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02 Council Minutes (08/23/01)MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL August 23, 2001 The City Council of the City of Paris met in special session Thursday, August 23, 2001, 6:00 P. M., Paris Junior College, Applied Technology Building, Room 1016, 2400 Clarksville Street, Paris, Texas. Mayor Michael J. Pfiester called the meeting to order with the following Council Members present: John F. Bell, Joe E. McCarthy, Richard Manning, Kevin Gray, and Benny Plata. Also present were City Manager Michael E. Malone, City Attorney Larry W. Schenk, and City Clerk Mattie Cunningham. Invocation was give by W. E. Anderson, Director of Finance for the City of Paris. Mayor Pfiester called for input from interested citizens of Paris regarding the proposed services or projects to be included in the 2001- 2002 City of Paris Budget. William Conder,1870 E. Polk, came forward stating that he has seen a great improvement in the Police Department since Karl Louis became Chief of this department. Mr. Conder indicated that with the taking on of additional territory due to the annexation, the Police Department had become under staffed. He stated that he could see the need for hiring four patrolmen. Mr. Conder stated that he was willing to a see a slight tax increase if it meant keeping the patrolmen. He felt the City Council could find the money in the budget. Donna Conder, 1870 E. Polk, also spoke in favor of the keeping the four police officers. She stated that she sees the need from a safety aspect as she is legally blind and it is not safe for her to walk on the streets in Paris. Ms. Conder also supported a tax increase in order to keep the four police officers. Minutes of the Special City Council Meeting August 23, 2001 Page 2 City Manager Malone announced that the Council would be considering the Fire Department's budget tonight. He pointed out that in the reorganization, the Code Enforcement Officer's position was moved from the Fire Department and placed in the Community Development Department, so this would be a change from the previous budget. City Manager Malone said they have not placed the additional funds in the proposed budget numbers for the master certificate pay which was requested and that amount would be approximately $3,000.00 . He recommended placing it in the budget. Mr. Malone said that Chief Grooms has requested certificate pay and EMT patch pay and that funds have not been placed in the proposed budget for those items. The cost to the budget for the year would be approximately $13,800.00, and he also recommended that this expenditure be placed in the budget. City Manager Malone advised that in the overtime account the, Chief Grooms originally asked for $240,000.00. Since the initial numbers were run, he has reduced his request to $184,000.00 ; however, when they were putting the numbers together, the overtime was reduced to $120,000.00. He said in order to restore the overtime to what the Chief had requested, the City Council would have to add $64,000.00 back to that account. City Manager Malone advised that the Fire Chief estimated that $24,000.00 is needed for the EMT certification program and that the remainder of the cut is needed to pay the built- in overtime. Ronnie Grooms, Fire Chief, came forward giving the City Council a handout regarding the proposed plan for the EMT certification Minutes of the Special City Council Meeting August 23, 2001 Page 3 project for the Paris Fire Department. Chief Grooms gave a brief history of this program that has been in place since the late 1970's and early 1980's. Chief Grooms said the State of Texas requires firefighters to be certified at a minimum level of an ECA, which is an Emergency Care Attendant. He said the state says that they will take that class, pass the class and they will be certified as a firefighter. Chief Burgin ruled that all new firefighters would be trained to the level of EMT. After a period of time some of the firefighters were dropping their certifications as they were promoted, and some of the firefighter level employees began to allow their certifications to lapse as well. Chief Grooms advised that this issue was addressed in staff meetings with the consensus that the EMT certification must be maintained throughout a firefighters career regardless of rank attained because of the First Responder Program. Chief Grooms said it is his goal to make this happen and that the training is the key. Chief Grooms told the City Council that he will be working with Cliff Brooks and Larry McDonald, who are Paramedics on B-shift with the city of Paris Emergency Medical Service and are also associated with the Paris Junior College Emergency Medical Training Department. They have agreed to assist in this project. Chief Grooms advised that there are eighteen employees who will be required to take this course. Paris Junior College agreed to have all of the classes taught at Fire Station No. 1, which defrayed some of the cost. By using certified instructors within the department, they were able to reduce the tuition costs. The department has enough training manuals to accommodate their needs in that area. Clinical training will be required by Paris Junior College to complete 96 combined hours of clinical rotation involving time spent in the ambulance and in the hospital. The clinical training will, because of staffing allowance, have to be completed while off duty thus increasing possible overtime cost. Minutes of the Special City Council Meeting August 23, 2001 Page 4 Chief Grooms told City Council that the certification is mandatory and that maintaining the certification is also mandatory. He is requesting funding for the certification incentive (patch pay) for the level of EMT. He said that persons with higher levels of certification would also be eligible but would be compensated at the same rate. The patch pay is a nominal sum and the formula is simply calculated - 55 firefighters times $25.00 per month by 12 months equals $16,500.00. After a considerable amount of discussion, itwas the consensus of the City Council to cut from the Fire Department's budget $171,000.00 for a tanker truck; reduce the request for four thermal imaging viewers to two, for a reduction of $32,000.00; reduce furniture and fixtures from $10,000.00 to $5,000.00; reduce the electronic data processing by $8,078.00, and remove the computer aided dispatch in the amount of $30,000.00, for a total reduction of $256,078.00. It was also the consensus of the City Council to add back into the Fire Department's budget patch pay of $3,000.00, overtime in the amount of $64,000.00, and certification pay of $13,800.00, for a total increase in the Fire Department's budget of $80,800.00. At this time, the City Council went back to the Police Department's budget and they were in agreement to cut from the budget the computer aided dispatch in the amount of $102,000.00, reduce the photographic supply account by $8,000.00, cut the request for three dispatch chairs in the amount of $3,600.00, and cut $3,800.00 from the machinery, tools, and equipment account, for a total reduction of $1179400.00. After discussion, the City Council agreed to add to the Police Minutes of the Special City Council Meeting August 23, 2001 Page 5 Department's budget four police officers in the amount of $154,452.00, cameras and tapes in the amount of $13,000.00, 15 video cameras plus disks for $9,000.00, one Laserfische scanner in the amount of $8,000.00, and two computers for the Narcotics Division in the amount of $2,000.00, for a total increase of $186,452.00. It was also the consensus of the City Council to add an additional $20,000.00 to the Community Development Department for two vehicles for use by the Code Enforcement Officers. There was no action on Agenda Item No. 6, record vote on proposal to consider tax increase for calendar year 2001 for the City of Paris; Agenda Item No. 7-A, a resolution setting the time and date for a public hearing on the proposed amendments to the City of Paris proposed budget for fiscal year 2001-2002; Agenda Item No. 7-B, a resolution setting a public hearing on the proposed tax increase required to fund and balance the proposed budget for fiscal year 2001-2002. There being no further business, a motion was made by Councilman Gray, seconded by Councilman McCarthy, to adjourn the meeting. The motion carried 6 ayes, 0 nays. MICHAEL J. PFIESTER, MAYOR ATTEST: MATTIE CUNNINGHAM City Clerk Minutes of the Special City Council Meeting August 23, 2001 Page 6