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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10182023 Board of Public Safety Meeting Minutes OCTOBER 18, 2023 63 I. REGULAR MEETING The Board of Public Safety met in the Regular Meeting at 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday, October 18, 2023, with Board President Daniel Jones, and Board Members Darryl Heller, Lee Ross, Al Kirsits and Pamela Claeys present. Also present were Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski, Fire Chief Carl Buchanon, Attorneys Danielle Campbell Weiss, Jenna Throw, Tom Panowicz and Board Clerk Theresa Heffner. The meeting was held on the 4th Floor Council Chambers Room, 227 W. Jefferson Blvd., South Bend, Indiana and virtually via Microsoft Teams at the following link: https://tinyurl.com/2023BPSHybrid Attorney Panowicz asked that everyone mute their microphone when not speaking and reminded attendees that comments from the public should be saved for the Privilege of the Floor portion of the meeting. Attorney Panowicz then read through the agenda to note any additions or corrections. A. ROLL CALL OF MEMBERS Board President Dan Jones welcomed the public, called roll, and confirmed the presence of the Board Members. B. APPROVE MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS Upon a motion by Pamela Claeys, seconded by Lee Ross, and carried by roll call, the Board approved the Minutes of the September 20, 2023, regular meeting. Darryl Heller abstained from voting due to not being present at the September 20, 2023 meeting. C. APPROVE RESOLUTION NO. 04-2023 ADOPTING A WRITTEN FISCAL PLAN AND ESTABLISHING A POLICY FOR THE PROVISION OF SERVICES TO AN ANNEXATION AREA IN THE GERMAN TOWNSHIP (AIRPORT-MOSS ANNEXATION AREA) Michael Divita, Principal Planner with Community Investments, did a summary of the below resolution. RESOLUTION NO. 04-2023 A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF PUBLIC SAFETY OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, ADOPTING A WRITTEN FISCAL PLAN AND ESTABLISHING A POLICY FOR THE PROVISION OF SERVICES TO AN ANNEXATION AREA IN GERMAN TOWNSHIP (AIRPORT-MOSS ANNEXATION AREA) WHEREAS, there has been submitted to the Common Council of the City of South Bend, Indiana, an Ordinance and a petition by all (100%) property owners which proposes the annexation of real estate located in German Township, St. Joseph County, Indiana, which is more particularly described at Page 13 of Exhibit “A” attached hereto; and WHEREAS, the territory proposed to be annexed encompasses approximately 2.9 acres of vacant land, which property is at least 12.5% contiguous to the current City limits, i.e., 26.2% contiguous, generally located at the southeast corner of old Lincolnway West and Moss Road (23114 Lincolnway West). It is anticipated that the annexation area will be used for a car wash and detailing facility for car rental businesses; and WHEREAS, this use will require a basic level of municipal public services, including the provision of police and fire protection; and WHEREAS, the Board of Public Safety now desires to establish and adopt a fiscal plan and establish a definite policy showing: (1) the cost estimates of police and fire protection to be furnished to the territory to be annexed; (2) the method(s) of financing those services; (3) the plan for the organization and extension of those services; (4) that those services will be provided to the annexed area within one (1) year after the effective date of the annexation, and that they will be provided in the same manner as those services are provided to areas within the corporate boundaries of the City of South Bend, regardless of similar topography, patterns of land use, or population density, and in a manner consistent with federal, state and local laws, procedures and planning criteria; and (5) the plan for hiring the employees of other governmental entities whose jobs will be eliminated by the proposed annexation. OCTOBER 18, 2023 64 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF PUBLIC SAFETY OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, AS FOLLOWS: Section I. It is in the best interest of the City of South Bend and the area proposed to be annexed that the real property described more particularly at Page 13 of Exhibit “A” attached hereto be annexed to the City of South Bend. Section II. It shall be and hereby is now declared and established that it is the policy of the City of South Bend, by and through its Board of Public Safety, to furnish to said territory police and fire services within one (1) year of the effective date of annexation in a manner equivalent in standard and scope to similar services furnished by the City to other areas regardless of similar topography, patterns of land use, or population density and in a manner consistent with federal, state and local laws, procedures, and planning criteria. Section III. The Board of Public Safety shall and does hereby now establish and adopt the Fiscal Plan, attached hereto and incorporated herein as Exhibit “A”, and made a part hereof, most particularly those provisions pertaining to police and fire protection at pages 7 and 8 of Exhibit “A”, for the furnishing of said services to the territory to be annexed. Adopted the 