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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_Workshop_01/08/1990 VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA Post Office Box 3273 • 357 Tequesta Drive Tequesta, Florida 33469-0273 (407) 575-6200 FAX: (407) 575-6203 V I L L A G E O ~' T E Q L' E S T A V I L L A G E C O U N,C I L W O R K S H O P M E E T I N G M I N U T E S J A N U A R. Y 8 1~ 9 9 0 I. The Tequesta Village Council held a workshop meeting at the Village Hall., 357 Tequesta Drive, Tequesta, Florida, on Monday, January 8, 1990. The meeting was called to order at 9:00 A.M. by Mayor Joseph N. Capretta. A roll call was taken by the Recording Secretary. Councilmembers present were: Mayor Joseph N. Capret.t.a, Ron T. Mackail, Earl L. Collings and Vice-Mayor Edward Howell. William E. Burckart arrived. later in the meeting. Village Officials present were: Thomas G. Bradford, Village Manager; and Wendy li. Harrison, Administrative Assistant to the Village Manager. II. OVERVIEW OF REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PUBLIC SAFETY OPTIONS OF THE VILLAGE. Leonard Matarese, Consultant. Mr. Matarese stated a serious look was taken at the current municipal provision of police services and the contractural relationship between Tequesta and the Palm Beach County Fire Department and the additional responsibilities of providing EMS services. He informed Council that the Village should be very comfortable with the quality of Fire and Rescue service they are receiving. The responsibility of the consultant was to determine if the Village could obtain the same level of service, (if not better), i_n the Public Safety context in a merged department, while at the same time enjoying some financial savings. • `pillage Council Workshop Meeting Minutes Tanuary 8, 1990 • Psge 2 ------------------------ The consultant stated he believed it was not possible to improve the level of service and save a substantial amount of money. These reasons were: 1. There are no real alternatives to the emergency medical services to the Village other than Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. 2. Police Department: Recommendations for improved performance: a. A high level of service and more interaction with the community was recommended. b. The consultant recommended Council consider contracting with. the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office for law enforcement services. A consolidated department would cost approximately $100,000/year more than present costs, but patrol coverage would increase and response time would be reduced. This figure does not warrant a consolidation at this point. Presently the Village is ;:sting a lot of service from the Palm Beach County Fire .escue Department for a relatively small amount of ~3c>llars. c. A year or two from now it may make sense for the Village to consolidate these services. Therefore the consultant recommended someone be brought on board who could assume the chief law enforcement responsibilities in the community who also has a background in EMS services who could serve as a coordinator between the Village and the County. III. QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS FROM COUNCIL FOR CONSULTANT REGARDING STUD AND REPORT Councilmember Mackail asked Mr. Matarese if he felt Tequesta was an ideal community for a Public Safety program. Mr. Matarese answered these services become a function of size: the smaller the geographic area serviced, the cost goes up tremendously. Because the Village is small in area and population, it becomes very expensive, on a per unit basis, to provide any level of service if it is provided exclusively to the Village. Consolidated activities with other municipalities to expand the service level, then that per unit service cost goes down. • Village Council Workshop ^ieeting Minutes January 8, 1990 . Page 3 ------------------------ Councilmember Mackail also asked Mr. Matarese what he meant by saying the Tequesta Police Department did not have a good level of communication service. Mr. Matarese stated this needed to be built into the operating procedures of the agency, and referred to a "park, walk and talk" program. This program includes in an officer's assignments during the day interaction in certain segments of the community for purposes of visibility, conducting security surveys, helping in crime watch programs, providing information to the citizenry about activities. In a modern Police Department, this is an integral part of operating the Department. Councilmember Collings stated a need for a Public Safety Program for Tequesta seemed to have grown out of the fact that Tequesta was being overchaged by the County for some of these services. Despite whatever decision would be made, Mr. Collings felt it was