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Home My WebLink About07/15/08JULY 15, 2008 At a Regular Meeting of the Board of Commissioners, held on Tuesday, July 15, 2008, at 5:30 p.m., Mayor Paxton presided, and upon call of the roll by the City Clerk, the following answered to their names: Commissioners Coleman, Kaler, Watkins, and Mayor Paxton (4). Commissioner Smith was absent (1). PRESENTATION DUKE & DUCHESS AWARDS Trace Stevens, Aquatics & Athletic Supervisor -A couple of weeks ago a 5 -year old boy was saved from drowning at the Noble Park pool. Mr. Stevens recognized primary rescuers, Sandy Green, Andy Spalding and Lauren Stone, for performing CPR and readying the child for transfer from the scene when emergency services arrived. He thanked all of the lifeguards for their participation and support. Mayor Paxton presented them with dukes and duchesses. FOUNTAIN AVENUE NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION Due to negative comments regarding the inspection and permitting process handled through the Inspections Department, Mayor Paxton invited people to speak that have had positive experiences with the department. Dr. Paul McInturff, West Kentucky Community and Technical College; Pat Johnson and David Hutcheson of Mindspring Development; and Darren & Meshea Crysup, residents of Madison Street, all spoke in favor of the department. ORDINANCE – INTRODUCTION ACCEPT CONTRACT FOR 2008 RESURFACING PROGRAM Commissioner Coleman offered motion, seconded by Commissioner Kaler, that the Board of Commissioners introduce an ordinance entitled, "AN ORDINANCE ACCEPTING THE BID OF JIM SMITH CONTRACTING COMPANY, INC. FOR THE CITY'S 2008 CALENDAR YEAR STREET RESURFACING PROGRAM, AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE A CONTRACT FOR SAME". This ordinance is summarized as follows: Accepting the bid of Jim Smith Contracting Company, Inc. for the 2008 calendar year street resurfacing program for roadway resurfacing, repair, and miscellaneous construction of various streets, and authorizing the Mayor to execute a contract for same. ITEM NO DESCRIPTION UNIT HOURLY AMOUNT 1 Bituminous Surface/Base TON $74.00 2 Milling Texture TON $45.00 3 Traffic Signal Loop Wire L.F. $2.00 4 Traffic Signal Loop — Saw, Slot and Fill L.F. $15.00 5 Shoulder Construction TON $43.00 WORKSHOP CONVENTION & VISITORS CENTER MARKETING Mary Hammond gave a short update. First of all she thanked the Commission for their hard work in the City retaining the Quilt Show for 2009. The State has released the tourist expenditure figures that show a good steady increase. In McCracken County, approximately $280 million was spent by tourist over 2007— steady increase of 1.7%. ANNOUNCEMENT o Paducah -McCracken County Convention & Visitors' Bureau has received its accreditation for tourism from DMAI-Destination Marketing Association International—Paducah is one of 58 cities across the United States that has received this accreditation. o 2009 Hog Rally is coming back to Paducah o Four Rivers Harley Davidson has its official grand opening tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. Rosemarie Steele, Marketing Director, shared the advertising campaign. The Quilt Museum has received the Congressional designation as a National Quilt Museum. This will help give worldwide attention to Paducah. JULY 15, 2008 BOOM BOX NOISE ENFORCEMENT Police Chief Bratton distributed information that has been gathered from the official KyOPS database over the last 6 months. (Copy is in minute file.) o 33 noise citations were issued o 27% of those violations resulted in other charges o 56% of all resulting charges were failure to possess driver's license o 33% of all resulting charges wee failure to wear a seatbelt Three areas were looked into: trends by time, trends by geographic location, and trend of days of the week. Trend for time --majority of violations is between 2:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.; trend for days of the week --nothing consistent; and trend for geographic location— most cited location is Dudley Court (this is probably due to officers already being present in this area). Chief Bratton has spoken with Judge Hollowell (handles traffic court matters) about increasing enforcement penalties and also spoken with Judge Kitchen. He is looking into additional enforcement operations but has had minimal success. Public awareness needs to be increased. The Chief reported that Joel Scarbrough, Chief Building Inspector, suggested the citations be filed as a violation of the nuisance code. If they are filed as a violation of the nuisance code, the Nuisance Code Enforcement Board will hear all appeals. This means that if the citizen loses the appeal the fine could be doubled and all monies would go to the City and the City would not have to process these citations through the court system. Commission agreed to file citations under violation of the nuisance code. HIRING PROCESS Herschel Dungey, Human Resources Director and Nichole Cobb, Intern for Human Resources, gave a powerpoint presentation explaining the hiring process utilized by the City. CITY MANAGER REPORT • Proposed personnel actions - no discussion • CM and several staff members did a wrap-up session over the weekend with JJR to finalize plans for the Commissions' final review for the Riverfront Development Project • Police Department - City Manager Zumwalt reiterated that when Randy Bratton was hired as Police Chief he was charged to change the culture of the Paducah Police Department. The reputation of the Police Department had become sullied due to the actions of some of the officers. During the seven years of Chief Bratton's employment he has: o Established Standards of Increased Accountability o Enforced that officers cannot receive free meals or gratuities from restaurants/etc. o Crime rates are down 37% since the Chief's employment in 2001 o Complaints of the department have decreased—even verbal complaints are investigated o Staff has become involved in disciplinary process of fellow officers o Police Department has received accreditation A significant number of the older officers did not agree with the changes and have left the department. Labor contract changes as we made our City benefits more like the job benefits its City taxpayers have at their jobs left FOP unhappy. -' Over a year ago, Chief Bratton told Mr. Zumwalt that it was time for him to move on and he has been applying for other positions. Planning for succession, Chief helped Asst. Chief Carroll and Asst. Chief Grimes prepare for the chief leadership role. On July 11, 2008, after a scheduled presentation on City goals and budget, Asst. Chief Carroll, Asst. Chief Grimes, and Captains Barnhill, Hodgson, Krueger, Roberts and White met with the City Manager and Chief Bratton and gave them a letter from the management team requesting the resignation or replacement of Police Chief Randy Bratton. City Manager Zumwalt read the letter and JULY 15, 2008 distributed a copy to the Mayor and Commissioners. (A copy is in the minute file.) Several reasons were given by the management team for this request. The City Manager proposed that he complete individual interviews with the each of the officers that signed the letter and come back with information that will help the Commission to determine how to proceed. The Chief and management team have assured the City Manager that they will continue to conduct themselves professionally and the department will continue to operate effectively. Chief Bratton gave a statement. After discussion among the Board, it was agreed that they would wait until the City Manager provides more information before making a decision. COMMISSIONER CONCERNS Commissioner Watkins—The curb located close to Washington Street by the post office on Fourth Street is a safety hazard. He would like the city to repair the curb. The City Manager responded he believes the City Engineer has contacted the State to repair the curb. Since it has not been repaired he will check into the problem. Commissioner Coleman—Reminder when citizens bring a concern to the commission they deserve to be heard without prejudice of the topic. Upon motion the meeting adjourned. ADOPTED: August 12 , 2008 J&MrM� City Clerk