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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-09-1993 City Council Minutes MZNT:~ES S~l~,TO~ Cl~Y COUNCIL TIME: Tuesday, March 9, 1993 - 6:30 p.m. PLACE: City Hall Administration Meeting Room, 13777 Fruitvale Ave. TYPE: Adjourned Regular Meeting/Joint Meeting with Public Safety Commission 1. Roll Call Councilmembers present: Burger, Monia and Vice Mayor Tucker; absent: Kohler and Mayor Anderson. Commissioners present: Borah, Dowdy, Gaskell, Johnson, O'Rorke; absent, Crane and Swanson. 2. Report of City Clerk on Posting of Agenda. Pursuant to Government Code 54954.2, the agenda for this meeting was properly posted on March 5. The notice of adjournment from the March 3 Council meeting was properly posted on March 4. 3. Overview of City Emergency Plan - Harz7 Peacock, city Manager (PIO, legal) - Carolyn King, Assistant to the City Manager, presented an overview of the City's Emergency Plan. The plan was prepared in June of 1990 and is based on the InCident Command System of emergency management and response and focuses on potential large scale disasters. The City Manager is designated as the City's Director of Emergency Services and along with the City Council, has the authority to declare an emergency in Saratoga. The City Manager also serves as the Incident Commander during an emergency and oversees responsibilities for Public Information, Legal issues and financial record keeping. Operations - Larx~ Perlin, City Engineer (fire, medical, pUblic works/utilities) - The City Engineer presented an overview of the Operations Section of the Emergency Plan. During an emergency, the Operations Section manages the City's tactical response which includes fire fighting and rescue, hazardous materials response, law enforcement, evacuations, traffic control, medical response, debris removal, emergency construction and public shelter. The Operations Section is assisted by staff from both the Saratoga and Central Fire Districts, and the Sheriff's Dept. City staff assigned as Unit Chiefs to the Operations Section are the Environmental P~ograms Manager (Medical Unit), Street Maintenance Supervisor (Public Works/Utilities Unit), and Recreation Director (Care and Shelter Unit). In the absence of the City Manager, the City Engineer assumes the role as Director of Emergency Services and Incident Commander. Councilmember Monia raised the question of who should have access to the City's emergency status telephone number which is designed for City staff to call in the event of an emergency to find out whether to report back to work. City staff will review this and will provide the telephone number to those additional parties whom it is deemed should have access to the number. Additionally, it was noted that emergency messages could be broadcast over the City's 1610 AM radio signal to reach emergency volunteers who might otherwise not have access to the emergency status telephone number. Sheriff - Capt. Bob Wilson - Captain Wilson explained the Sheriff Department's role in a local emergency. The Sheriff will send a deputy to the EOC when it is activated who will serve as a link between the City and the Sheriff's Dept. which may also be responding to a Countywide emergency which would be coordinated from the County EOC. The ultimate decisions regarding emergency response by the Sheriff in Saratoga however remain with the City. Care and Shelter - Joan Pisani, Recreation Director - The Recreation Director explained her role as the Care and Shelter Unit Chief. She is responsible for arranging the opening of temporary shelters during an emergency and works with the Red Cross to do so. .The Red Cross has agreements with many of the City Council Minutes 2 March 9, 1993 local schools to operate as shelters during an emergency. Using the Red Cross eliminates operational and financial liabilities associated with emergency shelters. The Care and Shelter Unit also enlists the aid of volunteers to provide support at the shelters. Planning - Paul Curtis, Planning Director (situation unit, damage assessment) - Joe Oncay, Building Codes Administrator, presented an overview of the Planning Section in the absence of the Planning Director who would serve as the Planning Section Chief. The Planning Section maintains statistics about the current status of an emergency event and also provides damage assessment surveys of buildings and other structures during an emergency. Logistics - Dan Trinidad, Maintenance Director (supply/resources, facilities/transportation) - The Maintenance Director presented an overview of the Logistics Section which is responsible for the procurement of materials, supplies and equipment needed to respond to emergency situations. In addition, the Logistics Section arranges for needed transportation to move people and equipment. Finance - Patricia Shriver, Finance Director - The Finance Director explained her role as the Finance Unit Chief. The Finance Unit is responsible for assembling and maintaining all financial records