Metro East Sun

City of Belleville Police & Fire Committee met Nov. 13.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

Committee Chair Alderperson Johnnie Anthony called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.

Committee Members Present:

Carmen Duco

Johnnie Anthony

Shelly Schaefer

Scott Ferguson

Bryan Whitaker 

Kara Osthoff

Dennis Weygandt 

Mary Stiehl

Department Head/Staff: 

Fire Chief Stephanie Mills

Police Chief Matt Eiskant

Deputy Chief Curt Lougeay

Guest: Michael Hagberg

Public Comments: 

None.

Minutes: 

Alderperson Whitaker motioned to accept the minutes of the October 9, 2023 as presented, second by Alderperson Schaefer. All members present voted – Aye. Motion passed.

Unfinished Business: 

None.

Miscellaneous and New Business: 

None.

Staff Report:

Fire Department:

Alderperson Stiehl made a motion second by Alderperson Weygandt to approve the sale/conversion of various Fire Department equipment (coats, pants, SCBAs).

Chief Mills explained the process to dispose. Asst. Chief Lougeay added they will try to scrap any metal and destroy the outdated gear. He stated that none of this equipment can be donated, it is outdated and beyond use. All of these items have been in storage.

All members present voted aye.

Motion carries.

Fire Chief Mills: Lift Assists September had nine, and fourteen in October. One was a scheduled assist with Rural Med, one was an urgent assist and three were nursing home assists. Chief Mills continues to look for equipment to help with Lift Assist upstairs. Billing nursing homes will be referred to Ordinance and Legal with Alderperson Stiehl.

Apparatus: The new truck at Banner is due to be delivered on November 21st, this unit has a galvanized frame to slow the rust. Undercoating is not viable for the older trucks but may be an option for the new Ladder 29, this is only a possibility, it is being investigated.

Staff: Promotions will be at the next Council Meeting, Kraemer and Reaka will be promoted to the rank of Engineer, Mahoney and Preston will be promoted to the rank of Captain, as you know we just hired Austin Sauget and we are getting him on track.

Deputy Fire Chief Lougeay: 

Equipment: Equipment has been coming in that was ordered before the new Command Staff. One of the new items received is an airbag lifting system for vehicle rescue, we have trained everyone on that over the past few weeks. We had three members complete the Urban Search and Rescue Boat Operator course; they are officially good to operate a boat in rescue situations. We are hosting, for the Fire Marshal's Office, Public School Inspector this coming Wednesday. We had five members go to Search Techniques up at the University of Illinois and they brought all that stuff back, we have a couple of acquired houses that are going to be structurally sound enough for us to do these things in. The State Fire Academy created a new class called Rapid Intervention Chief Officer, that is Firefighter Rescue for any firefighter who gets in to trouble. We have always had the rescue course, but now this is the next level for Chief Officers. Two of our Battalion Chiefs just got back from that class. We have several spots secured in the Academy for any new hires coming up for next year. Just to keep you up to date, we have had 401 inspections completed since Chief Mills took over. These inspections are General Building Inspections and Commercial Occupancy Inspections. Smoke Detectors continue to be installed on a weekly basis as needed. CO Detectors are only installed for those who are in desperate need of them because the Fire Department must pay for those.

Police Department:

Police Chief Eiskant:

Crime Statistics: Police Chief Eiskant reported that the crime data is being reported, as required, to the FBI. From January through October 2022 compared to January through October 2023, Crimes against Persons down 7.09%, Crimes against Property down 10.02% and Crimes against Society down 10.18%.

Grants: Chief Eiskant stated that Lt. Thomason is now in charge of the grants. We have received a grant through the Organized Retail Theft through the Attorney General's Office which gave us $130.000. That is going to be used to purchase cameras near retail establishments. This will purchase about thirteen cameras. One grant that is pending is the Recruitment and Retention Grant for $35,000, we have applied for this grant we are just waiting to see if we get it. Tomorrow we are submitting a grant for the 2024 Body Cameras, that grant is for $184,000, Representative Jay Hoffman has been helping us a lot with that grant. We are pretty optimistic that we will receive that grant. Chief Eiskant continued by saying that money will go back into the General Fund because the cameras have already been purchased.

Staffing: Chief Eiskant stated that in the last eight months the Police Department has been as high as 75, but they are now at 67 Officers. The reason for this is a lot of retirements. Chief Eiskant continued by saying that with the new contract the starting salaries had been bumped up, but now other communities in our area have bumped up their starting salaries, O'Fallon is starting out near $86,000, Swansea is at $82,000, Fairview Heights is in the $80s and we are at $73,000. Next academy starts January 8, 2024, there will be seven to eight new cadets in this academy, one lateral from Indiana and then two more laterals that put in applications today from the Madison County area. After this academy, that will put us at 74 Officers, but it is eight and one-half months between Academy and FTO we are budgeted for 78. We are expecting one retirement in January and one that is looking at another department.

Discussion on salaries, number of Officers and Duty Assignments.

Adjournment: 

Alderperson Schaefer made a motion second by Alderperson Weygandt to adjourn the meeting at 6:35 p.m.

All members present voted - Aye.

Motion carries.

https://www.belleville.net/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_11132023-3124