Workshop Minutes
City of
WORKSHOP
The City of
In attendance were: Mayor Clara Lou Gould.
Council Members Present were Lee
Kyriacou, Charles Kelly, Phil Shea and Steve Gold
Excused: Council Members Eleanor Thompson and
Elizabeth Foster
Also in attendance were City
Administrator, Joseph Braun and City Attorney, Gerard Pisanelli.
AGENDA
Hiddenbrooke - Draft
Contract and Indemnity Agreement – Susan Sarch, Attorney
Motion to go into Executive
Session to discuss contract at
Motion to end Executive
Session at
Council Member Gold: I would like to inform
the audience that the attorney advised that what was discussed could not be
discussed in public.
Mayor Gould, Council Members & City Administrator:
I am pleased to present & preliminary proposal for the council's
consideration as it pertains to the Personnel section of the City of Beacon
Police Department for the 2008 budget year.
In December 2001,
the City contracted with Police Management Services for the purpose of conducting a management study for the
City of
Patrol Staffing
Since the 1980's
the City of Beacon Police Department has operated with a minimum staffing level of four officers per shift (1
supervisor, 3 patrolmen), with 3 cars on the street. This is below the
operating level of other full-time area law enforcement agencies, where the minimum
turn out of officers on the street is five to seven.
Consideration must be given to those factors which make an officer
unavailable for duty: regular days off, vacations, sick leave, personal leave,
holidays, military leave, training, court time, injury and other factors that affect
an officer's availability for patrol duty. "Model 2 " as implemented
in 2004 calls for a minimum number of uniformed officers who would be required to respond for
calls for service in the city. This minimum number was 19. Anything
less than that number would indicate a shortage of uniformed officers. This figure is not to
include the chief of police, captain, lieutenants, sergeants or detectives, as
they should not be considered primary responders to calls. The current available patrol staffing as of
With the number of police officers at a reduced level, many additional
services have been reduced (or eliminated): foot patrol,
bike patrol, motorcycle, cushman, community policing, school resource, etc.
This proposal as structured would provide for basic patrol function in
addition to the above listed services that city residents and business owners
want and deserve.
Dispatching and Clerical
The transition to "Model 2 " in 2004 also led to
changes in how police dispatching was conducted. Prior to
that time, a supervisor was tasked with that duty and a second supervisor was on
the street. Since 2004, a patrolman has
been assigned as the police dispatcher for each shift, daily. "Model 2
" called for the role of dispatcher to become a full-time job, handled by civilians. The hiring
of civilians to perform such a task is a way of freeing up law
enforcement personnel to concentrate on tasks that they have been specifically
trained for. The recent attempt to address this matter by hiring only one
dispatcher falls short of the recommendation made by the consultant. There
should be a dispatcher on each shift, daily.
Having civilian dispatchers would still be able to provide for an
officer to be in the building for support or as a second
opinion as to how best handle a call. The study advised that
there would be an initial outlay of new funds for this purpose and grant sources could be
sought to support this transition.
The same justification can be made for the hiring of additional
clerical staff. This would free up officers from such tasks
as data entry, filing, report searches, and evidence cataloguing
A recent study of police overtime done by the United States Department
of Justice revealed that:
- overtime is an inescapable element of policing over which managers
have only limited control
- city councils feel that policing is too expensive already
- overtime abuses occur but are not the norm
- when costs go up, administrators are caught in the middle
All command officers and supervisors must consider the allocation of
overtime a privilege. However, along with this privilege, is also the reality
that management sometimes has limited power
to control overtime.
Such is the case now where 80% of the police overtime expenditures
to date has been to ensure that shifts operate at minimum
staffing levels. This item has been impacted by: contractual issues pertaining to time off, officer
injuries, retirements/resignations, compensatory time, and difficulty in
attracting qualified candidates.
By careful consideration of my proposal, the
city will be able to provide that services that the city council, the city's
residents and the city's business owners seek and deserve. I look forward to
discussing this proposal with you today and in the future.