inevitable that costs would go up. The kind of decision that Council is called upon to make equates more with service however than with money. Mr. Collings pointed out however, that whatever decision is made, that decision is not set in concrete. He felt if ;he Village chooses to go with the Fire/Rescue service, they would i2a,ve to deal with the Firemen's Union, one of the strongest unions • in the state and in the nation. If that route is taken, there will '~~> more pressure from the bottom to increase costs. Mr. Collings reminded that Jupiter Inlet Colony was eager to join Tequesta in a Public Safety Program, and that would abate some of the costs, but would increase the area to be served. He also reminded Council of the possibility of Palm Beach Gardens coming into the County. If that happens, Tequesta's millage rate will go down, but there is a possibility the service level would drop. There are pros and cons to these two elements. Mr. Collings felt he had to listen more to everyone before he could make a clear-cut decision. Vice Mayor Howell stated that though he agreed. this was a matter of control of operations rather than one of costs, it was necessary for the Village to find. a formula to function both as part of a whole, (since the whole County is changing and Tequesta is part of that County) and. to find a way of controlling the costs of operations, while delivering the best service possible. He felt this was not a clear-cut issue, and a balanced, flexible approach was necessary. Mayor Capretta felt the joining of Palm Beach Gardens with County Fire/Rescue would lead to higher costs for Tequesta since the proposal was to raise Fire/Rescue costs to Tequesta and the south part of the county, and lower it for the center part of the county to attract Palm Beach Gardens into the system. • Village Council Workshop Meeting Minutes 7s~nuary 8, 1990 • f ;_~ J ~ Mayor Capretta asked the consultant regarding improved response time and the fact that the consultant's report suggested the Police Department should have advanced medical training to be able to better handle emergency primary risks in the home could be done regardless of Tequesta did in regards to the Palm Beach County Fire Department. Mr. Matarese answered affirmatively and added that consolidated training takes up the gap until Fire/Rescue can arrive at the scene. Councilmember Mackail asked the consultant how Tequesta should look at the longevity of Public Safety, with the great potential for annexation on the horizon. Mr. Matarese responded by saying that if those potential areas to be annexed came into the community, there would be no additional service demands on the system to require additional people. The Public Safety Program laid out for the Village is the maximum manning the Village would ever need. Mayor Capretta asked if the consultant felt Tequesta was an ideal candidate for a Public Safety Program since it is small in population and georgraphically, and with four vehicles on the road all the time, the response time is minimal. Mr. Matarese responded • ;hat it was true that Tequesta could deliver the first unit faster ;~~an Palm Beach County could, but the problem lies in delivering ;ire manpower that is necessary in a fully involved structure fire. Tequesta would have to rely upon mutual aid for that. Mayor Capretta questioned Mr. Matarese regarding some key issues in his report regarding: Management of the Police Department, regarding records and supervision. Mr. Matarese explained he had been in law enforcement his entire adult life. He stressed he did not see any problems with competency, corruption, or any such thing. He stated the recordkeeping was dismal - there was no record of who did what, when. The proof of the lack of this was apparent when the data that was needed to complete the consultant's report took the Police Department about a month to retrieve. The lack of this information exposes individual officers to tremendous liability. The consultant's suggestion was that the Police Department look at models of other departments who have a good recordkeeping system and implementing that system. ._.. i~?ther than physical fitness problems on the force, the only ::ther problem with the police department was organizational • :=:nd system issues. tillage Council Workshop ~Seeting Minutes 7anuary S, 1990 . Page 5 ------------------------ Mayor Capretta stated. it appeared the consultant was saying that Tequesta was ideally suited for a Public Safety Program but there were a few little problems: 1) Tequesta does not hai-e a source of paramedic support, and the consultant had serious doubts about the possibility of North County supplying that need; 2) Tequesta doesn't have proper leadership in its Police Department to implement such a system; and 3) probably