Kankakee Times

City of Watseka Public Safety Committee met May 9.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

PRESENT: Aldermen Barragree, Cahoe, Marcier, Miller, Anderson, Muench, Alderwoman Rohlfs, and Mayor Allhands

ABSENT: Alderwoman Musk

GUESTS: Auxiliary Officer Mark Garfield, Fireman Duane Brose, Nita Dubble with the Fire and Police Commission, and Police Chief Jeremy Douglas

Mayor Allhands swore in 1st Ward Alderman Scott Muench.

Alderman Barragree opened the meeting at 6:30 pm. There was no public comment. Auxiliary officer Mark Garfield stated his department had 2 details for the month with the house fire on S 3rd St and the Little League Parade. At the monthly meeting they worked on the boat lights and discovered the water pump is out on the boat and public works will fix this. Mark stated there are charging issues with the Durango and it’s at Miller’s Auto Repair and it needs a new battery. Mark stated that Eric Buikema and Ron Henneike will be filling in for him at meetings as necessary. Mark also reported that William Sell is back on the roster and will be on probation for 6 months.

Duane Brose with the fire department spoke next. He stated the department had 5 fires, 9 EMS assists, 8 ambulance calls, 3 MVA’s, 2 automatic alarms, 2 autoaid calls, 1 mutual aid call, and 6 other calls for a total of 36 calls for the month of April. Training for April consisted of SCBA Mod c, aerial operations, boat operations, and mutual aid training with Sheldon. Duane stated Drew

Douglas has finished his 40 hours hands on extrication class and Shannon Woods has finished his Haz-mat operations 40-hour hands on class. The air packs have been ordered and will be here in about 4 months. The rope rescue equipment has arrived and is being placed into service. The department held a Camp 911 at Glenn Raymond for 3 graders. The department has installed 3 more smoke detectors and are now waiting for more to arrive. Alderwoman Rohlfs asked how the 2nd new ambulance was working out and Duane stated they have run 4 or 5 calls with it, and it ran just great.

Nita Dubble with the Fire and Police Commission spoke next. She stated she attended the Police commission seminar in Springfield Friday and Saturday and stated it was very informative. The commission had 11 applications received, 7 were asked to go to the agility and written portion of the testing and 6 showed up (1 moved away). May 23rd oral interviews will be done and then the new list will be prepared. As of right now there are no vacancies.

Police Chief Jeremy Douglas stated his department had 344 calls for service during the month of April. Chief stated the interview room is done except for the server. Chief Douglas, Detective Marcott and King attended a drug conference in Peoria from Wednesday through Friday. Detective Marcott and Chief Douglas were speakers at the Kiwanis meeting and Detective

Marcott and Sgt. Harris attended a Leadership school, and Sgt. Harris and Officer Josh Douglas attended a criminal interdiction class. The Chief reported all of the range qualifications are now done and the department did an enforcement detail with 10-15 officers being on duty. The department has had the first union negotiation meeting and they will be meeting again in June. Chief Douglas stated he has contacted the same dealership in Iowa that the fire department did regarding a new vehicle and they have been put on a list for a new Tahoe. Chief stated the repeater for the radios is going out and will cost about $3,000 to replace it with a digital/VHF repeater. He will use the I Cure (Covid) monies to pay for this, it is on order. Chief stated he want to recognize officers Quincy Spears and Corey Hamlin for saving a resident during a recent house fire.

Alderman Barragree makes a motion to adjourn at 6:44 pm and Alderman Marcier seconded. Roll call carried 8-0.

https://www.watsekacity.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/public-safety-5-9-23.pdf