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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20210121 - PSAC Minutes City of Hastings Public Safety Advisory Commission (PSAC) Meeting Minutes January 21, 2021 Virtual Meeting Present: Commissioners Bryon Ascheman, Dolores Pemble, Melissa Blackstad, Gary Stevens, Steve Holmes &Dozier Hunter Cit, Staff. Mayor Mary Fasbender, City Administrator Dan Wietecha, Police Chief Bryan Schafer, Fire Chief John Townsend, 1. Due to technical difficulties,the start time of the meeting was delayed. The meeting was called to order at 6:55 p.m.by Chair Commissioner Ascheman. 2. New Commissioner Dozier Hunter was welcomed to the Commission. Hunter briefly introduced himself to the Commission members. 3. Election of a Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of the Commission was undertaken. Dolores Pemble was elected Chairperson and Bryon Ascheman was elected Vice-Chairperson. The Commission discussed that, going forward, the Vice-Chairperson would also serve as secretary and be responsible for taking notes and preparing meeting minutes. 4. Gary Stevens and Dozier Hunter took their oaths. S. Chief Schafer provided a police department update. -Overall crime was down 14% in the City during 2020. At one point, crime was down 40%. Chief Schafer speculated that the decrease was due, in part, to the pandemic. Overall calls for service in 2020, however, remained similar to 2019. -18 of 37 staff quarantined at some point during 2020 either because of symptoms consistent with COVID or because of an exposure. Four staff tested positive for COVID during 2020. -The department did receive additional funds in 2020 through the CARES Act. These funds were used to install cubicles in the patrol room and purchase new computers to allow staff to work remotely. -Ryan Kline and Sam Beuch were recently promoted to sergeant to fill positions that resulted from recent retirements. -The department is currently fully staffed with 30 sworn officers and 7 support staff. -The department is currently in the process of hiring a receptionist. - The department received a grant to create a community engagement officer. Officer Whitney Rinowski has been assigned the position. Chief Schafer will provide more details on the position at a later Commission meeting but he did explain that this was a multi-year full time position and Officer Rinowski would focus on engaging with businesses in the community, neighborhood outreach,working on issues related to mental health and homelessness and work with City staff on code enforcement issues. -The budget for 2021 includes two new squad cars and funding the first phase of radio replacements for the department. Phase one includes replacing portable radios. Phase two will include new video cameras for the squad cars which will interface with the body worn camera systems currently in use. -Department staff received their first round of COVID vaccinations. 6. Fire Chief John Townsend provided a fire department update. -Overall EMS calls were down in 2020 compared to 2019. Fire calls were also down but just slightly. -Department staff received their first round of COVID vaccinations. Chief Townsend noted that some members of the department were diagnosed with COVID during 2020 but there were no known transmission at work. -The department remains in good shape with regard to PPE. -As the result of COVID,the department has implemented a different response model which includes staff responding to the station first and leaving the station as a second crew rather than having staff respond directly to the scene. -The department has 5 new hires and they have passed EMT training. -As of 2 02 1,the department has a new medical director through Allina Health. -The department is specing out a new fire truck and looking at the fleet overall. The department is utilizing a three engine model currently. -The department is undertaking a fire study and looking at their organizational model. The fire study will include a review of response times. -The department is currently undertaking a search for an assistant fire chief. The application deadline is the end of January. Chief Townsend is pleased with the response to date. -The annual department fire prevention awareness program, Keep the Wreath White,was successful. No red lights were added to the wreath this year. -Commission member congratulated Chief Townsend in being hired as Fire Chief. 7. 2021 Goals -The commission discussed possible goals for 2021. -Commissioner Ascheman advised the Commission of his recent conversation with Council Member Leifeld and the efforts underway to schedule a joint meeting between the Public Safety Committee of the City Council and the Commission. It is hoped that a joint meeting would facilitate an open discussion of ways the Commission could work with the Committee and the Council. One area of further discussion is whether the Commission could play a role in the City's ongoing efforts of equity, diversity and inclusion. Chief Schafer will continue to work on scheduling this joint meeting. -Commissioner Holmes raised as a possible goal for 2021 looking at its mission statement. Commissioner Holmes noted that this could help guide and direct the Commission on it ongoing activities. -Another possible goal may be to revisit the Commission's work on the Police Department's mission statement in light of recent events in Minnesota. The Commission could also look at the Fire Department's mission statement. -Another goal could be finding ways in which the Commission could adapt to the changes brought about by the pandemic to continue its efforts in community outreach for the police and fire departments. For example, planning a virtual police week/police open house event or planning a virtual National Night Out activities. 8. Next meeting date: -The next Commission will be February 18, 2021 at 6:30. 9. A motion to adjourn the meeting was made and seconded.