East Windsor Police Commission
Regular Meeting – June 14, 2006
Minutes
CALL TO ORDER AND ATTENDANCE
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 by Chairman Sherman. Commissioners Devanney, Barton, Simmons and Sinsigallo were present along with Chief DeMarco.
ADDED AGENDA ITEMS
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner Simmons to add the following items to the agenda:
Under New Business
B) Lateral Transfers
Sinisgallo/Simmons Unanimous
PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES
Regular Meeting – May 10, 2006
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner
Simmons to accept the minutes of the regular meeting of May 10, 2006 with the following corrections:
Page 6 – B- Commission Members – second paragraph
There was a lengthy discussion involving this subject among the Chief and the Commissioners present and the consensus among the commission members present was that this officer should continue to have the use of an assigned car.
Change to:
There was a lengthy discussion involving this subject among the Chief and the Commissioners present with a vote taken by the commission members as to whether or not this officer should continue to have the use of an assigned car. The result of the vote are as follows:
Commissioner Barton Take
Commissioner Sinsigallo Leave
Commissioner Simmons Leave
Commissioner Devanney Take
Chairman Sherman Leave
The final tally was 3 to 2 in favor of the officer continuing to have the use of an assigned car.
Sinsigallo/Simmons Unanimous
Special Meeting – May 24, 2006
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner
Simmons to accept the minutes of the special meeting of May 24, 2006 as presented.
Sinsigallo/Simmons Unanimous
BUDGET AND EXPENDITURES
A) Police Department - Monthly Billing
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner Simmons to approve the East Windsor Police Department monthly billing dated June 9, 2006 in the amount if $11047.44 for the fiscal year 2005/2006
Sinsigallo/Simmons Unanimous
B) Police Department Financial Statement
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner
Simmons to approve the East Windsor Police Department Financial Statement dated June 9, 2006 for the fiscal year 2005/2006.
Sinsigallo/Simmons Unanimous
C) Police Commission - Monthly Billing
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner Simmons to approve the East Windsor Police Commission Monthly Billing for the fiscal year 2005/2006 dated May 31, 2006 in the amount of $217.61
Sinsigallo/Simmons Unanimous
D) Police Commission Financial Statement
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner Simmons to approve the East Windsor Police Commission Financial Statement for the fiscal year 2005/2006 dated May 31, 2006 as presented.
Sinsigallo/Simmons Unanimous
E) Animal Control Monthly Billing
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner
Simmons to approve the East Windsor Animal Control Monthly Billing for the fiscal year 2005/2006 dated June 9, 2006 in the amount of $409.17
Sinsigallo/Simmons Unanimous
F) Animal Control - Financial Statement
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner
Simmons to approve the East Windsor Animal Control Financial Statement for the fiscal year 2005/2006 dated June 9, 2006 as presented.
Sinsigallo/Simmons Unanimous
G) Legal Billing
The legal billing for the month of April, 2006 by the law firm of Penny, Botticello, O’Brien & Higgins dated May 5, 2006 was reviewed by all commissioners present. No action necessary as this is informational only.
PUBLIC INPUT
The Public input started with Dale Nelson, a member of the Board of Finance reminding everyone present that there was a Town Meeting scheduled for June 20, 2006 regarding the added appropriation request from the Police Department.
After this reminder, there was a lengthy discussion among one of the members of CREW, 2 members of the Board of Finance, the Chief and members of the Police Commission involving the added appropriation request from the Police Department for the fiscal year 2005/2006.
The Chief was questioned extensively as to why this added appropriation was needed with much of the discussion revolving around the variable over-time for the officers and why is it necessary to ask for more money every year. One of the members of CREW specifically asked why the budget for the Police Department was so high in relation to the budgets in area towns with the same size Police Department. There was also a question as to whether or not the management practices of the Police Department were part of the reason why this added appropriation was necessary.
The response from the commission members was that in there has always been a request put in for the added appropriation and the Chief stated that the variable over-time expenditures was due to the absence of three officers and the coverage for vacation time, etc. It was suggested by the member of CREW that the explanation “because it’s always been done in the past” was not acceptable and warranted a more definitive answer.
