Police come last

Don't worry about the "Bash Keltor [sic] Bandwagon".  City Councilmen (and women) get paid the big bucks to be scrutinized in public forums. 

It is true that I proposed borrowing money for capital improvement upgrades to the electric and water systems last year.  The projects in question have long been documented by our engineers as serious shortcomings that affect the health and welfare of the city residents and utility ratepayers.  Those capital improvements had been neglected so long that the price of fixing the problem had escalated to the point where the City did not have the money to do its duty to make the necessary repairs.  The business plans provided in the Electric System Study by Jones-Edmunds and Associates and the Water Capacity Analysis by Mittauer & Associates suggested that the capital improvements could be made within the existing debt service structure without raising electric or water rates.  Paying off the existing utility debts early, as we did two weeks ago, created a significant cushion in those budgets to make future debt service feasible.

The City is now building the improvements as a result.

I didn't propose the idea of borrowing money for the Augusta Savage Cultural Center.  I didn't even propose the idea of buying the property in the first place.  I didn't vote in favor of many of the piecemeal expenditures on the Thomas Hogan's Gym because the Council did not first entertain the notion of planning the project from acquisition thru daily operations.  I could have used Mr. Ready-Fire-Aim's public comments two years ago, but he was too busy bashing me for second-guessing the City Manager's expenditures on the Gym.

However, the majority of the City Council supported the acquistion of the existing facilities which provide the working environment for a number of good community services organizations.  If the City acquires the properties, then the City needs to be something other than a slumlord.  If I were the landlord of that facility, I would be embarrassed to have tenants working out of that kind of environment. 

I guess I represent the landlords of the facility (that would be the City residents) and I am embarrassed on their behalf.

Now to the Police Department:  I will catalogue your idea to borrow money as PLAN D.  I will admit I don't have any idea how the City will get the money to build the facility on land that was acquired above the appraised value of the property.  Here are the four plans to date:

PLAN A:  Get a grant

PLAN B:  Lease the existing Police Building for a restaurant and use the proceeds to pay for a new building.

PLAN C:  Get Sheriff Bessler to provide $4 million from the Sheriff's budget (compliments to SUNNY123, who is not a communist).

PLAN D:  Borrow the money

The City Council has been working with Chief Musco on this issue for a couple of years now.  Council does not put our Police Department last.  Our Council is very supportive of the GCS PD.  We have a great agency and we intend to keep it that way. 

Whatever plan emerges for funding construction of a new Police Station, my vote on the Council will go in favor of the plan that has been fully studied from acquisition to daily operations.  The plan must be financially feasible.  If folks don't like that approach, they can get in line and bash away. 

That's why we get paid the big bucks.

Mike Kelter

Mayor, Green Cove Springs

GCSPD has played second fiddle for years as for its headquarters. They are a professional department with some great employees. If the city government expects to turn the city around with development of residential and commercial ventures they better take care of the city infrastructure first. One of the first things potential residents and businessmen look at it when relocating is the order of the city government, the first impression of the police department from looking at its facility is it is a Barney Fife operation. That would be my opinion, but I know better because I personally know the folks that wear the uniform. These folks deserve better working conditions than the 75+ year old house renovated 18 years ago they are working out of currently. Come on city leaders get in to the 21st century. You guys have been procrastinating now for about five years on a facility.

Why couldn't the GCSPD office been incorporated into the NEW city hall building?  Just from looking at the new building from the outside, it seems that there would have been enough room to house a new and improved PD and had plenty of room for the rest of the city's functions....

Maxie,

You are absolutely correct. An ivory tower City Hall was built in GCS and has much empty space. 

Consolidate the police force with CCSO and there would be no need for a new GCS building for the already over taxed GCS residents to pay. Duplication of services is unnecessary.

There was poor planning in the beginning with the location of city hall. The property is prime road frontage and would draw a good tax base if something like businesses or condos had been built in the location. Just like the courthouse, county admin building and jail. The lot is not large enough for expansion in the future. I doubt if there can be more floors added, but this would have been the way to go for expansion. In order to have a state of the art police station it would need to include a garage bay to store at least one vehicle seized as evidence, training room, evidence room, records room, administrative offices and a dispatch center. I have been an advocate of combining city police dispatch services county wide in to one call center. This would be a savings to taxpayers. The cost of maintaining the equipment and phone lines for a dispatch center is expensive. One of the city council members blasted me months back when I mentioned this in a blog. They feel like they are loosing control of their agency when they give up their dispatch center. This is nothing new you see it a lot down in south Florida. The excuse they often use for not consolidating is we have a better response time. The response time is hog wash. The calls will be taken as they have always been and dispatched by computer to the officer in the street or by radio if it is an in progress call.

