Kankakee Times

City of Watseka Public Safety Committee met Jan. 14.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

PRESENT: Aldermen Muench, Miller, Anderson, Marcier, Cahoe, Barragree, Alderwomen Rohlfs and DeLahr and Mayor Allhands via phone 

GUESTS: Fire Chief Ken Baier, Auxiliary Officer Erik Buikema, Lt. Harris 

Alderman Muench opened the meeting at 6:30 pm. There was no public comment. Fire Chief Ken Baier stated his department had 3 fires, 8 first responder calls, 28 ambulance calls, 3 MVA calls, 8 automatic alarm calls, and 11 other miscellaneous calls for the month of December. Training for December was equipment review, fire critique, and ice rescue suite review. Ken stated there are 4 firemen in EMT B class in Limestone. Chief Baier stated the new ambulance is at Watseka Ford getting full service (tires and brakes) and should be in service in February. The department gave the coloring contest winners a ride to school in a fire truck before Christmas break. Chief Baier gave a quick update on last year’s calls, he stated the department had 669 calls for the year, which is an increase of 269 from last year, he also stated the response time this year was 7 minutes 57 seconds compared to last year was 10 minutes, 35 seconds. The department installed 110 smoke detectors in 2024, and 11 members took state certified classes, 6 went to the fire academy. There are 28 on the roster and only 5 are not BOF certified. 

Auxiliary Officer Eric Buikema stated the monthly meeting was held December 10th and they discussed events from November and December 3rd. On December 3rd they were called in to secure a potential crime scene and they were also called out December 11th and 12th to monitor a juvenile until family services arrived. The squad was sent in for repairs for a battery issued and it now has a battery maintainer. The winter hats came in for the department. The January 7th meeting had low attendance due to officers working and being sick. At this meeting they went over procedures for removing the squad and parking the squad with the battery maintainer on it. They also discussed the department carrying body cams when on patrol. 

There was no report for the fire and police commission. 

Lt. Harris spoke next for the police department. The department had 324 calls for December. Lt. Harris stated calls were up by 200 from last year and domestics were down at year end. The department is down 1 squad due to a chase last week. It has been turned into the insurance company. During the chase no one was hurt, and the suspect was caught and detained. There was a short discussion about purchasing stop sticks. Lt Harris stated he will be getting prices for next month’s meeting. 

Alderman Muench makes a motion to adjourn at 6:41 pm and Alderman Miller seconded. Roll call carried 9-0.

https://www.watsekacity.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/public-safety-1-14-25.pdf