ORDER-2017-140 : City of Melrose Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2018 in the amount of $77,397,009.19 (Seventy-Seven Million, Three Hundred Ninety-Seven Thousand, Nine Dollars and Nineteen Cents)

Transcript (~12 min @ 7:58)

Speakers identified by voice; unnamed voices are numbered within this recording. Auto-caption text — verify against the video.

▶ 7:55 Peter D. Mortimer: All right, the next order we have before us is our City of Melrose Operating Budget, order number 2017-140 for fiscal year 2018 in the amount of $77,397,919. And continuing on with the various budgets contained therein, the next budget we have before us is Department 211. It's the Melrose Police Department in the amount of $4,407,228.58. We're once again going to be joined by Chief of Police, Michael Lyle.

▶ 8:39 Speaker 3: Thank you.

▶ 8:40 Speaker 2: Good evening again, sir.

▶ 8:41 Speaker 3: You're welcome. Just a little snapshot of what over the past 10-12 months where the Monroe's Police Department has gone through. This past year we had two officers graduate the police academy, Richard Cooney last November. Dale Parsons this past February. We have two officers retiring, Officer Lenny Ford, most of the folks know him from riding his motorcycle doing his traffic duties. After 31 years, Lenny is going to be retiring on July 1st, on or about July 1st. And also Steve Dennis, he's been a longtime patrolman, 37 years he would have in if he stayed until July 31st of this year. So I wish those two the best in their next chapter in their lives. Staffing levels right now, we have 34 patrolmen. Obviously, we'll go down to 32 come July 1st. Nine sergeants, full lieutenants and myself. Calls for service this past year, 12,912. 46 arrests to date, 109 summonses. Parking year to date, 52, 55 citations, parking citations. And bringing in approximately 183,000 on fines and penalties. Grants this year, we're still running our COPS grant, which is supporting our school resource officer in the middle school. 9-1-1 grants, we have two, traffic enforcement grant, a pedestrian bicycle safety grant, alcohol grant, and a Vesta dog grant, and you're going to see the newest member of the Murrell's Police Department very shortly, he's got four legs. On sad note, 32 overdoses this past year, in 2016. Officers deployed in Naxalone 17 times, and unfortunately we had six deaths in the city, residents one non-resident and if you look at 15 we had three three deaths two residents one non-resident so we're by no shape or form are we out of the woods with uh opioids in this this

▶ 10:49 Speaker 2: community and in this region thank you very much sir you're welcome alderman's worker please thank

▶ 10:56 Michael P. Zwirko: you mr chairman um chief you had mentioned that there will be two um retirements this year and And I also noticed that there's also two positions that are vacant currently that are budgeted for. Will those be filled by the retirement?

▶ 11:08 Speaker 3: Yes, the goal here is obviously Officer O'Donnell, he has to retire next year, mandatory, on or about March 1st of next year. One of those offices is going to replace him. Stephen Dennis, he could have left several years ago. He's opted to leave this Friday. He's going to retire Friday. We will replace those two with the two new hires.

▶ 11:25 Michael P. Zwirko: So those vacancies, at least in the salary line, I mean, those are just planning to be filled.

▶ 11:31 Speaker 3: who just haven't been named yet yes it's a it's quite a process yep i can understand

▶ 11:39 Michael P. Zwirko: and i had a question on um the overtime i noticed that the overtime that we've been allotted for 2018 in this budget is actually about 125 000 less than what was actual in uh 2016 and i'm just uh excuse me um about a hundred thousand less than 2017. i apologize i'm just i'm just curious if you feel that that line item is adequate for what potentially could

▶ 12:03 Speaker 3: be some staffing you know I could say you know it could be adequate under ideal circumstances but every year I know that we're gonna have an officer injured an illness or a long-term excuse me a long-term military deployment you know this year if you look at our court time it blew up because of a major case that we had going so those are the unknowns and it's very difficult to predict the unknowns i could say yes and you know what more than likely we're going to go over yeah and that's just a fact and the auditor's office has been you know pretty solid with me this past 12 months assisting us finding additional funding thank you for the information

▶ 12:40 Michael P. Zwirko: the last part i just wanted to point out for folks is that we i'm very pleased to see that the administration put a line item in this year for some narcan as you had just alluded to at the end of your testimony you had stated that you know unfortunately we're not out of the woods yet but it's nice to at least have a line item for that life-saving drug so appreciate to see that from

▶ 13:01 Speaker 3: the administration this time around i want to thank this board for supporting me on that last year i really do um it's it's it's a life-saving product i will say this that the naxalon that we were using we're still using some of our older stuff now which is going to be phased out into a new form it gives a four grams of a dosage um and one in one application where we were given two and two so uh it'll certainly assist folks uh in their recovery program excuse me program

▶ 13:31 Speaker 2: well and thank you for that too so uh those are all the questions i had at this time i appreciate it chief thank you mr chairman thank you very much alderman's work oh president khan please chief when do you anticipate filling those two vacancies we're working now i think interviews

▶ 13:42 Speaker 3: are scheduled if that goes right once they go through the interview process and then it's you You know, physicals, psych eval, and then a PAT test. And then we're ready, and then you know what, we're waiting for an academy slot. You know, hopefully Redding does come around, they were going to cancel their academy. I don't know if that's changed for September. By September we would have them in February or March of next year.

▶ 14:06 Speaker 2: And your budget is up a little more than 5% and it appears to me from looking at it that that's based on negotiated contractual increases. Contracts, yes. And an increase in the overtime. Yes. And we talk every year about the overtime and there are two ways to deal with this. We can either hire more officers or we can keep incurring overtime costs. And if we remain at the same staffing levels, we're going to have the same issue every year. And with all due respect to your good management, I don't see the overtime going down. We're with the same workforce that we have at this point in time. And we have the same discussion every year, but I don't see it changing unless there's more staff, that's all.

