DATE: March 10, 2005
The regular meeting of the Sauk County Law Enforcement Committee was held on Thursday, March 10, 2005, at 9:30 A.M., in the Community Room, D102A, 1300 Lange Court, Baraboo, Wisconsin.
The meeting was properly posted and all interested parties were notified.
Members Present: Montgomery, Carlson, Tollaksen, Sinklair
Members Excused: Fordham
Members Absent:
Others Present: R. Stammen; B. Hinze; M. Hafemann; K. Fults; J. Prantner; John Weiler and James Morse, Consolidated
Management; Rita Hanko, Konnie Lange, Jane Vriesasker,
and Charlene Tetiva, Sauk County Humane Society; J. Welsch; S. Pyfferoen; M. Giebel; T. Lohr; K. Wasilewski;
C. Zunker; K. Fults; D. Slaney; E. Miller; L. Miller;
J. Hannagan; W. Carns; T. Gruber; V. Boese; media
1. Call To Order and Certification of Open Meeting Law: The meeting was called to order and compliance with the Open Meeting Law was certified by Chair Charles Montgomery at 9:30 A.M.
2. Agenda: Motion by Tollaksen, seconded by Carlson, to adopt the agenda. Carried.
3. Approve Minutes of Previous Meeting(s): Motion by Carlson, seconded by Tollaksen, to approve the minutes of the regular Law Enforcement Committee meeting held on Thursday, February 10, 2005. Motion carried.
4. Communications: Chief Deputy Prantner handed out copies of the 2004 Annual Report draft. He asked the members to review it and call him if they had any questions or wished to see any changes made in format or content.
Security Captain Mike Hafemann gave the committee members copies of the amended Sauk County Inmate Average Daily Population (ADP) 1979 through 2004 report. The report given to the committee members earlier was incorrect and had a lower ADP than was the actual ADP for 2004. The amended ADP for all inmates in 2004 is 199.12. The 199.12 includes inmates held for other counties. The ADP for Sauk County inmates for 2004 was 159.79.
A. Department Grants
Sheriff Stammen reported that he had met with Wisconsin State Patrol Commander Dave Collins and members of the Wisconsin Bureau of Transportation and Safety since the last Law Enforcement Committee meeting. He has been notified that his appeal to have the terms of the proposed grant enforcement areas enlarged has been granted. Sauk County has been awarded a alcohol enforcement grant in the amount of $19,340 for 2005 and a Speed Enforcement Grant for $24,332.50. Both grants will be overseen by Lt. Jeff Spencer and the hours worked on the grants will be done on overtime by deputies outside of their normal patrol or detective hours. The area of the grant has been increased to cover USH 12 from the village limits of Lake Delton to the intersection of USH 12 and PF in the Town of Prairie du Sac.
B. Communications from Department Personnel
There were no communications from Department personnel.
5. Appearances:
A. Presentation of the Officer of the Year Award.
This year the co-winners are Detective Trevor Lohr and Deputy Diane Slaney. Slaney and Lohr were chosen officer of the month for their role in dealing with a male armed with a knife. The incident was resolved without injury to the armed person, the deputies or other persons in the immediate area. Lohr and Slaney received their awards from Chairman Charles Montgomery.
6. Review and Approval of February, 2005, Bills for Coroner and Sheriff's Office: The Sauk County Coroner's bills were reviewed by the committee. Motion by Carlson, seconded by Tollaksen, to approve payment of the Coroner's February, 2005, bills in the amount of $633.20. Motion carried.
Motion by Tollaksen, seconded by Sinklair, to approve payment of the Sheriff's February, 2005, bills in the amount of $89,957.23. Motion carried.
7. Update on Sauk County Animal Shelter Personnel Issues: Charlene Tetiva, the President of the Sauk County Humane Society, and other officers from the Humane Society presented the committee with an operations report for the Animal Shelter for the first quarter of 2004. They reported that Shelter Director Judy Johnson has resigned and the duties are currently being done by Konnie Lange until a replacement can be hired.
The Humane Society members said that they all work for the Society on a volunteer basis and have full time jobs elsewhere. They want to hire and retain an employee who can handle all aspects of the Shelter and to do that they believe a better salary and benefits package has to be offered. Running an animal shelter is a high stress job and Tetiva reported that statistically most employees don't stay beyond four years. But with the present salary and benefits there's no incentive for anyone to stay even that long.
Chief Deputy Prantner said that he had placed a closed session on the agenda in the event that the committee members wished to speak further with the Humane Society representatives concerning specific monetary issues and other work related items that affect the position of Shelter Director. The Humane Society is taking applications right now for a new Director of Operations for the Shelter. Prantner further stated that he supported an increase in salary for the job and asked the committee to be favorable to that request.
The committee persons stated they didn't believe there was a need for a closed session at this time but agreed it would be appropriate as the selection process progresses. Tetiva said they need to know what they might be able to offer applicants and thanked the committee for considering the matter.
8. Possible closed session pursuant to Wis. Stat. s. 19.85(1)(f), consideration of financial, medical, social or personal histories or disciplinary data for specific person, preliminary consideration of specific personnel problems or the investigation of charges against specific persons except where par. (b) applies, which if discussed in public would have a substantial adverse effect upon the reputation of any person referred to in such histories or data, or involved with such problems or investigations. There was no closed session called for.