18th day of October 2023. s/Daniel Jones, President s/Darryl Heller, Member s/Lee Ross, Member s/Alfred Kirsits, Member s/Pamela Claeys, Member ATTEST: s/Theresa Heffner/Clerk Principal Planner Michael Divita explained that an annexation has been requested by the airport authority who is the property owner at the northwest corner of Old Lincoln Way West and Olive Road near the entrance to the airport. The proposed annexation area is about two point nine (2.9) acres and is currently vacant land. The petitioner proposes to construct a car wash and detailing facility serving car rental services at the airport; this would not be open to the public. The annexation area would be added to police beat twenty-four (24) and serviced by Fire Station four (4) and Medic four (4). Ms. Claeys asked if it was sustainable due to the number of car rental companies at the airport. Her concern was if it were to become open to the public, it could create a busy intersection. Mr. Divita explained that the services for car rental companies would be consolidated into this one (1) space, and they would all contribute funding to it. It is internal to the airport complex and would not be deemed commercial property open to the public. Mr. Claeys noticed that the land was rezoned from commercial to industrial, and asked if this involved a lower tax rate. Mr. Divita explained that because the airport authority is a unit of local government it is a tax- exempt property regardless. It was rezoned to match the rest of the airport property. Mr. Heller asked if this would add an extra burden onto Police and Fire. Chief Ruszkowski and Chief Buchanon both noted that they already cover this area currently, so it does not add an extra burden. Ms. Claeys asked if the German Township Trustee had any issues with the request. Mr. Divita advised that they were informed and had no issues or comments. Upon a motion by Al Kirsits, seconded by Darryl Heller, and carried by roll call, the Board approved Resolution No. 04-2023. OCTOBER 18, 2023 65 D. POLICE DEPARTMENT 1. ACKNOWLEDGE PROMOTION TO CAPTAIN IN STRATEGIC FOCUS UNIT - KYLE DOMBROWSKI Chief Ruszkowski submitted a letter informing the Board that Lieutenant Kyle Dombrowski, PN2155, has been appointed to the rank of Captain in Strategic Focus Unit, reporting to Operations Chief Skibins. Chief Ruszkowski stated Captain Dombrowski was sworn into the department on September 26, 2007, and his effective promotion date is October 18, 2023. Chief Ruszkowski gave a brief bio. 2. RECEIVE LETTER OF RESIGNATION – JAIME REBOLLO MARTINEZ Chief Ruszkowski submitted a letter of resignation for Officer Jaime Rebollo Martinez. Chief stated Officer Rebollo Martinez was sworn into the department on March 15, 2023, and his effective date of resignation was September 25, 2023. President Jones accepted the letter on behalf of the Board. 3. FILE QUARTERLY REPORT FOR SPECIALIZED SCHOOL Police Chief Ruszkowski submitted the quarterly report for specialized schools for July, August, and September of 2023. He answered questions from Board members regarding general definitions, clarifications, etc. Ms. Claeys asked about ICPS training and what was involved. Chief Ruszkowski explained that it is a chaplain training program. He stated that Officer Burns is the department’s chaplain and also the FOP’s chaplain and oversees their chaplain program. They ride along with police officers and if there is a critical incident, they can provide more support than just psychological or emotional, there is also spiritual support. Ms. Claeys asked about the Indiana Associate of Hostage Crisis Negotiator training that Officer Burns and Officer Cruz attended. Chief Ruszkowski noted that they are hostage crisis negotiators, so that is part of their training requirements. Ms. Claeys asked what “less lethal certification” involves. Chief Ruszkowski explained that it is anything from bean bag rounds, taser bean bags, OCTOBER 18, 2023 66 pepper balls or tear gas rounds. It is a certification to be an instructor certified to use any of these methods. There were four (4) SWAT officers that took this training. 4. FILE MONTHLY STATISTICAL ANALYSIS REPORT SEPTEMBER 2023 Chief Scott Ruskowski submitted the monthly statistical analysis report for September 2023. Chief stated there was a nine percent (9%) decrease in Part One Offenses. Ms. Claeys noted that she always hears people saying that crime is up, but it appears that statistics show otherwise. Chief Ruszkowski added that he had to contend with a couple of people the day before claiming that the SBPD is under reporting, but he claimed that is not true. Everything we do comes before the Board, and we put everything on our transparency hub. Chief Ruszkowski stated he came up with the transparency hub so that we could get as close to real-time information as we could get. E. FIRE DEPARTMENT 1. APPROVE LEXIPOL POLICIES 900 – Illness and Injury Prevention Program 901 – Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration (IOSHA) Inspections 902 – IOSHA Notification of Illness, Injury or Death 903 – Communicable Diseases 904 – High-Visibility Safety Apparel OCTOBER 18, 2023 67 905 – Body Armor 906 – Apparatus/Vehicle Backing 907 – Heath Illness Prevention Program 908 – Respiratory Protection Program 909 – Personal Alarm Devices 910 – Health and Safety Officer (HSO) 911 – Vehicle Safety Belts 912 – Fire Station Safety 913 – Ground Ladder Testing 914 – Personal Protective Equipment 915 – Hazardous Energy Control 916 – Harzrd Communication 917 – Personal Firearms 918 – Roadway Incident Safety 919 – Post-Incident Decontamination Chief Buchannon asked that the Board approve the above policies that were presented at the September meeting. City Attorney Jenna Throw was present in Attorney Adam Taylor’s absence. Upon a motion by Darryl Heller, seconded by Al Kirsits and followed by a roll call, the proposed changes for the Lexipol Polices were approved. 