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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1975-03-06 Council Packet - Special MeetingKenai City Council Special Council Meeting March 6, 1975 Crime in Kenai COUNCIL MEETING OF March 6, 1975 SPECIAL MEETING /-7,w >1 Qo STEINER RIAN —noyi.p (Al MnRlr.A A-10 THOMAS V minso 11 17 41 .. m d `- MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING KENAI CITY COUNCIL MARCH 6, 1975 3:00 P.M. CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE ROLL CALL: Members present - Edward Ambarian *, James Hoyle, Richard Morgan, Oscar Thomas, A. L. Hudson and Mayor James Elson. * In late. Members absent - H. J. Steiner It was moved by Thomas and seconded by Morgan that Council finds an emergency exists due to the recent rash of burglaries and subsequent loss of property by local merchants and therefore find need for an emergency session. The motion carried unanimously by roll call vote. Mayor Elson asked Chief Pegram to recap the events of the past few days. Chief Pegram stated two weeks ago Food Town was burglarized and about $2,000 in cash was taken. Sunday night N.C. Auto was broken into and approximately $2,000 in property was taken. Wednesday Food Town was hit again with $1004200 in booze taken. Fred Brawn's lost $2,000 in equipment. Ron Malston lost approx- imately $100 and Marvene's broken into with loss unknown. Last night N.C. Appliance was broken into and approximately $5,000 in property was stolen. Ron Malston stated that this is obviously a serious problem. Besides losing property and money it is inconvenient and expensive., Toad Town's power was turned off and they lost some meat. The doors have to be replaced and other items damaged have to be repaired. The Manager of N.C. stated one man and one squad car at nights isn't enough protection. He stated the burglars ripped off a double door from its hinges and the door in the stock room and made a hole through the stock room to get to the floor stock. They must have been there a good hour. *Ambarian in now. Harry Gaines stated surely money can be,found to get more men and equipment. 4 Councilman Hudson asked from comments from the Police Chief. Chief Pegram stated if we place more men on the force the response time is cut down. Now we are lucky if we have one car running. He has personally used his own car for three or four weeks and has used the City Manager's car. He stated we havo the lowest ratio of officers per capita of any city in the State. r m f MINUTES, KENAI CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING, MARCH 6, 1975 Page two Mayor Elson stated lie spoke with the Shop Foreman and he said the other black and white will be on the road soon. Councilman ' Hudson asked when would the two new cars arrive. Chief Pegram stated there is a 120 delivery date and they were ordered about a month ago. Chief Pegram stated the Police Dept. has had only one turnover in one and a half years. There is alot of overtime put in without compensation. The crime rate in the past two or three years is about the same but the arrest rate has increased 45%. The Chief put in a requisition late last year for fingerprinting equipment and was told to hold off until the new Finance Director was here. y It has not been ordered and could be utilized now. Mayor Elson stated he felt we should establish expenditure priority and repair the police car and during the crisis compen- sate for overtime and move one slot from the Fire Dept. lVe have a fixed revenue to work with. Councilman Hudson asked if there was a private security business in town. Chief'Pegram stated there is one with one man and one f car who went into business about a month ago. j Councilman Hudson was called out of the meeting at this time. Councilman Morgan asked how many men it would take to guarantee two men on duty at all times. Chief Pegram stated it would take ten men including himself. After some discussion, Morgan moved the City Administration be directed to guarantee that at least two men in addition to the Chief and two vehicles be on duty at all times in the City of Kenai. The motion died for lack of a second. Councilman Doyle asked the Chief to come up with a recommendation and some figures and come back tomorrow and we can has it over again. Mayor Elson stated it is difficult to take any action today. If we appropriate money it takes on ordinance. We need to know the dollar amount and type of operation and where the money will come from. After more discussion, Thomas moved and Morgan seconded the Council appropriate $3,000 from contingency and turn over to the Police Chief to use at his discretion for a thirty day period to combat the recent rash of burglaries. Morgan moved to amend the motion to read $6,000. The motion died for lack of a second. After further discussion, Thomas, with consent of second (Morgan) withdrew his motion. Chief Pegram will come back with his recommendation. Mayor Elson recessed the meeting at 4.10 P.M. until Friday, March 7th at noon in the City Manager's Office. 