Kankakee Times

City of Watseka Public Safety Committee Met Aug. 10.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

PRESENT: Alderwoman Ulfers, Aldermen Miller, Barragree, Cahoe, Marcier, Alderman Garfield and Alderwoman Musk attended via phone. Mayor Allhands

ABSENT: Alderman Rushbrook

Alderwoman Ulfers opened the meeting at 7:00pm. There was no public comment. Auxiliary Officer Mark Garfield stated his department helped with the storm on July 24th and for training they went over storm call outs and critique. The department is also working on a schedule for Watseka Family Festival.

Fire Chief Ken Baier spoke next. He stated his department had 5 automatic alarms (old Lifetime Doors building) this has been fixed, 1 structure fire at 405 N Market, 1 auto aid to Crescent City, 2 mutual aid calls (St. Anne & Crescent City), 1 mvc, 2 lift assist, 13 lines down (storm), and 1 hazmat call for a total of 27 calls. Training for July consisted of water supply training and station maintenance. Chief Baier stated Cap. Howe is enrolled in blue card training command class, firefighter Burton is enrolled and has started with the fire academy and the department is moving cadet Acelynn Gamino up to probation. Chief reported 2 wireless tablets have been ordered and the life safety books are in. Chief stated he has a fire alarm company coming in August to give an estimate on fire alarms and suppression systems within the stations. He also stated the department is finishing up with the OSHA inspection problem areas. Physicals will be done in August as a part of the OSHA inspection. The department is also working on adopting the life safety codes. Chief reported the first responder certification paperwork has been started and he hopes by September this will be in place for 2 of the rigs. A discussion was held regarding the radios the department has. Chief has a quote from Communications Direct from Cabery for 26 Kenwood radios at a cost of $958 each. These radios are analog and digital and are compatible with ICOM. Chief stated he only has about $6,000 left in his budget. Alderman Cahoe makes a motion to recommend to the Council to purchase 26 Kenwood Radios from Communications Direct for a cost of $958 each and pay from Capital Purchase. Alderman Marcier seconded. Roll call carried 8-0. Chief Baier stated he hopes to sell all but 10 of the old radios.

Police Chief Jeremy Douglas spoke next. He stated his department had 406 calls for the month of July. Officer Kole Bossong is now gone and Officer Mark Harris is now working patrol to fill in. The department has started the hiring process, so far 7 applications have gone out and 1 lateral application has gone out. Chief Douglas stated he has ordered the new squad and it might arrive next April/May. Chief also stated the detective’s car is all completed. Chief asked the committee if he should trade in his Chrysler 300 since it is just setting and used car prices are at an all time high. The committee said yes please trade it in. Chief stated he attended the ETSB meeting and the fees started out to be $192,000/year and then was lowered to $142,000-$146,000 and after more discussion it was lowered to $120,000 for this year. It was reported last year the fee was about $76,000.00. Chief stated cops for kids donated 40 book bags to Heritage Woods for their back-to-school program. Officer Harris and K9 Tucker will help hand them out. Chief reported a couple of weeks ago the urinal in the bathroom on the police side stuck on and flooded several rooms before it was discovered. Clark Plumbing was called in along with Building Inspector Eric Brandt and it was decided there is no pitch to the floor for the drain so it’s not even functioning. Chief has contacted Chad Wright and Tom Taylor to get a price to fix the floor issue. Chief read a letter to the committee regarding the excellent job Officer Hall did helping a couple out who were traveling through the city and had tire trouble. Chief will put a letter of good standing in his personnel file and the committee thanked him for his dedication.

Alderwoman Ulfers stated she would like to discuss getting another vehicle for the fire department. This vehicle would be for the chief to use to get to a fire scene first and could be used for co calls so that a larger vehicle wouldn’t have to be used. This vehicle would stay in town at all times. The truck that is used now would still be used for classes etc. The committee is all in agreement and they recommend chief to get some state bids and bring back to next months meeting.

Alderwoman Ulfers makes a motion to adjourn at 7:37 pm and Alderman Miller seconded. Roll call carried 8-0.

http://www.watsekacity.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/public-safety-8-10-21.pdf