Salaries & Expenditures
2007 Police Salaries - $2,442,752
2007 Clerical Salaries - $115,741
Total Salaries - $2,558,493
2007 General Police Overtime Budgeted - $496,062
Overtime Shift Coverage Jan '07-July '07 - $335,566
Forced Overtime Shift Coverage Jan '07-July '07 - $63,154
Total Overtime for Shift Coverage Jan '07-July'07 - $398,720
2008 Proposal
Police Salaries - $3,064,871
Clerical- $173,750
Dispatchers- $170,000
Parking Enforcement Agents - $42,120
Total Salaries - $3,450,741
Council Member Kyriacou: Do you know how much
$900,000.00 is in terms of taxes? It is
15%. I'm not sure what we are talking
about. The tax increase for last year was
brought down from 9% to 5%. I voted
against the 5% increase. Will you help
me understand why for thirty years, we had thirty two police officers through
the mid eighties when we had the worst crime than we do now and all of a sudden
we need 60% more than that 32? Why is it
costing us so much more now than when we had 32 officers and a lot more
crime. Can you help me understand
that? Can you also give me a comparison
of the actual cost of policing in the town of
Council Member Kelly: I think your point about cities
is an important one but I don't understand why you haven't included
Council Member Kyriacou: When I do a comparison from the eighties, we had
thirty two officers and probably triple the crime I could be wrong. It probably had to be triple the serious crime..Maybe
we have more minor crimes now. It is
hard for me to understand why the number of calls probably dropped for serious
crimes yet we have increased by half the size of the force.
Mayor Gould: Maybe they dropped because we increased the
force.
Council Member Kyriacou: Then let's make it 200 and we're done. I would like to know what it cost per capita
for police protection. The fact that the
community leverages the county we should be gettting the same level of service
and their taxpayers pay less. That is a
good system. If you could say, "I
got a system here to go to 40 something
and taxes don't go up because we are leveraging the county, I would call you a
hero. You can give me the same proposal
and it doesn't cost me anything. If I
had unlimited sums of money, I could do anything. It's the balance of the two.
Mayor Gould: Also, you have to take into consideration
that crime in other communities is much higher than Beacon.
Council Member Kyriacou: I have a little bit of concern that if you are
bringing this proposal out into the community, I'm not sure that you should be
doing that. If you want to have
conversations on what you need, you ought to be talking to us. If you want to be talking to the community,
it's on your nickle. I would like to
have one of us with you. It's a way of
building support for a process that is basically political. If you are going to use your nickle for your
time and it is political, I think we should manage that. Free speech as you well know, is our first amendment
right.
Council Member Gold: Will the 45 officers be explained in here
with examples?
Council Member Kelly: In terms of the civilian dispatchers, you are
proposing that there will be five in 2008?
Captain Scofield answered "yes". Beacon has been reluctant to have civilian
dispatchers. Do you have some strategy
in mind to overcome that resistance? Is
it correct to say that there is resistance in the Police Dept.?
Captain Scofield: No, there was some miscommunication or
midunderstanding that there wouldn't be a police officer in the building at
anytime so that the dispatcher would not be left alone.
Council Member Kyriacou: So the proposal is that
the dispatcher and the sargaent stay in the building?
Captain Scofield: There will be an officer in the building with
the dispatcher at all times.
Council Member Kyriacou: I don't know how Fishkill manages to
survive. Their dispatcher is part time.
Captain Scofield: They don't have a lockup.
Council Member Kyriacou: I understand. Maybe when we have someone in the lockup, we
should bring in someone. Other
communities do just fine. I am just
trying to figure out how they do it within their budget. From what I see in your proposal the figure
is not 45 but it is 57
Captain Scofield: We currently have 33 officers which will be
brought up to 39 and is to be raised to 45 officers, plus 5 dispatchers plus 5
civilians plus two part-time parking and two clerical
Council Member Gold: It’s good to be able to
have this information.
Council Member Kelly: You mention about the
vetting process which takes a period of time.
Do you have an idea of how long it takes from the academy to the street?
Captain Scofield:
It takes six weeks to be investigated. The academy time is four months. 12 weeks of training.
Council Member Kelly: That is 8 or 9
months. Are you saying that if you have
this staff, you would not have overtime.
If not, will you have more
expense for overtime?
Captain Scofield:
I am hopeful to have full staff by the end of this
year.
Council Member Kelly: I know you need
overtime. At times that is better than
hiring a new person. We just don’t want
to have run-a-way overtime.
Council Member Shea: If you hire 9 extra
officers that would be lesss than paying out overtime.
Captain Scofield: The test is given once
every three or four years.
