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07-23-2024 (Strategic Planning Session - Public Safety)STRATEGIC PLANNING SESSION — PUBLIC SAFETY JULY 23, 2024 @ 3:45 P.M. MINUTES Members present: Mayor Gary Forcier called the session to order. Members present were Tim Burley, Dave Sebesta, Pat May and Chad Czmowski. Others present were Matt Jaunich, City Administrator and other city directors and staff. 1) Introduction to the Topic Matt Jaunich, City Administrator, noted that today's agenda topics will include the state of public safety in Hutchinson, the current challenges/barriers to our public safety system, the vision for the years to come, hear questions/conversations/developing ideas and/or directions and talk about next steps/action items/developing a plan. Mr. Jaunich reviewed the core value statements of public safety. The core value of Public Safety states "Residents and visitors of all ages feel safe and are confident that their property is adequately protected". Mr. Jaunich reviewed community survey feedback regarding public safety. The results showed that 83% rated the overall feeling of safety within the city as excellent or good; 95% feel safe in their neighborhood during the day; 93% feel safe in the downtown/commercial area during the day; 84% feel safe from property crime; 89% feel safe from violent crime; 86% feel safe from fire, flood or other natural disasters; 82% rated police services as excellent or good; 79% rated fire prevention and education services as excellent or good; 68% rated animal control services as excellent or good; 86% rated ambulance or emergency medical services as excellent or good; 69% rated emergency preparedness as excellent or good; 49% rated code enforcement serves as excellent or good; and 65% rated traffic enforcement as excellent or good. Resources used for this session include the annual reports of the police department, fire department, planning/zoning/building department and legal department. Council Member Czmowski noted that the Council has always financially supported public safety and has not received any negative comments for doing so. Council Member May noted that he has never received complaints about the City's public safety. Mayor Forcier expressed that he would like to know the reason behind some of the community survey ratings. Council Member Burley spoke about code enforcement issues. Council Member Sebesta also noted that he has not received complaints or heard any problems with the City's public safety system. Mayor Forcier noted that the main complaints he gets is that Hwy 7 is a raceway and roundabouts are stupid. Council Member Burley spoke to about 20 residents before this session and noted that police got high marks, fire got high marks and he received some comments about code enforcement. He noted that he was asked if the pandemic plan had been updated and/or if the emergency plan had been updated. Staff noted that the pandemic plan was updated during the COVID pandemic. The emergency operations plan was updated in 2024. 2) State of Public Safety in Hutchinson The police department has 23 sworn officers and 10 civilian staff. There are seven marked squads, four unmarked squads, three SWAT vehicles and one trailer. The HPD partners with the school district on a school liaison officer and is a member of the Crow River S.W.A.T. team. HPD had 13,714 calls for service in 2023 and 1863 traffic stops. A new police station opened in 2023. The fire department has one full-time chief and 30 volunteer members. The fire service covers 180 square miles. The department has 13 vehicles (four city -owned, two rural - owned and seven shared). The HFD responded to 517 calls for service in 2023 with the average response time at 5:18. The HFD also provides fire inspection and education services. The Inspection Department has one director, one building official, one building inspector and 1.5 building technicians. The department enforces the City's rental code and State Building Code and averages about 2000 inspections per year including 600-700 rental unit inspections per year. The department issued 674 building permits in 2023 with a value around $20 million. The Legal/Prosecution Department includes one full-time attorney and one paralegal. The department provides assistance with civil and criminal law involving the City. The department has assistance in criminal prosecution work from Gavin Law Office in Glencoe, Minnesota. The department prosecuted 183 criminal cases against 167 difference individuals in 2023. Prosecution work included 449 court hearings, 19 court trials, three jury trials and two cases at the court of appeals. Other public safety services include code enforcement, public safety training facility, commercial inspections, traffic enforcement and fire services impacting ISO ratings. Mayor Forcier noted that he feels full-time firefighters may need to be considered in the future as recruiting/response time may be an issue that has to be addressed. Council Member Czmowski asked if the size of the HFD is of the size yet to have full- time firefighters. Fire Chief Mike Schumann noted that Hutchinson is right on the edge and adding a full-time firefighter/inspector may be considered in next year's budget. Council Member Czmowski expressed that he is 100% satisfied with public safety response and he never feels unsafe throughout the community. Council Member May noted that he feels the departments have good leadership and it works from the top down — he hasn't received complaints on either department. Council Member Burley noted that the community survey recognized mental health concerns. He asked if HPD is seeing an increase in mental health calls for service. HPD has seen an impact on calls due to mental health issues. Chief Gifferson noted that HPD staff has adequate training in mental health issues as first responders. Chief Gifferson expressed that he feels the department has made great strides in the last few years taking care of its employees' mental health — a large impact to that has been the new police facility which is very accommodating. Chief Schumann noted that a lot of focus has been placed on firefighters' mental health over the last few years and the HFD has made it a priority. Council Member Czmowski noted that he has received many complaints about the building department over the years. He stated that he has informed complainants to complete a complaint form to have issues addressed and no complaint forms have ever been completed. That tells him that the complainants just don't like the rules/laws. Council Member Burley stated that complaints he has received are related to fees/charges for signs or inspections. Dan Jochum, Planning/Zoning/Building Director, explained how fees for services are established and Kyle Dimler, Building Official, explained how inspection fees are determined. 3) Current Challenges/Barriers to our Public Safety System Mr. Jaunich noted that current challenges/barriers to the City's public safety system include: staffing/employee retention, public safety wages, availability of volunteer firefighters, increased equipment costs, state and federal regulations (building code), inspections/building code perceptions, following the rules/no permit work, increase in animal `issues", adult -use cannabis and homelessness. Council Member Burley expressed that door-to-door sales/solicitation has grown. Kyle Dimler noted that the state legislature had made significant changes to the energy code that will be implemented over the next several years. He noted that the City will most likely receive negative feedback for these changes. 4) The Vision/Future of Safety within the Community for the Years to Come Mr. Jaunich noted that the City's "One -Stop -Shop" continues to be a valuable process. He noted that staffing models for the fire department need to be evaluated. Funding for a new ladder truck for the fire department need to be explored. The City also has to be considering training center upgrades and its approach to cannabis regulation. Council Member Sebesta expressed that the residents of the community determine future needs. It was also noted that the ladder truck for the fire department may very likely be bonded for. It was also suggested that perhaps more cameras are needed throughout parks system. 5) Questions/Conversations/Developing Ideas and/or Directions 6) Next Steps/Action Items/Developing a Plan Council Member Czmowski noted that he feels the City should continue with a reactionary approach to code violations and not necessarily proactive with bringing on a code enforcement officer. Chief Tom Gifferson noted that the police department may very well need to bring a crime analyst on staff within the next few years with all of the technology being used for crime investigations. Motion by Czmowski, second by May, to adjourn at 5:20 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.