PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE
January 4,
2012
** NOT APPROVED
Committee
Members Present
G. Benson, D. Burdick, C. Crandall, M.
Healy, T. Hopkins, A. McGraw
Others
Present
M. Alger, L.
Edwards, D. Fanton, K. Graves, D. Hanchett, B. Kelley, K. LaForge, B. LaValley,
J. Margeson, T. Miner, K. Monroe, B. Riehle, E. Ruckle, F. Sinclair, K. Slep, R. Sortore, R.
Starks, D. Vespucci, R. Whitney
Public
Safety Committee Chairman Dwight “Mike” Healy called the meeting to order at
11:01 a.m.
Approval
of Minutes
A motion was made by Legislator Benson, seconded by
Legislator Burdick and carried to approve the December 7, 2011, Public Safety
Committee minutes.
Public Defender
Public Defender Barbara Kelley reported
that she has hired Tom Fuoco for the Second Assistant Public Defender
position. She also advised the committee
of two issues that have come up. Now
that the Public Defender is starting to accept support cases, conflicts should
be referred to the conflicts office so that they can take support cases
also. This should be taken into account
when the new contract is negotiated. Also, Assigned Counsel cases should be
referred to the Administrator and no cases should be assigned from the bench.
Probation Director
Director Robert Starks reported he was recently notified
by the Division of Criminal Justice Services that the department was awarded a
three month Probation Eligible Diversion (PED) contract in the amount of
$3,624.00 for the period from 1/1/12 to 3/31/12. He requested permission to accept the funds
and authorize Chairman Crandall to sign the contract. In response to a question, Director Starks
commented that this will put the contract on the state fiscal schedule. He suspects that future funds may be rolled
into a block grant, rather than being a separate contract. A motion was made by Legislator Hopkins,
seconded by Legislator McGraw and carried to accept the funds and authorize
signing of the contract.
Refer
to Ways and Means Committee
Director Starks also noted that the Alternatives to
Incarceration contract has been extended to June 30,
2012.
Director of Emergency Management and Fire
Director Jeff Luckey was not present
at the meeting due to illness.
Legislator Burdick asked if anyone
had any information on the texting program for firemen. 911 Administrator Lt. Daniel Hanchett
responded that Fire Service had contracted with their current CAD provider to
develop a program, but on delivery it did not work. He is continuing to pursue this.
Youth Bureau Director/STOP-DWI Coordinator
Director Linda Edwards had nothing
new to report.
District Attorney
District Attorney Keith Slep had
nothing new to report. He noted that
long-time Wellsville resident Jack Colligan had passed away.
Weights and Measures Director
Director Gilbert Green was unable to
attend the meeting and had nothing new to report.
Sheriff Rick Whitney
Sheriff
Rick Whitney provided his monthly report.
He noted that the monthly income for housing out prisoners was $209,000. The average daily population was 132, with
average housed-in of 70 and county inmates of 62. We have been asked to serve as a staging
facility for specific charter flights through the ICE network. The department generated income of $2.42
million, which exceeded the goal of $2.39 million. He anticipates that the income will be
somewhat reduced in 2012. Several
positions were filled. Professional
pictures were taken of all department staff.
Telestaff is in the process of being updated.
Legislator Healy asked for an update
on the radio project. Lt. Hanchett said things
are moving forward quickly. The switch
to the new system will occur tomorrow and testing continues. All of the towers will be operational in a
few days. The Fire Service did not
receive the grant for high band radios.
Through the current Homeland Security Grant all fire departments and
ambulance services received a base unit, and the Fire Coordinator and all
District Coordinators received high band radios. There will be two law enforcement channels,
two fire channels, five firegound channels, a
Legislator Sinclair asked about the
911 Legislation for equitable distribution of the 911 surcharge. Lt. Hanchett noted that Senator Cathy Young
has submitted legislation to distribute the funds per capita.
New Business
Legislator Healy started a
discussion of whether all department heads should provide a brief monthly
report of activities, either verbally or in writing. He asked that department heads and committee
members think about this for further discussion at the next meeting.
Adjournment
There being no further business to
come before the committee, a motion was made by Legislator Burdick, seconded by
Legislator Hopkins and carried to adjourn the meeting at 11:55 a.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Linda Edwards
Youth Bureau
Director/STOP DWI Coordinator