of an emergency event to secure reimbursement of costs and to pass audit requirements sometimes years .after the emergency. Liaison - Carolyn King, Assistant to City Manager (volunteers, communications, hams) -.The Assistant to the City Manager provided an overview of her role as Liaison Section Chief. The Liaison Section coordinates volunteer response and also is responsible for maintaining the communications systems used during an emergency. COuncilmember .Monia suggested using 'KSAR to broadcast emergency information and suggested that City staff get together with KSAR staff to work out an arrangement for doing this. a. Overview of communication equipment (ham radios, TIS, EOC- EOC, employee emergency line, Centrex phone system) - The Assistant to the City Manager explained the various communication systems available to the City in the event of an emergency. The systems are designed to be as redundant as possible to minimize the possibility of the City losing its communications abilities in an emergency. b. Regional role (countywide exercises, participation in EMA, OASIS) - The Assistant to the City Manager explained that the City would be participating in a countywide emergency exercise on Thursday, May 6. The primary purpose of the exercise is to test the new OASIS Communications system which is being developed as a pilot project in Santa Clara County. 4. Role of council - The Assistant to the City Manager explained the role of the City Council during an emergency. The Council's role is to support the Director of Emergency Services, participate in decisions referred by the Director which have major consequences, and participate in public information efforts. 5. Role of Public Safety Commission (monitor planning, serve as volunteers) - The Assistant to the City Manager explained the role of the Public Safety COmmission during an emergency. The Commission monitors the City's response and the effectiveness of the Emergency Plan and serves as volunteers where needed. 6. Other Matters: a. Endorsement of Youth court program - After a brief presentation of the Youth Court program by Captain Wilson, Councilmember Monia moved, and Councilmember Burger seconded, to endorse the Youth Court program. The motion carried unanimously. City Council Minutes 3 March 9, 1993 b. Recap of 1992 - Commissioner Johnson reviewed the Commission's accomplishments for 1992 which were summarized on a list distributed by the Commission. Councilmember Monia suggested that the Council seek input from the Public Safety Commission as to where additional savings could be realized from the Sheriff's contract. Councilmember Burger suggested that the Commission review the background report on this issue prepared for the Policy Development Conference and provide comments to the Council. Councilmember Monia noted that the City needs to plan for a possible $1.8 million loss in revenue and that the size of the Sheriff's contract makes it a likely candidate to consider for some budget cuts. c. Sheriff/School Resource Officer - Commissioner Dowdy gave a detailed presentation of this item. She believes that at least the basic program should be saved in hopes of being able to expand it in the future. She also suggested approaching Councilmember Trixi Johnson of San Jose to seek that City's support of the program in schools which serve both cities. d. Terms of Public Safety Commission Members - Commissioner Borah noted that four Commissioners' terms will expire in December after they have served the maximum of two terms and that this will represent the loss of over 37 years worth of Commission experience. As a result, the Commission will formulate a proposal to the Council to prevent this drain of experience from happening to the Commission. e. Semi-annual Meetings - Commissioner Borah expressed the Commissioners' desires to meet with the Council twice per year. There was unanimous consensus to do so and staff will schedule a second joint meeting for this fall. f. D.U.I. Program- commissioner Borah noted that the Commission liked the DUI program, however they are not requesting that funding for it be restored. He noted that in the previous two months, DUI arrests were down and accidents were up but that it is too early to draw conclusions from these statistics. The Commission will continue to monitor DUI statistics and will report back to the Council with any findings. g. Goals for 1993 - Councilmember Monia suggested that the City should expand its use of the various forms of communication available to better reach Saratoga residents on public safety issues. Vice-Mayor Tucker stated she Would like to see the Neighborhood Watch program expanded into the schools and the role of the program expanded as well. Councilmember Burger concurred with Councilmember Monia. h. City Council Input - The Council's input was provided during the discussion of item G above. 7. Adjournment Vice-Mayor Tucker adjourned the meeting at 9:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Larry I. Perlin Acting city Manager