if the Village did implement such a system, they probably would not save any money. The Mayor asked Mr. Matarese if that was a correct summary of what he reported. Mr. Matarese answered affirmatively. He stated the Public Safety concept would work for Tequesta. The question was is there a reason for Tequesta to implement it. Given the present alternatives: 1) the present level of service is excellent; 2) the costs are consistent with what it would cost Tequesta to have its own Public Safety Department; 3) Tequesta would either have to retrain their present staff for Public Safety or get help from the outside. The obstacles of implementation and. the rewards received from it just do not balance. Mayor Capretta asked the consultant to explain the 1 tier and the 2- tier system. Mr. Matarese explained: EMS services in Palm Beach. . County are delivered in a 2-tiered system - paramedics arrive at the scene and North County Ambulance dispatches an ambulance. If the patient is not in an advanced life support situation, the patient is transported by North County. If the patient is in an advanced life support situation, the medics transport to the hospital, or ride along with North County to provide the advanced life support capabilities. The 2-tiered system is more expensive than a 1-tiered system where the medics provide the service and transport as well. Mayor Capretta asked the consultant to explain how he came to the conclusion that the Tequesta Police Department has no interaction whatsoever with the community. Mr. Matarese explained that came from the fact that there was no formalized interaction program implemented. into the system to assure that that interaction takes place. There are no "park, walk and talk" programs, individual street officers are not responsible for crime stoppers, or security surveys, and those are clear indications that the formal network is absent. Those things should be in place in a small community. The Police Department has 909 of their time available to do those kinds of things and they are not being done. • Village Council Workshop `i~~eting Minutes a.nuary $, 1990 ~P~ge 6 ------------------------ Mayor Capretta asked the consultant what made him think that North County was incapable of getting the license that they needed from the County. The consultant answered he had no way of knowing whether they could or could not get the license; the problem is that, it is a time consuming process which requires manpower. The question is, is Tequesta prepared to commit to pursuing this path so that by October 1, all of these items would be in place. The consultant's position was that this was just too high a risk proposition.. The number one emergency service being provided in Tequesta is medical, not law enforcement or f3.re fighting. Councilmember Collings stated that in his one-to-one meeting with Chief Brice, Chief Brice stated he visualized. no problem with North County reactivating their license, and that he felt there was a trend nationally toward Fire/Rescue, but the smaller cities have the most problem with Fire/Rescue and the larger cities were entirely without it. Mayor Capretta asked. the consultat to explain the difference between a "stand by" agreement and an "on-call" agreement, and why Chief Brice could refuse to give Tequesta an on-call agreement if • they wanted one. Mr. Matarese explained there are two kinds of mutual aid pacts which the County offers to municipalities which have their own Fire Departments. One is where the County charges an hourly rate for each type of apparatus that is called for in mutual. aid, and in return the municipality could be called upon by the County to provide apparatus, with an hourly rate associated with that. This is "on-call". "Stand-by" requires the municipality to pay a stand-by charge up front, calculated to be 10~ of what the County would normally charge to provide the entire fire-rescue service for the Village. In Tequesta's case, that would be $50,500 for the current year. On top of that there is still an hourly charge for units responding in a mutual aid call, but that hourly rate is reduced by 100. ~1r. Matarese stated Chief Bryce told him very clearly that he would not enter into an on-call agreement with the Village of Tequesta. Mayor Capretta summarized the final recommendation of the consultant: The Police Department does not have the leadership ability to implement Public Safety, yet if the leadership problem is solved, and. the paramedic license problem is solved and support is gained from North County ambulance, and a Public Safety Director is hired who is trained in all these disciplines and can put this Public Safety Program together and implement, then a Public Safety Program is feasible for Tequesta. Mr. Matarese confirmed this was a