HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 10-24-2022911 COMMUNICATIONS OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE October 24, 2022
At a Regular Meeting of the 911 Communications Oversight Committee on Tuesday, October
24, 2022, at 1:30 p.m., in the Commission Chambers of City Hall located at 300 South 5th Street
the following Committee members were present: Commissioner Carol Gault, Commissioner
Eddie Jones, Mr. Jewel Jones, Dr. Irvin Smith and Kevin Kauffeld. Kevin Kauffeld presided as
Chairperson.
City Clerk Lindsay Parish took the minutes of the meeting.
MINUTES
Commissioner Gault offered motion, seconded by Mr. Jewel Jones to adopt the minutes for
September 26, 2022. All in favor.
UPDATE ON RFP PROCESS
Chairperson Kauffeld updated the Committee that on October 5th he joined City Manager Jordan
and Deputy Judge Executive Doolittle for a virtual conversation with Travis LePage of Federal
Engineering.
City Manager Jordan provided an overview of the call. He noted that it was a very productive
meeting in which many questions were answered. Generally, the RFP is very strong. The group
discussed the critical building list. The list contains 35-50 buildings which were selected to test
for 95% reliability. Federal Engineering is working on creating an instruction sheet for bidders.
The group also discussed radio antennas and cost differences related to size differences.
Chair Kauffeld noted that everyone had a chance to provide input during the meeting.
Additionally, Dr. Smith’s questions were addressed as part of the meeting.
The group discussed whether the City or the County would secure the system. City Manager
Jordan said that the City is prepared to take the lead as the issuing agency with the City Clerk
being the point of contact, if that is acceptable to all parties. Negotiation would need to be a
collaborative effort between the City and the County.
The Committee discussed potential RFP release dates. November 1st would be an aggressive
release or pre-bid meeting date.
The City Manager offered to follow up with Travis LePage at the end of this meeting to see
when he will have items back to the City/County.
Chairperson Kauffeld offered motion, seconded by Mr. Jewel Jones that the Committee
formally recommends that once the RFP material is received from Federal Engineering,
the City, in collaboration with county, will move forward to prepare the bid package for
release. All in favor.
GOVERNANCE DISCUSSION
Chairperson Kauffeld reported that he was able to meet with Mr. Jewel Jones to discuss the
proposed governance structures that were provided by Stacey Blankenship at the last Committee
meeting.
911 COMMUNICATIONS OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE October 24, 2022
Chairperson Kauffeld received a question from a citizen which he said he would pass along to
the Committee. The citizen asked why a separate governance structure is needed for 911.
Commissioner Eddie Jones noted that presently there is no county oversight of 911. One of the
jobs of the fiscal court is to make sure that citizens are receiving the most benefit from the tax
dollars they pay. Under present governance, the County has no role outside of paying an annual
fee to the City for 911. However, if the County is moving forward with significant investments,
Commissioner Jones recommends that the McCracken County Fiscal Court have input on
associated costs and expenses.
Chairperson Kauffeld asked Mr. Jewel Jones to provide any comments on governance. Mr. Jones
noted that he trusts Stacey Blankenship’s memorandum and that he is in favor of the Hybrid
model.
Commissioner Eddie Jones offered the idea in which County owns and maintains the radio
network and the City continues to own and operate 911. In this scenario, the City would offset
the annual bill to the County. In this scenario, an additional board would not be needed.
The Committee discussed whether there are other cities outside of Kentucky that have other
forms of governance to consider. Commissioner Gault knows that 2 other communities in
Kentucky have been in a similar situation and the hybrid model Stacey Blankenship offered was
basically the only way to have some type of joint governance structure. The County Attorney,
Police Chief, or McCracken County Sherriff are the only ones that can be in charge of the hiring
and firing for 911.
Stacey Blankenship had provided a draft agreement that the City and County can enter into for a
hybrid model board to contract with the Chief of Police, County Attorney or Sherriff for
hiring/firing authority.
The Committee discussed whether to finalize a recommendation on governance before or after
finalizing a funding recommendation.
Mr. Jewel Jones offered motion, seconded by Dr. Irvin Smith that the Committee formally
recommends that the Paducah City Commission and McCracken County Fiscal Court
utilize the Hybrid Model as provided by Stacey Blankenship in the memorandum dated
September 22, 2022. All in favor.
OTHER 911 DISCUSSION
Commissioner Eddie Jones made comments about funding options for 911. He agreed that
utilizing a fee on water meters is the best course of action, but that course does not capture the
vision of creating the best 911 system at the cheapest price for the people of Paducah-
McCracken County. He noted that every user has an electric meter, but not everyone has a water
meter. Commissioner Jones is interested in getting the most possible users in the 911 system in
order to lower the cost to Paducah-McCracken County citizens.
Mayor Bray asked the Committee to consider that the cost of 911 operators is a major 911 cost.
Today that cost is spread out over 65,000 people, but would likely increase if more users were
911 COMMUNICATIONS OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE October 24, 2022
added to the network. More users would likely mean more operators. The Mayor cautioned the
Committee to do more research on the benefits and consequences of adding more users.
Commissioner Eddie Jones discussed how he does not believe the community is ready for a $10
or more water meter fee. He would like to keep the electric meter option open for further
discussion. He asked about the dispatch formula being utilized currently.
Police Chief Brian Laird let the Committee know that the 911 center has 23 full time personnel.
The City swells to over 100,000 people on a daily basis. The formula is based on how many calls
per staff member.
Mayor George Bray told the Committee that the first decision needs to be how much of the
increased cost the City and County are going to ask people to pay in the form of a utility bill vs.
what the City and County are going to continue to fund out of their general funds. He asked the
Committee to consider a reasonable approach such as a stairstep plan.
Commissioner Carol Gault offered the option of understanding the total cost, then backing the
citizen portion down with the City and County putting in a specific amount to make the amount
more manageable for citizens. Eventually, the goal is to have 911 be self-sustainable, but that
will not happen immediately.
The Committee discussed sunset clauses, but there was no consensus.
City Manager Jordan let the Committee know that the City bond fund has approximately $3
million that has not been fully allocated. If the county matched that, then the amount funded by
citizens could be decreased.
Chairperson Kauffeld offered to talk with Finance Director Jonathan Perkins to work on
updating the funding figures. Any updates will be sent out to the Committee to review.
ADJOURN
Commissioner Eddie Jones offered motion, seconded by Dr. Irvin Smith, to adjourn the
meeting. All in favor.
TIME ADJOURNED: 2:36 p.m.
ADOPTED: November 14, 2022