▶ 14:51 Peter D. Mortimer: Thank you very much, President Codd.

▶ 14:55 Gail Infurna: Alderman Inferno, please. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Chief, for all that you are doing out there, and your staff, they're doing a great job. I do see that we have an increase in the ammunition. want to open up any sort of a subject here but you know is that because of the cost of ammunition

▶ 15:15 Speaker 3: has just gone up um you know way back when when they started the gulf war the the price of ammunition doubled and it continues to rise we have gone to some more cost-effective rounds but it's still expensive and you know we haven't increased that line for a number of years

▶ 15:34 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: okay thank you thank you very much alderman inferno alderman MacMaster my goal is thank you mr. chairman so I just I just wanted to clarify on the on the staffing chief the two new hires that you mentioned at the beginning are they filling those vacancies that are showing on the on the salary sheet or not they will be Joe on

▶ 15:53 Speaker 3: July 1 those two new hires will replace the two have that have exited and those

▶ 15:59 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: are the ones they've already gone through the Academy no they have they have not no we haven't hired them yet you haven't hired them yet okay so so there's going to be two open seats okay and that with those two new hires we will be at 34

▶ 16:12 Speaker 3: or only we'll be back to 34 but it will be a process right well we're going to lose one next next february officer o'donnell is going to be mandatory he has to retire by honor about march 1st we'll go down to 33. and then if you continue in fall of 18 we have another officer that meets the threshold he has to leave in October so one in one out so is there any way

▶ 16:33 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: that we can help you in terms of your budget to be prepared for those in terms of getting ready to hire them or getting in slots in the Academy or do you always sort of have to be behind the eight ball and wait until no I think that's a

▶ 16:48 Speaker 3: proactive approach is you know it's not often you know when when the officer has to go right so when you know that you should hire in advance and that's what doing we just didn't anticipate officer dennis deciding to leave there's probably three other officers that meet that threshold now that you know that reach 32 years and they can go

▶ 17:06 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: and are all of these um officers on in the regular budget or when you mentioned like the um the cops grant is that one officer that's on that grant or officer cooney was hired under the cops grant

▶ 17:17 Speaker 3: to fill a vacancy that occurs when we put an officer at the middle school right our sro

▶ 17:26 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: mr bill higgins and that's the only position that you have that's outside the budget yes well that

▶ 17:30 Speaker 3: is going to be shrinking too that's a three-year program okay so we should be thinking proactively

▶ 17:35 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: in terms of next year the end of the end of this fiscal year for replacements is what you're

▶ 17:43 Speaker 3: telling us i would think that we'd probably have to do something in you know the spring january of

▶ 17:49 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: next year okay and i do um think uh president khan is you know well versed in turn in discussing the over the overtime is obviously affected by well there's two ways to manage the police department

▶ 17:57 Speaker 3: with overtime or additional bodies and you have to weigh both values and then the only other

▶ 18:05 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: question i had was on the um nexon how many doses do you get out of like for each how much does each dose cost you have two thousand dollars budgeted you said it was used like 17 times is that adequate

▶ 18:19 Speaker 3: for that yes but we also had a big we had a large donation to us that's why you see that line item so strong okay um so we're very fortunate this the new uh type of max loan i do not know that cost we're paying about 20 a dose right now it's come down dramatically we're buying it through the department of public health now okay which is a pool buying throughout the state great well

▶ 18:42 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: thank you um and thank your officers for for all of their there's a number of them behind me

▶ 18:49 Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis: yep thank you gentlemen thank you for saving those lives thank you ladies and gentlemen

▶ 18:52 Peter D. Mortimer: is there any further alderman wishing to be heard supposed to move bottom line second we have a motion to move the bottom line from alderman forbes duly seconded by president khan all in favor please say aye aye any opposed hearing none this budget we recommend it for the board Chief, would you like to introduce the new canine unit? Yes.

▶ 19:22 Peter D. Mortimer: I think if you bring him up into the center circle here, the cameras for the people at home would be able to see him better.

▶ 19:29 Speaker 3: This is Officer Brian Traynor, he's our new canine handler. How you doing? I'm your partner, this is Nero Ambrose. Nero is his birth name, his American name is Ambrose.

▶ 19:39 Speaker 2: His what?

▶ 19:40 Speaker 3: Nero is his birth name, Ambrose is his American name.

▶ 19:46 Speaker 2: Amro, oh he's beautiful.

▶ 19:47 Speaker 3: They've gone through approximately eight weeks of training, they're half way through phase one of full training. They'll take a few months off. Yeah, smell my cough.

▶ 19:57 Speaker 2: Is he a shepherd? He is a shepherd, it's a long-haired dog. Long-haired, it's beautiful.

▶ 20:05 Peter D. Mortimer: Big face. Very beautiful dog. Awesome dog. All in favor of recommending this budget, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed, hearing none, it will be recommended to the full board. Motion to recess. Motion to recess, Mr. Chairman. Alderman's Worker has made a motion to recess the Board of Aldermen. It was duly seconded by President Kahn, by way of explanation for the people in the room and the people watching at home. Tonight we also have scheduled a full board meeting, and we are going to start that now. It was scheduled for 7.45, so we have finished the last order. We're going to start the full board meeting. And later this evening, we will return to the remainder of the appropriations meeting, primarily on budget hearings. Motion to recess, all in favor please say aye. Aye. Any opposed, hearing none, appropriations is in recess, full board will start now. Appropriations will be back in later tonight. Just as an FYI guys, I'm going to ask for immediate consideration on 166, just for public hearing.