01 r- kL MINUTES, KENAI CITY COUNCIL. SPECIAL, MEE;'ING, MARCH 6, 1975 Page three lMINUTES 1 SPECIAL MEETING KENAI CITY COUNCIL MARCH 6, 1975 RECONVENED MARCH 7, 1975 12:00 NOON CITY MANAGER'S OFINCL?. Mayor Elson reconvened the meeting at 12:00 Noon in the City Manager's office, ROLL CALL: Members present - Edward Ambarian, James Doyle, Richard Morgan, Oscar Thomas and Mayor James Elson. Members absent - H. J. Steiner and A. L. Hudson R r i Mayor Elson asked Chief Pegram for his recommendation. Chief Pegram reviewed the vehicle situation. The new car has 31,000 miles on it. Another car has 93,000 and has a rebuilt engine and transmission. The last one has 104,000 and needs a major overhaul. If the present block can be rebuilt, it would cost around $S00 and if it needs a short block it will cost $1,500. As for the manpower, if we had two officers per shift and could be on board April 1st, the cost from April 1 to June 30 would be $14,672 for salaries, fringe benefits, uniforms, weapons, reward money and mileage for private vehicles. Mayor Elson asked for comments. Councilman Ambarian asked the status of the police reserve. Chief Pegram stated they are trying to re -organize the reserve. They had run into problems of legality and is not straightened out. Councilman Thomas asked if a full compliment of ten men is realistic for the next fiscal year. Chief Pegram stated he will put in for ten men and one full time investigator. Councilman Doyle stated he understands there is a fireman who is a qualified policeman. Chief Pegram stated he has not been contacted as yet. He doesn't know if he wants to move over. Mayor Bison asked the City Manager if he has a recommendation. Mr. Lynn stated he has not had a chance to speak with the Chief or the Finance Director and feels Council should look at the total budget before taking any permanent action. After some discussion, Doyle moved and Ambarian seconded to authorize up to $1,000 for special services for the Police Department. The motion carried unanimously by roll call vote. V /' • rr�.,w�_...: _...._ .... ... ...a. .. � „_ -. �.. _ _ -- -- - -�c■a■Msx.uraniue■iwaaai , i- --.a ■ , .. .�..._ � . _.._ � i _ . i -. cr �,lr ns � s.Sz.7>3 _a osis-==---- . _ Z,1 ! 4Asi ' MINUTES, KENAI CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL ?•METING, MARCH 6, 1975 Page four Reconvened March 7, 1975 Councilman Doyle felt Administration should solicit applications for policeman for July 1. The Mayor asked if there were any and there were none. Councilman Morgan felt if the Chief did find a well qualified person before then he should come to Council. Harry Gaines asked what additional police protection will this bring now. Mayor Elson stated the City Manager will speak with the ?olice Chief and the Fire Chief to see about moving one fireman over into the Police Department. Councilman Doyle asked how this will affect the fire rating. Chief Shirnberg stated it wouldn't affect the fire rating as a dispatcher will be hired as replacement which will make the fireman available for fires or ambulance runs. Dick Stetler stated he's not sure there is anything magical about July Ist. He feels the City should bring the department up to staff and get the thing on the road. Councilman Thomas stated there is a logical reason to look at July 1. We haven't had a current budget report for some time. There should be no massive increase until we know what we have to work with. After further discussion, Morgan moved to direct the City Attorney to write an ordinance authorizing two more positions on the Police Department. The motion died for lack of a second. MEETING ADJOURNED 12:46 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Sharon Loosli, City Clerk k, r 11 Moved by a611d seconded by that Council finds an emergency exists due to the recent rash of burglaries and subsequent loss of property by local merchants and therefore find need for an emergency session. V _T �I r I� '