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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-02-12 - City Commission Workshop Meeting MinutesCITY OF TAMARAC CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2018 CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Harry Dressler called the Workshop of the City Commission to order at 9:44 a.m. on Monday, February 12, 2018 in Conference Room 105, City Hall, 7525 NW 88th Avenue, Tamarac, FL 33321. ROLL CALL: Mayor Harry Dressler, Vice Mayor Michelle J. Gomez, Commissioner Marlon Bolton, Commissioner Julie Fishman and Commissioner Debra Placko were in attendance. Also in attendance were City Manager Michael Cernech, Assistant City Manager Kathleen Gunn, City Attorney Samuel S. Goren and City Clerk Patricia Teufel. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mayor Dressler led the Pledge of Allegiance. 1. Presentation of a Year-end Review on Crime Statistics: Captain Glassman appeared and gave a presentation, a copy of which is on file in the City Clerk's Office. Captain Glassman talked about the 12% increase in crime in Tamarac from 2016 to 2017 and said there was a 30% increase in Burglary Conveyance. Captain Glassman said Burglary Conveyance is an issue in the tri-county area. Captain Glassman did a comparison overview of 2014 Part 1 Crimes vs. 2017 Part 1 Crimes. Captain Glassman went over the Burglary Conveyance Statistics for the period January 1 to December 31 for 2016 and 2017. Captain Glassman reported that 21 hand guns were stolen from cars in 2017. Captain Glassman said he and his staff attend meetings and drum in the message to lock your car and they have put message boards out about locking cars. Captain Glassman said people are looking for an easy way to take property and get money. Captain Glassman spoke about a recent incident in Tamarac when a resident shot and killed an individual that was breaking into his car. Captain Glassman reported that BSO has received 39,290 calls for service in 2017 which is up 6.3% from the prior year and that accidents and citations have gone down in 2017. Commissioner Bolton asked Captain Glassman how often they run these reports and Captain Glassman he goes through the Chief's Log daily and every Monday they have a Crime Analyst that does a report. Commissioner Bolton said BSO has zones and cars are allotted to each zone and asked why more cars are not assigned to zones that have higher crime. Captain Glassman said zones are spread geographically and they want to have the same response time city wide and explained the process for coverage in zones. Commissioner Bolton said we need to look at this and make sure there is visibility. Commissioner Bolton talked about an experience he had and the extended time it took BSO to respond to a call for assistance. Captain Glassman said when people call sometimes they have to wait and said that applies to a few calls and not to a majority of the calls. Commissioner Placko asked if they have reports by District and Captain Glassman said no as it is too difficult to extract that kind of information. Commissioner Placko said the COPS volunteers leave flyers on car windows when they patrol the parks. -- Commissioner Placko talked about a time when she received a call from one of the COPS as they saw a truck backed up in her driveway, but it turned out that they were at her house doing work. Commissioner Placko commented that the amount of car break - Page 1 of 3 COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING February 12, 2018 ins in her District is outrageous. Captain Glassman said that car burglars sometimes do dozens of cars in an evening and Commissioner Placko asked if they are caught do they go to jail. Captain Glassman said if they are caught they get arrested and go to jail but they do not stay in jail as they have to give priority to the more serious crimes against people. Commissioner Placko said it is up to the Commission to get the word out and thanked BSO for the work they do in her community. Vice Mayor Gomez expressed her concern about traffic accidents and the resources it takes from BSO and Tamarac Fire Rescue when they have to respond and asked what could be done to get the number of accidents down. Vice Mayor Gomez talked about having checks stolen and having money illegally taken out of her account. Captain Glassman said we cannot prevent people from doing things they should not be doing when they are driving, and they hope to change behaviors by citations and education. Captain Glassman said online crime is a huge problem and BSO has an Economic Crimes Unit that deals with those issues. Captain Glassman said BSO educates people to protect themselves and not give out credit card information over the phone as well as other pertinent information. This is an overwhelming problem and people are preying on other people's trust. Vice Mayor Gomez said to let her know if there is anything the Commission can do to help. Commissioner Fishman said BSO does an excellent job on the new scams that are coming out. Commissioner Fishman asked about the increase in larceny and what are we doing to educate people. Captain Glassman said 40% of crimes are larceny and BSO is trying to make a dent in that crime. BSO