Last year, the Winnemucca Police Department came to the City Council with some high-priced requests, but Chief Eric Silva said the department "scaled it back quite a bit this year."
One of the biggest budget items that was approved for police for the 2014-15 fiscal year was the purchase and outfitting of two new sedans for $82,000 total.
Although that number is high, City Manager/Engineer Steve West said this is probably the last year the department will need to buy and fully outfit new vehicles since these two vehicles will complete the switch to the new Chargers. Subsequent vehicles can be outfitted using equipment transferred from the older vehicles.
The city also approved $20,000 for new hand guns for the city. Silva said an issue came up within the last year of officers' personal fire arms (which they are allowed to carry) being taken away during the investigation period following an officer-involved shooting.
Occasionally an officer's personal firearm is worth more than the city-issued firearm he/she receives as a temporary replacement. The city has decided to issue a standard firearm that all officers are required to carry. Officers can still carry a personal firearm but the city will not be responsible for replacement. West said the switch to a standard fire arm will lower ammo costs.
The city budgeted $20,000 for landscaping in front of the police department. Councilmen weren't sure of what exactly should be done to improve the landscape but agreed money needed to be set aside for something.
Another $7,000 was budgeted for microchip reader equipment for animal control officers and Silva said he hopes to hold a clinic to have residents' dogs microchipped so pets can be more easily identified and returned to their owners when picked up.
Last year, the city budgeted for (and the police department purchased) a system called RIMS, a record management program to allow for more efficient sharing and maintaining of records. Now the city is budgeting $13,000 for a fiber cable that will connect the system to the dispatch center. Without that connection, the system is not usable. The police station is borrowing equipment from the county as a temporary fix.
The fire department had a few requests for the budget for the upcoming year in addition to the completion of the new fire station. One of those items goes hand-in-hand with the new station: $10,000 for furnishings. Although furnishings were originally part of the design, the council budgeted the extra money in case there aren't enough funds left over from the original budget to furnish the new building.
Deputy Chief Jason Manley with Humboldt General Hospital EMS attended the meeting with Fire Chief Alan Olsen to advocate for an Insurance Services Office consultant, which was approved for $9,000.
According to Manley, the ISO is responsible for going throughout the nation and rating communities for fire protection (based 50 percent on the fire department and also on water systems and dispatch). That rating is then used to determine insurance rates for home owners and business owners.
Manley said ISO ratings have been dropping in recent years and it is getting harder to keep a high rating. An ISO consultant's job is to come into a community and assess the fire department, water system and dispatch to make sure a maximum rating is received.
"It's a win-win," Manley said. "It's not that much money overall and can save money in the community."
The city also approved $1,200 for a software system that will allow the fire department to catalog and store data and information. An annual $99 maintenance fee will have to be included in future budgets.
A $10,000 budget for a Local Emergency Planning Committee employee was also included in the fire department's budget. Councilman Doug Cain is the one who brought up the item and said nothing has been finalized yet, but there have been discussions between several entities within the community about the possibility of hiring someone whose main job would be to tend to LEPC duties. The city's $10,000 would only be a contribution toward that salary, though. The hiring of an employee will depend on what other entities in the community decide.
Contact Jessica Powell at j.powell@winnemuccapublishing.net.[[In-content Ad]]