2. RECEIVE LEXIPOL POLICIES 800 – Records Management 801 – Release of Records 802 – Subpeonas and Court Appearances 803 – Patient Medical Record Security and Privacy 1100 – Facility Security 1101 – Emergency Power 1102 – Wastewater Discharge 1103 – Flag Display 1104 – Department Use of Fire Detection and Suppression Systems 1105 – Fire Station Living Chief Buchannon asked that the Board receive the above policies and asked that they be approved at the November meeting. City Attorney Jenna Throw was present in Attorney Adam Taylor’s absence. Mr. Heller asked if there were any significant changes to the policies or if they were new policies. Chief Buchanon explained that some of the language was modified to comply with today’s standards. Ms. Claeys asked a few questions to help with her understanding of some field-specific terms within the policies. Chief Buchanon respectfully answered her questions and provided clarification where needed. Mr. Jones asked how firefighters clean themselves and their equipment after a fire. Chief Buchanon advised that they have sanitary systems on each of their apparatuses on each of their trucks and has been that way for a while now because of the overall cancer contaminants that are in everything and not just in fires. Chief Buchanon added the SBFD has gear extractors as well which are machines similar to your household washing machines, but they are more of a commercial-rated machine that actually cleans the gear for us. Our goal is to try to make sure that we have each of these types of machines all throughout the city so that if we have a major fire, we don't have everyone trying to get their gear cleaned at that one (1) particular location. The goal is to have one (1) at each of the four (4) points of the city to avoid a backup of personnel waiting on their gear to be OCTOBER 18, 2023 68 cleaned. Lastly, Chief Buchanon noted that each of the SBFD’s apparatuses have personnel cleaning equipment as well; items of firefighter’s that must be cleaned prior to getting back on the truck. 3. FILE 3RD QUARTER TRAVEL AND TRAINING REPORT Chief Carl Buchanon submitted the monthly statistical analysis report for September 2023. 4. FILE MONTHLY STATISTICAL ANALYSIS REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 2023 Chief Carl Buchanon submitted the monthly statistical analysis report for September 2023. OCTOBER 18, 2023 69 Chief Buchanon explained that in September of 2023, structure fires appear to be far less and damages were fifty percent (50%) lower than it was a year ago and he accredits that to fire prevention and working with the public. Chief Buchanon informed the Board that SBFD personnel has been trying to take a proactive approach to fire safety. He added that anytime the City has any incident, the SBFD does a broad-area analysis and we try to send our people there to talk with other residents who may not have had an emergency situation, but to try to prevent them from having one down the line. The main goal is obviously to protect life and property, but it’s life first and then property. Chief Buchanon also spoke about the number of inspections that were done stating the inspectors are continuously trying to maintain the inspections not only for existing businesses, but new businesses as well. They work closely with new business owners to ensure they know how things work in the City and to make sure they are welcomed and know that SBFD is willing to work with them, so they can be successful. Ms. Claeys noted that when there is a fire that firefighters go to, afterwards the SBFD speaks with neighbors surrounding that fire incident to make sure they have working smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. Ms. Claeys gave kudos to the SBFD for this community effort. E. PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR Attorney Panowicz reminded the public to use the hand-raising function of Microsoft Teams to indicate their desire to speak during Privilege of the Floor. He reminded attendees that they would be allotted three (3) minutes to speak and state there name and address for the record. No one wished to speak during privilege of the floor. F. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Board, upon a motion by Darryl Heller, seconded by Al Kirsits, and carried by roll call, the meeting was adjourned at 9:57a.m. OCTOBER 18, 2023 70 BOARD OF PUBLIC SAFETY Daniel Jones, President Darryl Heller, Member ______________________________ Lee Ross, Member Al Kirsits, Member ______________________________ Pamela Claeys, Member ATTEST: ___________________________ Theresa Heffner, Clerk