06-15-1993 Special Meeting MinutesSTATE OF MINNESOTA A special Council Meeting was held
COUNTY OF WRIGHT on this 15TH day of June, 1993 at
CITY OF OTSEGO 7:30PM to discuss police protection
with the Wright County Sheriff's
Department. The meeting was called to order by Norman F
Freske, Mayor. Doug Lindenfelser, Floyd Roden, Larry
Fournier, and Ronald Black, Council Members were present.
Also present was Elaine Beatty, Deputy Clerk/Zoning
Administrator and Judy Hudson, Secretary. Don Hozempa,
Sheriff, Gary Miller and Don Lindell from the Sheriff's
Department were also present.
Mayor Norman F Freske started the meeting by
introductions.
Sheriff Hozempa explained what positions the three of
them had in the Sheriffs Department. They are the top three
in command. He also explained that they have 120 full time
employees, 62 licensed police, 30 part time police and 30
volunteer officers. They have 11 mounted patrol.
There was discussion of the mounted patrol and the
volunteers for same and how the patrol came about. Stewart
Wirth and Jack Bodine have spearheaded this mounted patrol.
Thirty-seven people work in the jail (civilians). There are
twelve dispatchers (nine of them civilians) and seven
secretaries and cooks for the jail. They have a five to six
million dollar budget yearly and contract with six or seven
Cities for police protection.
They have been meeting with St Michael (8-hr a day
coverage), Frankfort (4-hour a day) possible, Monticello and
Buffalo have twenty-four a day coverage.
Wright County is the 9th largest County in Minnesota
with 72,000 population. We grow about 1,000 a year. One (1)
quarter section of the County has about 3,200 people in it.
One problem with this population is that they figure 1.3 law
enforcement officers for every 1,000 people (national
average). They are short of officers. The population is a
problem and the Townships need 24-hour a day coverage.
They would like to see Otsego increase coverage from 40
hours a week to eight hours a day, 7-days a week. They would
be adding 16 hours.
Hozempa read some figures which showed a dramatic
increase in population. Last year they had 30,000 calls for
service in Wright County. In 1982 they had.5,000 calls for
service in Otsego. 6AM to 2PM they had 187 calls, 2PM to 6AM
they had 130 calls, 6PM to 3AM they had 208 calls and 3AM to
6AM 12 Calls.
Hozempa discussed alarms and said they are a big problem
as the deputy run to the alarms a lot and it takes a lot of
the deputy's time.
When asked what percentage of time they spend in the
Urban area of Otsego - vs - the Rural area the answer was 70
to 80n Urban and 20 to 30n rural.
They had 59 dog calls in 1992 for Otsego, 738 calls on
dogs in Wright County in 1992, 466 lost animal complaints, 62
animal abuse, 11 animal cruelty, and,347 found animals.
STATE OF MINNESOTA,
COUNTY OF WRIGHT
CITY OF OTSEGO
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF
6/16/93 AT 7:30PM — PAGE 2 —
Sheriff Hozempa said when they get a dog complaint, a
car is dispatched to let the person know there is a
complaint. He feels we need a County -wide animal control
person. Sheriff's Department will not transport dogs.
There was a discussion of a court appearance and fine
for dogs. There had been some change in the legislation said
Lindell, but he thinks that has been changed again so they
can issue citations and court appearances which results in a
fine.
Black brought up the point that if you have 30 assaults,
60 dog calls, the assaults would take up the time.
Traffic is a problem and a large number of accidents.
They do have a system available now where you can get
information from a central computer from the patrol car,
which would speed up the process and Sheriff Hozempa would
like to see it implemented, but it is expensive.
If we were to agree to extra hours for patrol, it would
take place in January of 1994. The contracted deputy would
be paid for so they would have the money to hire extra if
needed. Otsego is a unique situation. There are a lot of
people spread out over a large area.
Sheriff Hozempa stated that he feels the cost for 1994
would not be higher than $31..00 per hour for man, car and
equipment. The roving car covers Otsego, Monticello,
Frankfort and Buffalo. They do have a Sgt. that can come in
and help out. The Sheriff's Department has a mutual aid with
Sherburne County and Elk River. They have 50 or 51 vehicles
and 28 marked cars.
There was some discussion on fire and rescue with the
City of Albertville.
Black asked if we can get a report with times that the
officers are in Otsego? Sheriff Hozempa said they can do it
and that the City of Delano had asked for that. What we want
is basic information said Black, how many and what type of
calls. It would help us to define the Urban/Rural Taxing
District and amounts paid in each if you can work that into
your plans.
Gary Miller said that if we have a complaint on a
specific call we can call him and he will get a report on it
for us.
Sheriff Hozempa said that if they screw up they admit
it. They want to know when they goof up.
The 911 system was discussed and it is working good.
As far as the dog problem, stray animals where they
don't know the owner, they can do nothing. A vicious animal
they can tranquilize. An animal that is barking, they can go
to the home to tell the person. If it is a dog where they
know the owner, they can give a warning the first time and
ticket if the problem persists.
Motion by Black to adjourn Motion seconded by
STATE OF MINNESOTA,
COUNTY OF WRIGHT
CITY OF OTSEGO
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF
6/16/93 AT 7:3OPM — PAGE 3—
Fournier. Motion carried unanimously.
NORMAN F FRESKE, MAYOR DOUG LINDENFELSER, COUNCIL
FLOYD RODEN, COUNCIL LARRY FOURNIER, COUNCIL
RON BLACK COUNCIL
ATTEST:
JEROME PERRAULT, CLERK
MINUTES BY: Elaine Beatty, Deputy Clerk/Zoning Adm.
EB