Throughout the above questioning and requests by
the council for additional information, Captain Scofield said he would gather
the requested information.
The council thanked Captain Scofield for his very
informative presentation.
This will go on the agenda to authorizing the
signing of the contract.
Video Taping – Council Meeting
City Administrator Braun: They said that at the last there was a problem
with the sound. I thought the audio was
fine. Do you want me to continue to do
what I do? We need to position the
camera so that it includes the entire council.
They have the same problem at the school. We have to be sure we speak into the
microphone. At this point, it seems fine
to me. The time that it will be shown on
Channel 22 is from 5:00 pm to 7:00
pm. I will have Jodie set up the
camera. I will continue videotaping if
that is what you want me to do.
Note: Mr. Peter
Skorewicz of Video Ventures, Ltd.,
Proposed Local Law – Conservation Advisory
Commission – Jerry P. City Attorney will have Proposed Local Law
City Attorney Pisanelli: Basically it has to be in conjunction with the
approval of the Comprehensive Plan. We
can't do anything until we have the comprehensive plan. I will probably have a draft next week
sometime. I do have something else that is important. The Richard Sassi and Diamond Insurance
Lawsuit.. It should go on the agenda for
next meeting.
This will be put on the agenda
for July 18, 2007
Resolution - “
Mayor Gould: This
document came in a packet that contained a letter along with a Sample
Resolution from James Tedisco, Assembly Minority Leader.
Council Member Kyriacou: Maybe
we should have a more general resolution rather than the sample he gave which
covers a resolution, which has specifics.
Cherry Street - Water
Line – J. Pisnaelli
City Attorney Pisanelli: This
is status quo – improving the water line is quite an expense. Cherry Street was not owned by the city but
we maintained it over the years.
City Administrator
Braun:
Council Member Kyriacou: I
think that we also went through street by street and examined which street
didn’t have sewer lines and what we thought was appropriate under the
circumstances comprehensively. We also
looked at the one on
City Administrator, Joseph
Braun: I will check into this further and get back
to the council.
This will be on the workshop
agenda.
Assessor Appointment -
See attached
Letter from NYS Office of Real Property Services
Mayor Gould: Do we do a
resolution to appoint the assessor? Do
we use the same resolution as last year?
Council Member Kelly: Are
we still working with a cooperative arrangement? Answer:
yes.
City Attorney Pisanelli: We
should put it on the next workshop.
This will go on the next
workshop. (Now we will go back to
University Settlement Camp -
Negative
Declaration – Resolution to Approve.
Needed for Grant Applications.
Mayor
Gould: We have to do a resolution
for a grant application. A negative
declaration says that it would not have a significant affect on the
environment.
Council Member
Kelly: I heard that there is a broken sewage line that causes
sewage to seep into the ground and when the floodwater rises, it comes up in
his basement. Then I heard that the
problem was from a broken sewage line but was from illegal sewage hookups to
the storm drain and when the floodwater rises it comes out of the manhole then
goes into his basement. I understand
that the city took some action to prevent floodwaters but it was not sufficient
to keep the sewage from the basement. I
understand that the city has taken some remedial action prior to this last
storm, which was horrendous, and the remedial action was not sufficient.
City Administrator
Braun: What happened is that the pressure of the water
against the foundation forced the water into his basement. They corrected it by waterproofing it and
putting in footing drains. Up until
April it solved the problem. What happened
is that during the last bad storm, the water was so high it forced the water
into the basement. We continue to have
stormwater go into the system. A couple
of years ago, we bolted the manhole covers so they wouldn’t come up. Then we unbolted the manhole covers. This last bad storm caused the water to rise
higher than the manhole covers.
Council Member
Kelly: I am having difficult understanding why the sewage is
going into the basement. In a normal
flood situation the water would flood into his basement. If we had illegal hookups, is there any way
to identify these illegal hookups? Can
the City do anything about illegal hookups?
Unsuspecting homeowners are the victims of those illegal hookups.
City Administrator,
Braun: We could spend hundreds of thousands of
dollars on this problem. There are still
environmental people who say that you cannot have the stormwater connected to
the sewage system. It is a violation.
Mayor Gould: We have to
promote rain barrels. I had a problem at
my house where the sewage came into my basement. When the builder built it he didn't follow
the plans.