correct summary of his final recommendation. • Village Meeting ,7:~niza.ry ,~ ~'~ r Council Workshop Minutes 8, 1990 Police Chief Carl Roderick aked the consultant how he arrived at so many incorrect conclusions since the consultant only conferred with Chief Roderick for 15 minutes of casual conversation. Mr. Matarese explained most of his information came from the numbers which they looked at which verify everything that was reported. He elaborated that because it took the Police Department many man hours and an entire month to supply statistical information that was needed for the report, this proved that there was not a system in place to produce that kind of basic management information. Chief Roderick asked the consultant to explain why he concluded that Chief Roderick, the Lieutenant, and Detective Sargent Freese had no idea of what a Public Safety Department was about. The consultant explained that from talking with these three management individuals, he discovered none had any experience in managing a merged department. IV. COMMUNICATIONS FROM CITIZENS CONRAD T. MILLER, 15 Shay Place, Tequesta. {Retired Tequesta Police • (fficer). Mr. Miller defended the recordkeeping of the Police T~:=partment and stated the response time of the Police Department, ;~~ his estimation was commendable. He stated recordkeeping should ~~e tailor-made to meet the need of the community it served, and Tequesta's Police Department recordkeeping was adequate. Mr. Miller stated the response time for Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department was 20 minutes at best. EMMETT DOWNES, 344 River Drive, Tequesta. (A new resident of Tequesta and former police officer from up north). Mr. Downes commended the fact that Tequesta had no crime problem., and had a great Police Department. Palm Beach County's number one problem is crime. He stated he would want a trained, qualified medical technician, not a police officer, to attend him in an emergency medical problem in his home. JOHN DEGROSSA, 76 Yacht Club Place, Tequesta. {15 year resident of Tequesta). During his 15 years here, Mr. DeGrossa has been involved with the Police Department on numerous occasions, and found them to be doing an excellent job. Mr. DeGrossa stated if police officers were trained to a higher level of first aid skills, it would put a strain of greater liability upon police officers. • ~."illage Council Workshop `~leeting Minutes .7anuary 8, 1990 Page 8 ------------------------ MICHAEL MORRILL, 14 Chapel Circle, Tequesta. {Tequesta Police Officer). Mr. Morrill felt this issue should go to referendum and decided upon by the citizens of Tequesta. He also extended an invitation to Mr. Matarese to join him on his cruiser rounds any day to observe a Tequesta police officer's habits while on duty. KEVIN LARKIN, 10 Chapel Circle, Tequesta. {Six year resident). Mr. Larkin echoed that the people of Tequesta needed to decide this Public Safety Program issue. JAMES ELLIS, 462 Tequesta. Drive, Tequesta. ;~1r. Ellis stated that having served on the Jupiter Police Department, he felt the Tequesta Police Department was doing a great job and that response time should not be an issue. Since Mr. Ellis works for Palm Beach County Fire/Rescue, he explained why the County would not give Tequesta a certain mutual aid agreement: The mutual aid agreements that Palm Beach County does have are such that if a municipality can give the County 4 engines and 3 rescues on a call, the County will also give the municipality 4 engines and 3 rescues on a call. "T'!~ere is no guarantee that Tequesta can give the County any units • ~:t. any time. :CHARD BERUBE, 4 Country Club Circle, Tequesta. (Insurance agent.) Mr. Berube did some research on "level of service": It costs $3,000/hour to rent a fire truck from another municipality, or $55,000 to buy, and $.5 million for a ladder truck. There would be a big problem with cost for Tequesta to have its own Public Safety Program. If Tequesta has its own Fire/Rescue system, patients will have to be transported, and also be available for rescue situations. With the North County system, the sick person pays for the trip out of their own pocket. There are many reasons why much homework needs to be done before a decision is made. Mr. Berube felt it might be a good idea to have police officers trained as paramedics, but the officers would have to go back to school to become certified in a completely different profession than police work, and thought that might not be too practical. He felt Tequesta's level of service was presently very good and found many reasons why it should stay just the way it is. MRS. KAYLYNETTE ROCA, 367 Country Club Drive, Tequesta. (1 1/2 year resident). Mrs. Roca explained a personal emergency incident her family had had while living in Palm Beach