will be having an operational plan and the Commission will hear about that plan in a few months. Mayor Dressler said we must keep things in perspective and the more we can do education wise will help. Mayor Dressler said we are extremely concerned about crime. Mayor Dressler talked about an article in the newspaper saying that juveniles are not being arrested but given citations and he felt other criminals will take advantage of juveniles and have them commit crimes since they will not be arrested. Mayor Dressler said he felt letting juveniles go would promote crime. Mayor Dressler said we need to be realistic and do the best we can to educate people and hope they listen. Mayor Dressler said if there is anything the Commission can do to let them know. Vice Mayor Gomez talked about banks not pursuing criminals 2. Cell Tower Update - City Manager Michael Cernech and Information Technology Director Levent Sucuoglu appeared and gave a presentation, a copy of which is on file in the City Clerk's Office. City Manager Cernech said at a workshop in August Broward County joined us to talk about improving the radio system and at that time presented to Tamarac the need for a new tower in Tamarac. City Manager Cernech said staff continues to meet with Broward County about a suitable location because Tamarac is built out. The area they want is primarily residential. We have settled on the site behind City Hall where we have an existing tower. The challenge we are having is that we are asking the County to replace the two towers with this new tower and if the Commission agrees taking the two towers down and replacing them with a new tower we want to be able to transfer the existing equipment to the new tower. We are making headway with that proposal as Broward County likes the site as they will get better coverage for the public safety radio system. City Manager Cernech said staff is continuing to work with Broward County and staff wanted to update the Commission as to what is happening Page 2 of 3 COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING February 12, 2018 and get some feedback from you as well as the community around it. City Manager Cernech said staff needs to solidify an agreement with Broward County. City Manager Cernech said this is one of the last towers they are looking to replace, and staff will bring something back to the Commission in the future. Mayor Dressler asked what other cities had towers and if we have reached out to those cities. City Manager Cernech said Parkland, Coconut Creek and Weston are some of the cities and staff will reach out once we get a final proposal. Commissioner Fishman said Broward County chose to make these 300-ft. towers and assumed cities would go along with this. Commissioner Fishman said Broward County doesn't want our equipment on this but on another 180-ft. tower which is unacceptable, and while we support our first responders we have a duty to our residents. Mayor Dressler said Tamarac supports public safety, but people have limits and people will not be happy looking at this 300-ft. tower. Commissioner Placko asked if three shorter towers would do the job and Information Technology Director Sucuoglu responded that option is there. Information Technology Director Sucuoglu said this public safety system calls for about 15 antenna sites based on 300-ft towers. Information Technology Director Sucuoglu said there is a 10% to 12% gap in coverage from a 200-ft. tower to a 300-ft. tower. Information Technology Director Sucuoglu talked about supplemental coverage by towers in other cities. Commissioner Placko said the Commission is concerned about how this will affect property values and we need to look into this issue. Commissioner Fishman commented that Broward County chose 300-ft. towers without consulting cities. Vice Mayor Gomez asked why the public safety system covers the Everglades and City Manager Cernech said that Broward County is 2/3 Everglades and we have to respond to emergencies in that area. Vice Mayor Gomez said she does not believe this is solely a public safety issue and wants more transparency on this issue from Broward County as well as their rational for choosing the site in Tamarac. City Manager Cernech said they need another tower and we are trying to minimize the impact on surrounding communities. Vice Mayor Gomez said we need to have a conversation about the effect this tower will have on people's health. City Manager Cernech said our goal is to make sure that Broward County will allow the 2 carriers we currently have on our tower on the new tower and provide for the opportunity for a third carrier. Mayor Dressler said there is no way you can say this is great when you will have to look at this 300-ft. tower. Mayor Dressler said staff will have to make sure in their discussions with Broward County that the Mayor and Commission can say "no" to the 300-ft. tower. Commissioner Placko said we need to look at other alternatives. 3. Other There being no further business to come before the City Commission for consideration, Mayor Dressler adjourned the meeting at 10:55 a.m. V U I � Pl+/tI//� tricia Teufel, CMC i f City Clerk ESTASLIst^fCD 01 1963 �{ SeAL Page 3 of 3 COMMISSION WORKSH60/MEETIN�\` February 12, 2018