Council Member Kelly: In 2008 we are
going to put in new storm drains.
Council Member Gold: Asked
Mr. Braun for a deadline to discuss options for the residents on
City Administrator
Braun: I think September 1, 2007 would be an acceptable
deadline to discuss options.
Traffic
Volume - Denning’s Avenue – E. Thompson -
Conduct Traffic Count
Mayor Gould: I
think Council Member Thompson was not concerned about the traffic in 2002 but
is concerned about the traffic when the Beacon institute opens.
Solar Heat -
On City
Buildings were possible.
Council Member Shea: I notice that
they only give us 11 days to file for the bond program, which closes July 13.
City Administrator, Braun: I can look
into it.
Mayor Gould: They sent a
letter saying that they were extending the time because they did not send the
letter out on time.
City Administrator Braun: Will this be
the new municipal building?
Council Member Shea: That is the
building we were talking about. I will
give you the names of the Solar Hydro installers.
Human
Relations Meritorious Award - Suggested Recipients: Police Officer Anthony Hopper, Police Officer
Jose Martinez (no longer with the city of
Council Member
Gold: Peter Verdesi was recommended two years ago when he was
shot in the leg. I don’t think that it
would be right to just do him when we have two other officers. There will be a page on the website regarding
these recipients of the award and the reasons for the award. We will also keep a journal. I will make a request for these specific
cases. It does not have to go in front
of the council. I just wanted the
council to be made aware of this. I
would just say that we discussed it and the council is behind it. Mr. Martinez is no longer with the city. We will have the ceremony here when we will
present the reward here.
Update
Comprehensive Plan
Schedule – (Transportation – 07/23/07)
Mayor Gould: The important
thing is to note that the adoption of the plan comes on December 3rd
December 17th.
Council Member Kelly: The local law
has to be introduced. Who will write
this law?
City Attorney
Pisanelli: The local law will come from Dave Stolman’s office.
Mayor Gould: Is there any
reason why you couldn’t introduce the local law the same evening?
City Attorney Pisanelli: Once you have
the plan they should see what the Planning Board has to say about it.
Everyone
agreed with that
Community Disposal of
Fluorescent Light Bulbs
Mayor Gould: I
called the county about the disposal of the
Council Member Gold: I
got a letter.
Mayor Gould: We
wanted to have one day specifically for Beacon.
I spoke to Nancy Giordano who was going to check to see if this could be
worked out. She was going to talk to
Roger Ackly who ought to be receptive because he already said to me instead of
having a county thing we should have a Southern Dutchess plan. You could have it in Beacon and make it
available to surrounding communities.
They should include batteries.
Mayor Gould: I
called Jeane LaGrain. She was checking
on this and said that it was definitely against their noise ordinance. She said that this happens every year. Her explanation at first was that it was
people who live along the waterfront.
But I said that no, it was not all residents.
Council Member Gold: The dispatcher
that I spoke to said that there was nothing they can do about it because they
have no ordinance against it. She was
wrong.
Mayor Gould: There was a
lot of misinformation on the
Council Member Gold: I
need something stating that the understanding is that we will not take a tree
on
Mayor Gould: A lot of the
trees were planted with grants. They
planted 18 trees on
Council Member Gold: We
need to do a simple resolution stating that we stand by our trees.
Southern Dutchess
Country Club
Mayor Gould: In
their proposal it wasn’t clear. – When I went to the comprehensive plan meeting
they said that it was all open space but it wasn’t open space including the
golf course. Some people don’t realize
the usefulness of having a golf course in the community. The students from the high school use it Council
Member Kelly: I think they were
looking for a zoning change.
Mayor Gould: I think they
are looking for a general reaction to see if anyone would be opposed to them
doing that. Either they are going to do
it or they are going down the tubes. It
is a workingman’s club. It has never
been a wealthy club.
Council Member
Kyriacou: It should not be a restricted community but the ten
(10) units should be open to everyone and not only country club members. They said that they want to preserve the
quality of these ten homes. I want to
see diversity.
City Attorney
Pisanelli: They want to build thirty units.
Other Business
Council
Agenda - Monday, July 16, 2007.
Community Segment: Green
Teen Community – Garden Club
Workshop
Ended at 10:10 p.m.
Submitted
by Lucy M. Cullinan - July 16, 2007