HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-27-1998 Meeting
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PUBLIC SAFETY
COMMITTEE
COMMITTEE ROOM - July 27, 1998
3:30 P.M.
PRESENT: Handy, Chairman; Kuhlke, Shepard, Mays, members; R.
Oliver, Administrator; J. Wall, Legal Counsel; H. Siddal, Flee~
Manager; C. Ruston, Director IT; G. Hewett, IT; S. Wright, Risk
Management; S. Hatfield, Sheriff's Department; R. Few, Fire Chief.
ABSENT: Larry E. Sconyers, Mayor.
ALSO PRESENT: Syl via Cooper, Augusta Chronicle; Stacy Ei.dson,
Metro Spirit; G. Eskola, Channel 6; Lena Bonner, Clerk of
Commission; Belinda Brown of the Clerk's Office.
A request from Risk Management to approve Phase 2: Purchase, under
State Contract #466-00-50041 for Mobile-Vision System-5 In-Car
Video System (in use by georgia and South Carolina State Patrol),
for 35 patrol units at a total cost inCluding installation $127,419
($3,470/unit plus $150/unit installation and 4-75' cables to make
cameras portable for use in working fatalities at a cost of $400.00
for all four cables).
Ms. Wright: This is the second phase of five phases. Last
year was Phase I and we put thirty-five camcorders in patrol units.
This is the Phase II of that for another thirty-five units.
Mr. Siddall: These cameras were originally purchased
underneath a State contract. Georgia Highway Patrol, South
Carolina Highway Patrol and Richmond County are using them and are
basically finding that the cameras are holding up quite well. We
did have some problems, but they have been straightened out and the
cameras are doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing.
Mr. Oliver: The Grand Jury report that I read wanted cameras
in all cars. How far are we from having them on all patrol
vehicles?
Mr. Hatfield: We have in place thirty-five and this begins
Phase II, which would complete seventy.
Mr. Oliver: How many patrol vehicles are we talking about?
Mr. Hatfield: We're looking to completely install probably
100, maybe minus a few. I think we have some set aside
specifically for special details that we are putting in housing
units and neighborhood concentrating units that are not typical
patrol units.
Mr. Siddall: I recommend that we do put them into all the
patrol units below the rank of sergeant. We cannot afford to put
them into the higher ranking cars, because normally they are not
out on the streets, everyday, all day. We need about (125) cameras
total.
Mr. Oliver: We have 70 with these 35, so we need 50 more.
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Mr. Kuhlke: How many cars do we normally have out in a shift?
I'm asking this question to see if you could move these cameras
around. I wouldn't think you'd have 125 cars out at one.
Mr. Hatfield: They're installed in the unit, they're not a
portable thing. It's a wiring configuration that once it's there
it's there.
Mr. Siddall: It's a large VCR that's located in the trunk.
It's metal cased, and you have the camera cord system and you have
the camera and monitor. At anyone time you could have about 42 to
45 cars' on patrol. As far as I know, there is no product out there
that offers that portable feature.
Mr. Kuhlke:
other 50 units?
So when do you think you'll come back for the
Mr. Oliver: As part of the budget process,
going to be a consideration, the question is going
total capital needs are.
Mr. Kuhlke: We have $138,00 left in that account.
I think that's
to be what our
Mr . Oliver: The problem is that account is used for some
other things.
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Ms. Wright: That's the really the only thing that's it used
for:'
Mr. Kuhlke: And prior to the purchase of these 35, we got
$138,000 in that account.
MR. SHEPARD: I move we buy the cameras. (On the request from
Risk Management to approve Phase II)
MR. KUHLKE:
Second.
Motion carried unanimously.
A request from the IT Director to approve hiring an Application
Manager I for the Finance project with a salary within the salary
range and accrue vacation as an employee with 5 years service, an
Application Manager II for the Tax Assessor project, and a System
Administrator II with salaries within their respective salary
ranges (resumes attached).
Mr. Rushton:
In our department at this time we have eight
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openings which is about one third of our department. We've been
trying to recruit for a long time and we're having a hard time
finding employees. The three employees that we're trying to hire
here, is it's higher than the 10% minimum of the salary range, but
they are within the salary range. We would like to hire them and
get them approved. Each one of the three people we're talking
about hiring are taking a pay cut to come take this job. They are
local companies that have different situations taking place within
their companies and that's the reason they're willing to do that.