Marie DeSousa then spoke to the general issue about the budget for the Police Department that has been passed and not the added appropriation request. Ms. DeSousa felt that the Police Department and the Police Commission need to show the Town that they are going to keep within the approved budget or there would not be any added appropriation come next year due to the flavor of the town at this time. Ms. DeSousa also spoke to the fact that she was fearful that due to the economic climate within the town that if the Police Department did not keep within their approved budget, that it may have to be disbanded and revert back to State Police representation within the Town and that she did not want to see that happen. Ms. DeSousa also questioned the commission as
to the necessity of having two animal control officers.
Commissioner Barton responded to some of these statements by saying that the added appropriation was not just for the over-time but also to cover the increased costs of vehicle maintenance and gas and oil.
The Chief then responded to the comments by saying that he is “looking forward to doing the best we can to stay within the approved budget”.
Another question that brought forward from the floor was why were we paying an officer four hours overtime to speak to the media for a short period of time. It was felt by the members of the public that if an officer is being paid 4 hours of overtime to speak to the media that this officer should stay for the entire four hours.
The final question that was raised was the number of cars currently in use by the Police Department (the total is 22 – 12 patrol cars and the rest are assigned cars to Management, the DARE car, the car for the Detective, etc). There are 2 or more cars assigned to every shift.
The Chairman then called the discussion by saying that he appreciated the concerns that had been brought forward and that it was helpful to the Commission as a whole to know what the people of the Town were thinking so that appropriate steps could be taken to alleviate some of their concerns.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
A) Police Station Renovations update
There is nothing new to report on the renovations at the Police Station.
B) Alarm Reduction Ordinance
Due to the enactment of the Alarm Reduction Ordinance, and the
Subsequent fines for false alarms, there has been a signification reduction in alarm calls. To date there is over $5,000 in the account due to this ordinance.
C) Bid Opening and Awarding of Same
There were only 2 bids received and those did not have the appropriate
certification enclosed.
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner Simmons that second letters be sent out requesting the necessary certification and that the bid opening will take place at the July meeting. The bids to remain sealed until the meeting.
Sinsigallo/Simmons Unanimous
TRAFFIC AUTHORITY
There was nothing new under Traffic Authority
PUBLIC INPUT #2 (Comments only - no discussion)
There was no public input.
NEW BUSINESS
A) Nominations for Circle of Merit Award
It was noted by Commissioner Sinsigallo that all the nominations presented were for the same officer.
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner Devanney that Officer David McNiece and his Canine Partner Mac receive the Circle of Merit award and that it be presented to both of them at the July Meeting.
Sinsigallo/Devanney Unanimous
B) Lateral Transfer
The Chief reported that we are currently down three (3) officers due to two resignations and one dismissal and that he has at least two excellent candidates for lateral transfer to be presented to the Police Commission for their consideration.
There was a discussion among the Commission members present and it was decided to have a special meeting on Wednesday, June 28th at 7:00 p.m. at Station 2 on Stoughton Road for the purpose of interviewing the lateral transfer candidates.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
With regards to the hearing of Grievance GR-135, Chairman Sherman was contacted by the Town Attorney who had been contacted by the Grievance Attorney that the Police Commission not hear this grievance as they had imposed the discipline on the grievant and that this grievance will go directly to Level 3 – Arbitration
COMMUNICATIONS
There were no additional communications.
MONTHLY REPORTS
A) Chief of Police
There was nothing additional to report.
B) Commission Members
At this time, Chairman Sherman reminded everyone of the Town Meeting on June 20th at 7:00 p.m. at the Town Hall where there will be a vote on the added appropriation for the Police Department for the 2005/2006 fiscal year. He encouraged everyone to attend this meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
A motion was made by Commissioner Sinsigallo, seconded by Commissioner Simmons to adjourn the regular meeting of the East Windsor Police Commission at 7:54 p.m.
Sinsigallo/Simmons Unanimous
Respectfully submitted,
Darlene H. Kelly
Recording Secretary
| 
