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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Public Safety (Committee) - 01/17/1995 MINUTES FROM PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING OF JANUARY 17, 1995 PRESENT: Jim Bennett, Chair Norm Angelo Tim Clark Mary Berg Christi Houser Ed Crawford Roger Lubovich Meeting called to order at 5:03 p.m. by Chairman Bennett. RENEWAL OF INSPECTION CONTRACT WITH KING COUNTY Chief Berg explained that they were requesting re-authorization of the interlocal agreement between IGng County and the City for doing commercial inspections in Fire District 37. This has been ongoing for last six or seven years, and basically is just a renewal of the contract. Berg requested approval to place on the consent calendar for authorization for the Mayor to sign the contract on behalf of the City. Motion by Christi Houser; seconded by Tim Clark. Passed 3-0. AMENDMENT TO EMS SERVICE CONTRACT WITH KING COUNTY Chief Angelo explained that each year the County comes back with what the EMS life support levy is. Last year it was $636,405, and this year its up to $651,423. This amount is based on population, assessed valuation, the number of calls, and response time. The Mayor already has authority to sign the amendment to compensation during the six year life of the contract, but as a matter of information and courtesy, the Public Safety Committee Is always informed of the addendum. Following Tim Clark's request for a better understanding of the issue, Chief Angelo explained that these funds come to the various cities and fire districts as a part of the emergency medical services levy that is passed in the County every six years. A portion of the money goes to advanced life support, a portion to administration, a portion to training, and a portion to capital replacement for equipment. A significant portion goes to the basic life support service deliverers. Basically, the levy is set in place to not completely cover, but to support basic life support. The numbers presented today represent the total funds given to both the City and the Fire District, which offsets a portion of the City's costs. Added Items: Bennett asked Angelo to expand on the newspaper article about the fire in Seattle where it said there are two or three structures in Kent that were similar, such as Burdic Feed. Berg clarified that in talking with the newspaper, he did NOT mention names of any businesses, the newspaper did that. Angelo explained that he felt the paper was fairly straight in much of what was written, however they were looking for stories --the press was looking for a reason to make things larger than life and he didn't want to contribute to that. Seattle already had enough pressure and pain going on. Angelo stated that the whole valley is not without its challenges. A significant difference here is that many of the buildings are v , MINUTES FROM PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING January 17, 1995 Page 2 of 2 under the newer code. However, buildings in the older part of town are older construction and present different risks from the rest. Angelo further explained that there are areas of concern and potential hazards, but feels they have pretty good direction on fire service. Angelo further stated that fire service will never be a risk free service, the risk will always be there. ► Bennett explained that the issue of some type of"Pooper Scooper" ordinance for the parks was recently brought to the Public Works Committee, and was passed on. Apparently there are people who are taking their dogs to the parks and dropping them off to do their business, and Parks Maintenance is taking the criticism for it. Bennett advised that he had Lubovich check into it, and found that Kent does have a leash law, but no pooper scooper ordinance. Bennett asked Crawford if there were such an ordinance, would it be enforced. Houser stated she didn't know what the police could do about it, they should contact animal control. Crawford explained that if there were a person in the park with a dog, and the dog was off the leash, they would not tell people to call animal control. They would enforce the leash law. That is, if there is an officer in the park and someone tells the officer that the dog is not on a leash. The officer would not take the dog into custody though. If the dog could be identified as being with an owner somewhere, the officer would tell the owner to put the dog on a leash. Crawford further stated that they would respond to these calls, but they would be a low priority. Bennett said that a lot of the complaints are coming from West Fenwick Park, and this issue is a major problem in Seattle. Houser said that she thought a lot of the dogs are running wild. Crawford advised that the dogs that are running wild are an animal control issue. Bennett explained that the dogs he's talking about are not running wild. The complaints are related to the people who drop their dogs off, let them run around and do their thing, and then put them back in the car and go home. Bennett further explained that he would not have brought the issue up had there not been complaints, and indicated that he was just looking for some type of solution. Crawford asked if the City has an ordinance that allows Parks Authorities to make rules for the parks by posting signs, indicating that if the City has rule making authority for the parks, you really didn't need an ordinance. You would just post a sign saying that dogs must be on a leash in the parks. Lubovich Indicated that you could post it, but you would not be able to ate them without some sort of law on the books. Houser said she thought that the signs might help. Houser further advised that she did not know that there was a leash law in Kent. When she first came here, there was a Dog Under Control Law. As long as your dog was under control, you did not have to have them on a leash. Lubovich explained that about two years ago they made some changes to the animal control code to be consistent with the county and that is probably where the change came from. Lubovich said that the Parks Director can post the signs because there is a law in effect, and asked if there were specific parks. Bennett advised they were Russell Road and West Fenwick Parks. Lubovich advised that he would talk to the parks director, and provide a status report at the next meeting. Meeting adjourned at 5:19 p.m.