To get them within our salary range so we can get them, this is
what we want to do. We just want to be able to approve to hire
them within the salary range, so it's more than the 10% of the
minimum.
Mr. Oliver: I might add the Application Manager I, you have
to remember that we had two people that left that were more senior
people. But the Application Manager I, has an under graduate
degree, has a master of Business Administration, thirteen years of
systems experience on the platform that we have. So that
experience is vital and that person will head up the financial
conversion effort and we think that will be a tremendous asset to
this organization.
MR. KUHLKE: I so move.
MR. SHEPARD: Second.
Mr. Mays: Do we have any dollars related with these ranges?
Mr. Rushton: The Application Manager I position salary range
is $35,972 to $57,556, Application Manager II, $33,933 to $50,900,
Systems Administrator II, $30,778 to $46,167.
Mr. Oliver: And these are consistent with the pay plan that
we previously adopted.
Mr. Mays: Are we still negotiating where we're going to come
in on these positions or has that already been decided?
Mr. Oliver: It's already been done.
Mr. Rushton: As a matter of fact, we'll probably only get two
of the three because one of them has another job offer which will
put us out of the range.
Mr. Oliver: You have to remember that this is an extremely
competitive field right now.
Mr. Handy:
people that left
move up to these
These three positions are replacing some of the
already and you have nobody in-house that you can
positions?
Mr. Rushton: Not and accomplish what we're doing. We can
quit doing a number of projects we're doing and put somebody in
these roles. We've already moved some of them up to these roles.
We have enough openings, I've moved in-house personnel already. I
But I need the additional people replaced, or we need to slow down
and quit doing what we're doing.
Mr. Handy: I don't want you to slow down, but if that's what
you have to do, you might hav9" ~o do it, if you don't get it
approved. I understand why your other people left, the demand for
computer people is pushing. I don't have a problem with approving
the positions. But you're asking for five years of vacation,
that's like a department head. It's kind of hard to bring somebody
in and give them five years tenure already.
Mr. Rushton: This is an individual, as Randy just mentioned,
has an MEA, she has headed up a financial project with an account
a number of conversions at a local company. We're asking her to
walk in here and do the exact same thing again. It's the perfect
fit for what we're asking for. She know's the language we're
working on. She has been at that location for thirteen years and
has been doing the work for twenty. For them to start back over at
the Dottom with no vacation, I think we need to make allowance for
this one. This is only for the first one, not the other two.
Mr. Handy: Maybe she has too much for what we need. I can't
go along with giving her a five year tenure, but I don't mind
hiring her. I can't give anybody five years just walking in off
the street. We've had enough trouble with this pay scale already
with these appeals going on.
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Mr. Oliver: The only thing it affects is vacation.
Mr. Handy: What's the least amount she'll take?
Mr. Rushton: She wanted ten years. And we negotiated down to
five.
Mr. Kuhlke: What does the five years do as far as vacation
goes?
Mr. Rushton:
Mr. Kuhlke:
she get?
Mr. Rushton:
Mr. Kuhlke:
Three weeks.
And if she came in with two years, how much would
She would start with two.
So it's one week vacation.
Motion fails 2-1-1, with Mr. Handy voting no and Mr. Mays
voting present.
A request from the IT Director to approve awarding bid for printing
services for Augusta-Richmond County Information Technology
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Department to low bidder AccuData Solutions, Inc.
Mr. Rushton: We have~a large centralized,printing operation
that we have been using for years that is very costly. What we're
looking at is how can get out of that lease. We're doing two
things to do that; (1) we're reducing the number of prints being
done in our operation. Because a lot of users are printing their
reports at their own locations. (2) For the larger reports that we
cannot do, we're trying to set up and establish a vendor that would
print these in smaller cases for us. The cost of doing it there,
as compared to doing it in-house is a lower cost, excluding labor.
This was sent out for bids and this is the low bidder.
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MR. MAYS: So move.
MR. SHEPARD: Second.
Motion carried unanimously.
With no further business to discuss the meeting was adjourned.
Lena J. Bonner
Clerk of Commission
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