Gardens and while living in Tequesta. She found the response time was far better in Tequesta than elsewhere. She also commended the Tequesta Police Department for their concern when they saw things amiss at her residence. She commended the Tequesta Police Department for their competency. `~"illage Council Workshop ~~eeting Minutes ,7anuary 8, 1990 • Page 9 ------------------------ JOE SIMS, 302 Country Club Drive, Tequesta. (17 year resident). Mr. Sims felt that though improvements may be needed in the Tequesta Police Department, he felt the suggestions made by the consultant were not wise suggestions and may, in fact, work against the Police Department. He commended the Tequesta Police Department for their competency. BILL PROtiT, 20-A Turtle Creek, Tequesta. (ALS/EMS). Mr. Prout spoke regarding the issue of the level of service of North County Ambulance and the doubts Council had whether North County could properly supply Tequesta's need. Mr. Prout stated North County had. gone through a difficult time operationally and administratively, but the quality of care had never diminished. In the past few months North County Ambulance has experienced a renewed vigor and if Tequesta made a contract with North County, North County would continue to supply absolute maximum quality of service. Mr. Prout explained to Council there was no particular magic in a 1-tier or a 2-tier system. It was simply a matter of which one worked best for the community it was serving. Regarding the level of medical training for policemen, Mr. Prout felt the least interference of • ,~:~licemen on a medical emergency, the better. .~•~HN BARTLETT, 9436 River Terrace, Tequesta. (A 6-year Lt. with Palm Beach County Fire/Rescue, and a paramedic). Mr. Bartlett stated he had worked in a 1-tier and a 2-t.ier system, was a volunteer for North County for many years, a volunteer fire fighter with Martin County, a paramedic in Martin County's EMS system prior to Palm Beach County. If a paramedic in Tequesta responded to an ALS call and Tequesta was operating under a 1-tier system, that paramedic would have to go to the hospital with that patient, leaving the Village uncovered at that point, therefore causing a need for some sort of backup service. On a BLS call, advanced life support skills would not be needed and a basic level skilled EMT would respond to the call. In 2-tier system, if a paramedic's skills are not needed on that call, he can return to the available state to respond to the next emergency call. `1r. Bartlett stated he would not be able to handle a policeman's job and felt the Tequesta Police Department performed their jobs well. MAYOR CAPRETTA summaraized: The Village Council began by looking at how to provide the best services for Tequesta for the least cost. Cost was the initial concept. Palm Beach County's history of charges for these services stayed low for 2-3 years. Last year, however, there was a 34~ increase, and it was expected that this year could be an additional 34q increase. It could be argued that if Tequesta ever went to their own Public Safety Program, you could • say it was increased costs that drove the Village to that decision. 'tillage Council Workshop `leeting Minutes Tanuary 8, 1990 • Page 10 ------------------------ TAVT was asked to study the situation in Tequesta and the report was a good report, which basically said a Public Safety Program for Tequesta was feasible. There are two big issues: If the costs are going to go out of control, what do you do about it? And, the other is, Tequesta can provide equal, or better, response time and better medical support for emergencies at all times. A portion of the consultants report was very critical regarding the Police Department. Because of this bad report, the Public Safety Committee of the Village Council, being responsible, has to look into it to see if the report is true. It is necessary to be certain the Village is being managed properly. The consultant also suggests a formal "park, walk and talk" program be implemented for the Police Department. If that is necessary, the Village will work with Chief Roderick to be certain one is implemented. The issue of rising costs remains, however, and probably will continue to escalate. If that is so, the Village will be forced to choose a direction to minimize its costs. Secondly, the Village has to develop a Public Safety s3Tstem which is equal or better than the one it presently has. Service has to remain either equal or better. The report will be studied thoroughly by Council. • .7. YODER, TAVT: Mr. Yoder commented. that the firefighters are dedicated and well-trained, but he believes there is a better way that does not reflect on them. And regarding the police force, there are no complaints about any individual of the department, but that does not mean changes aren't necessary. Mr. Yoder felt Tequesta is a favorable environment for an effective Public Safety Program. He did feel too much time had elapsed for this Public Safety study and that implementation should have already begun. DR. STANLEY JACOBS: Dr.Jacobs felt a referendum may be necessary regarding the Public Safety issue. He stated a survey taken earlier in 1989 showed that 87% of the people of Tequesta were in favor of its own Fire/Rescue service. It needed to be decided exactly how much service is needed and the growth of the area must be considered. ~,'illage Council Workshop `ieeting Minutes . 