9. Reconvene in Open Session:
10. Consideration of Inmate Meal Provider, Specifically Whether to Extend the Contract with the Present Provider or Solicit Bids for Meal Provider: John Weiler and James Morse of Consolidated appeared before the committee. Sheriff Stammen said that Sauk County has been with Consolidated for provision of inmate meals since 1996 and has been very pleased. In May, 2002, the committee agreed to extend the contract for two years and it was extended for an additional year in 2004. The current contract will expire on June 30, 2005. William Isaacson, the former Food Service Director, was very helpful in the design of the kitchen in the Law Enforcement Center and the seamless transition from the old kitchen to the new. Lisa McCartney, his successor, has provided the same excellent service and there are virtually no complaints from inmates about the food.
Both Stammen and Hafemann said that soliciting bids for inmate food provision might result in a saving in the first year of a new contract with another vendor but that could change once the first year passed. Stability in dealing with a known vendor, and one that provides good service, was advantageous to Sauk County and Sheriff Stammen said it was his recommendation to the committee that meal provision continue with Consolidated Management.
The representatives for Consolidated said they were committed to keeping Sauk County as a client and would continue to do everything possible to give satisfactory service. The new contract would lower the cost of inmate meals.
Motion by Tollaksen, seconded by Carlson, that Sauk County renew the contract with Consolidated Management for the term of five years provided the terms of the contract were satisfactory, said contract to be provided to the committee for final review and approval at the April, 2005, meeting. If the contract is satisfactory a resolution to enter into a five-year contract with Consolidated Management will be taken to the County Board of Supervisors at the May, 2005, meeting. Motion carried.
Weiler and Morse said that Lisa McCartney has been promoted by Consolidated and will be transferred to Denver, Colorado. They are searching for a replacement for her.
11. Sheriff's Report:
A. Inmate Meal Report
A total of 18,107 inmate meals were served in February, and 17,916 in January.
B. Department Overtime Report
The total overtime hours for February weren't available. There were 25 hours of supervisory overtime authorized, 22 for ERT callouts and training and 3 hours for an investigation.
C. Prisoner Transport Program
There were 105 transports in February, bringing the year-to-date total to 221.
D. Jail Diversion Program
There were 398 offender days for electronic monitoring in February. The cost breakdown is: $6,397.00 collected from inmates
$2,156.00 paid for equipment lease
$4,241.00 total revenues generated
E. Housing Out-of-County Inmates
Housing costs billed for February were
$71,281 billed to Dane County
$15,184 billed to Iowa County
$ 7,592 billed to Wood County
$94,057 total revenues generated, year-to-date housing collections $167,516.15
None of the February figures include any medical costs. They haven't been billed yet because the costs haven't been received.
F. Department Personnel Issues:
A letter of resignation was received from dispatcher Thomas Murphy who resigned, effective immediately, on March 21, 2005.
A letter of resignation was received from half-time clerk Nanette Thompson, effective March 20, 2005. Nanette has been with the department for 10 years, the last four of which involved working every weekend. She needed a work schedule more compatible with her family's needs.
Sheriff Stammen said both half-time positions are now vacant and plans were underway to combine them back into one full time position as they were initially. Scheduling is expected to be a four on/two off schedule to give the department the weekend coverage needed to keep up with reports for the District Attorney's Office and still give the employee a schedule that doesn't require working every weekend. These issues will be taken to the Personnel Committee.
Dan Lipke has been hired as a jailor and his start date is March 15th, 2005.
G. Highway Safety:
Sheriff Stammen reported that Sauk County recently had its sixth traffic fatality for 2005.
H. Triple III Reports:
There were two triple III reports in February. Detective Eric Miller had a herd of deer run in front of his squad. The only damage was a scratch to the door.
Chief Deputy Prantner's squad was damaged when he took evasive action to avoid a head on collision with an oncoming pickup truck that was passing two other vehicles. He managed to avoid collision with the truck but was rear ended by a car that had been tailgating him and then tried to pass him into the lane of the oncoming truck that Prantner was attempting to avoid. The truck went into the ditch and then left the scene. The driver was apprehended minutes later by another Sauk County Deputy and cited for operating left of center and inattentive driving. No citation was issued to the tailgating driver who rear ended Prantner's squad. Both parties are saying the damage to the squad car wasn't their fault and thus far the insurance issue hasn't been settled.
I. Jail Programs:
Jail Program Director Tiffani Gruber reported to the committee on a pilot program the Sauk County Jail had recently offered. The program called Art Therapy was done by Christine Kortbein, who holds a Masters Degree in Art Therapy. Gruber said initially some inmates were reluctant to participate in the programs but they did end up with six inmates. She showed the committee examples of the artwork done by the inmates and explained how the program helped them work through emotions and problems that they could not express verbally. The program impressed her and she asked the committee to consider coming up with funding to continue it because she believed it had a positive effect on the inmates who were involved.
To date 26 inmates have been involved in the GED program and two inmates had completed their GED requirements and another was almost done. MATC is providing a new instructor for the program because there were problems with the previous instructor.
Chief Deputy Prantner attended the First Annual Appreciation and Awards Dinner given by the Baraboo District Ambulance Service. The Sauk County Sheriff's Department was given a plaque of appreciation.
12. Adjournment to Date Specific: Motion by Sinklair, seconded by Carlson, to adjourn the meeting until April 14th, 2005, at 9:30 AM. Motion carried.
_____________________
Robert Sinklair, Secretary pro tem