary Club. Councilman Spencer seconded the motion. Motion CARRIED 5-0. Councilman Asting moved that the Rotary Club present proposed plans for the building for the Council's review and its approval. Councilwoman Bennington seconded the motion. Motion CARRIED 5-0. Councilman Asting moved that they have the City Attorney and a representative of the Rotary Club get together and prepare an agreement for Council and Rotary Club approval and put any stipulations in that agreement. Councilwoman Bennington seconded the motion. Motion CARRIED 5-0. Councilman Spencer noted that they'd asked for a cornerstone on the building and he moved that this request be granted. Councilman Asting seconded the motion. Motion CARRIED 5-0. Councilman Spencer moved that the City pull the building permits. Councilwoman Bennington seconded the motion. Motion CARRIED 5-0. Councilman Spencer advised the Rotary members that the next regular Council meeting will be May 7th if they can get it ready by then. Mrs. Olds thanked the Rotary Club members and Council for the gift to Rescue. Councilman Asting expressed his gratitude to Rotary for making the offer and Council- man Spencer agreed. Mayor Ledbetter expressed his appreciation to Rotary for the greatness of the gift to Rescue and noted that Rescue has needed a home they can call their own. Mr. Sikes commented on the efficiency and response time of EVER. The second topic on the agenda was other miscellaneous items pertaining to the Police Department. Councilman Spencer stated that Chief Cody Gear had been selected to be the spokesman for the screening committee for the top ten candidates for Police Chief but he has declined because New Smyrna Beach is so close to Edgewater and he didn't feel it was proper. City Clerk Kinsey said she'd talked to Richard Slaughter from Deland who had been chosen as alternate and he will be happy to serve but the Council had named Chief Gear as the spokesman so another choice was needed. Councilwoman Bennington moved that Chief Berry be the chairperson of the committee, pending his acceptance. Councilman Spencer seconded the motion. Motion CARRIED 5-0. City Clerk Kinsey asked how thoroughly the Council wants to go into the background checks on these as it can become very involved with travel to the locations, etc. Councilman Asting asked Chief Overman's recommendation on this. Chief Overman said they can't get the information on the telephone that they can get by reviewing the personnel packets. Councilman Wargo suggested just the top five. Councilman Asting asked if our Police Department can make that investigation. Chief Overman said since they've designated a committee, perhaps the committee would want to make the determi- nation. Councilman Spencer noted that Chief Berry can give his recommendations. Councilwoman Bennington suggested calls for the top ten. Councilman Asting asked Chief Overman if he knows any of the top ten and Chief Overman said he knows one, and the Chiefs on the committee can make the calls and get the right person to give them the necessary information for the top ten and then the committee could advise them on the next step. Mayor Ledbetter said he asked that this item be on the agenda because there has been two patrolmen in one patrol car at night. He added that one patrol car on the day shift isn't a problem but he didn't recommend it for night shift because that car could get stuck on the other side of the tracks when a train goes by and there would be no coverage for the other side of town. Councilman Spencer said he has a lot of faith in Chief Overman and asked him to review this. -3- Council Special Meeting & Workshop Minutes April 23, 1984 .. , ~ o Q ... . Chief Overman explained that one of his patrolmen did not qualify on firearms and had to be pulled from the road but he subsequently resigned. He also said that one of the men he hired had minimum training and this training had to be done by another patrolman and not by a sergeant as he learns more this way. He added that the man didn't have the practical experience and face to face confrontations, and he'd put him on the night shift because there's more variation of functions and incidents of backup needed. He noted that 87% of the backup; call s are ni]hts and there was only one call off to go to another call. Chief Overman said the training process has come along to where the next work schedule will probably release him for regular duty. He noted that the overtime is being quickly eaten into but he couldn't put the man on the street before he's ready. Mayor Ledbetter asked if the man at night is qualified and Chief Overman said yes. Mayor Ledbetter said he wanted Council to be aware of this and residents don't know there's just one car and two patrolmen. Councilman Wargo noted that during wage negotiations he made Council aware of the fact that they're tied into a contract where they are forced to pay excess amounts of over- time and before they sign another contract they should eliminate the factors that require overtime based on hours paid and not hours worked. Mayor Ledbetter pointed out that Council authorized two additional patrolmen in this year's budget and they're still working at last year's level. Councilwoman Bennington asked how many officers they havenaw and Chief Overman said there are thirteen and he lost two people but he has one man coming in on May 4th and may come sooner. Chief Overman said they're running applications and when the new Chief comes in he hopes to have a full staff for him. He added that they ran an ad for a dispatcher but didn't find a suitable person. Mayor Ledbetter stated that during the day they have the Chief and Sergeants and Animal Control Officer but the night shift has just one car. Councilman Asting asked if the second Detective's slot was filled yet and Chief Overman said no, but he suggests holding off because they need patrolmen more now. Councilman Asting said he'd heard that our detectives worked with the Sheriff's Department of the County and Chief Overman said they all work closely together and it was a transfer of information to finish it off. Councilwoman Bennington asked how the next man will be put on and Chief Overman said he'll move the new man with a Sergeant and put a more seasoned officer with a patrol super- visor and the new position will go with a training supervisor and there'll be three on that shift. Councilman Asting asked if there's an inspection of officers going on duty and Chief Overman said it's informal and they've just drawn up a sheet to do vehicle inspections. He said the Sergeant will do an informal check and he'll advise if he sees something. Councilman Asting asked if he made night inspections and if it's with no notice. Chief Overman said yes he's been on and it's with no notice, he just comes by. Councilman Spencer said he thinks Chief Overman is doing a good job for the City and they're fortunate to have him and he's had some things to contend with. Councilwoman Bennington and Councilman Wargo simultaneously moved to adjourn the meeting. Councilman Spencer seconded the motion. Meeting was adjourned at 8:00 PM. Minutes submitted by: Lura Sue Koser ~- ATTEST: r~ , ~ ~~~ -- C1 Y CLERK ~ Approved thi s 7~ day of (T ~ ' 19840Q ",-U",) J .~ ~ ~*~+ MAYOR - ~. V Council Special Meeting & Workshop Minutes Apri 1 23, 1984