'T~3nuary 8, 1990 ~:ge 11 ------------------------ COUNCILMEMBER BURCIiART made a brief statement: He was on the Planning Commission who sent the survey out to Tequesta citizens and the highest response was regarding the Police Department which was that it was felt that Tequesta has the best Police Department in the area. Because of that, the response time issue was studied and it was found that Tequesta's Police do get to the call more quickly, and maybe they could save a life. That is what sparked the Public Safety issue and the motivation behind it. Costs came into it, because i.t was necessary to know how much extra this would cost, not how much could be saved. TAVT volunteered to study the issue and discovered Public Safety might be a good choice for Tequesta. Therefore, a professional consultant was hired to study the Public Safety issue for Tequesta. Now the real issue is can Tequesta provide better emergency service by itself or can the County better provide that service. Mayor Capretta the issue started out to be one of finding how to decide to take advantage of police response time. Discovering the Tequesta Police get to the emergency scene faster than anyone else led Council to believe if the force was properly trained, and what :Fuel of training that would be, lives could be saved. Secondly, ~t. was found there were tremendously rising costs with Palm Beach County, and the Village was told there would be another cost rise i-~ext year. Therefore, if costs continue to escalate, what will be done about it, causing the Village to look at alternatives. The Public Safety concept was thought to be feasible. TAVT made a study which made it sound feasiile. A consultant was hired who said it was feasible, but he also brought up problems such as cost savings would. practically be non-existent, he questioned the ability of North County to provide paramedic support, and brought up some issues regarding the Police Department stating it could be better managed and recordkeeping could be improved. That's what this whole meeting has been about. A Council meeting will be held on Thursday, January 11, to decide where to go from here. • tillage Council Workshop ~3eeting Minutes .anuary 8, 1990 • P.3je 12 ------------------------ V. ADJOliRNMENT Councilmember Collings moved to adjourn the meeting. Councilmembe~ Mackail seconded that motion. The vote on the motion was: Mayor Capret.ts - Earl Collings - Ron Mackail - William Burckart - Vice Mayor Howell- the motion caas 12:00 Noon. for for for for for herefore passed and the meeting was adjoured at Rc-~s,~~;~; *'~3. sunmi~-fa, ~_ /~~ .~- r~ iii i e=rs i~:~cording Secretary 4 T~ ~.iL~t 1~~ /,~ Dill C. scavF.lis Finance Dire_tor/VIllage Clerk /fgb DATE APPROVED: - -- ----- - 47s= -- f- ~ 9.9 0 --------- -- s V VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA Post Office Box 3273 • 357 Tequesta Drive Tequesta, Florida 33469-0273 • (407) 575-6200 FAX: (407) 575-6203 M EMO RANDUM T0: Village Council FROM: Thomas G. Bradford, Village Manager l ~~'~j DATE: January 4, 1990 SUBJECT: Report Entitled Public Safety Options for the Village of Tequesta Please find attached the above-referenced report received from Leonard Matarese of the Center for Public Safety Options. Mr. Matarese will be in attendance at the Workshop Meeting on Monday, January 8 to present and discuss the report. Briefly, the recommendations of the report are as follows: 1) That the Village renew the contract with Palm Beach County for fire/rescue services. 2) Conduct a national search for a Public Safety Director, who would develop an implementation plan for Public Safety, if so decided by the Village Council. 3) Instruct the new Public Safety Director to pursue National Accreditation for the Police Department. 4) Require all new hires to agree to cross-train as fire fighters, if necessary. 5) Require all current police officers to successfully complete an annual physical examination. 6) Train police officers as Emergency Medical Technicians and in basic fire suppression techniques. TGB/mk Attachment cc: Leonard Matarese, Consultant Joseph Yoder, TAVT Carl Roderick, Chief of Police Dr. Stanley B. Jacobs, TAVT