Did you know that it is predicted that if we get a category 4-5 hurricane the St. Johns River will spill on to Hwy 17 and there may be  2-3 ft of water in those city and county buildings? Poor planning and bad location.

Magnum,

Amen.

Magnum,

You were last posting while I was writing.

Be careful about equating a Category Four or Five hurricane, as measured on the Safir-Simpson scale with a Category Four or Five Storm Surge as depicted on the SLOSH maps (Sea, Land, and Overland Surges from Hurricanes).  Safir-Simpson is generally based on windspeeds.  SLOSH models factor in tidal conditions and "fetch" across a distance of water.  The two scales are not necessarily the same.

The current GCSPD facility is not in a Flood Hazard Zone with respect to the most current National Flood Insurance Maps.  However, the current SLOSH models (which were first commissioned in 1998) show that half the facility is effected by the Category 4 surge and the entire facility is affected by the Category five surge.  The only places where the SLOSH models show that the storm surge would reach US 17 is near the Elks Club and near the bridge at Governors Creek.  A detailed look at that analysis will show that the surge does not overtop the bridge at Governors Creek, nor the box culverts near the Elks Club.  The roads would be passable.

Since the current GCSPD has been in its current location for decades, I don't know that "poor planning" has much to do with co-location of the facility in a SLOSH Category four or five zone that was first identified less than a decade ago.

Mike Kelter, PE

Mayor, PE,

You never know what Mother Nature is going to do. Never assume you may be wearing hip waders in city hall if the big one comes in and the streets can’t dump the water out of town fast enough. By the way, did you guys ever get the electric repaired to stay on during a 30 mph wind storm? I lived in town one time and a good gust of wind would knock the power out.

It is very nice to have folks from the public supporting our Police Agency.  As I said, it is a very good agency and we intend to keep it that way. 

Actually, the procrastination of building a new Police Department goes back in history beyond five years.  It's been discussed (and discussed and discussed) for ten years.  Eighteen months ago the Council directed the City manager to find land for the new facility.  One year ago we started purchasing the land for the new facility. We still have a couple of property owners holding out for more money.  The Council is dealing with that issue. 

Chief Musco and I have been discussing the new facility for the past twelve months, specifically addressing the functional aspects of the facility.  We both agree that Police operations do not belong in City Hall.  For a number of reasons, Police facilities have different security needs than does City Hall.  The ivory tower was not built with those security measures in mind.  Our original plans for the facility are evolving, due to changes in inter-agency communications needs.  GCSPD and CCSO need to communicate and do communicate.  GCSPD also needs to communicate with Clay County Emergency Management.  The communications strategy is changing.  The new GCSPD facility will need to change accordingly.  I am just now becoming aware of the needs.

The current GCSPD facility might deceive casual observers.  GCSPD is not a "Barney Fife" operation.  For the past three years that I have served on City Council, we have worked to bring our Agency to a new level of professionalism.  We have made strides in making our sworn officer pay comparable to other Agencies in the area.  My officers are being better equipped and better trained.  My officers are physically fit and very professional.  I agree with Evinalmighty1 and Magnumforce that my officers need a better facility.

I have to disagree with Pioneer.  When a city undergoes economic redevelopment, as GCS is undergoing, new businesses look at security.  GCS is the host city to the Clay County Jail.  When Sheriff Beseler is ordered to reduce occupancy in his facility, the criminal elements who are released are released onto GCS city streets.  Rick doesn't have much choice in the matter.  Our police officers don't have much choice about picking up these criminals again as they commit crimes within the GCS City limits.

The residents of GCS currently pay a combined City-County ad-valorem millage that is $0.335/$1000 more than County residents.  GCS residents pay about $2 million for patrol services provided by the County.  One deputy generally patrols the area between Black Creek and the Putnam County line and between the St. Johns River and the Animal Control faciliity.  GCSPD responds to emergency calls within two minutes.  GCS taxpayers pay $1.8 million per year for that response from 3 sworn officers working 24/7.  GCS is getting three times the bang for the buck than we can get from CCSO.  That is no slight to CCSO--I like CCSO.  GCSPD is just a little bit better.   

In a sense, the GCS taxpayers are subsidizing law enforcement operations in the northern parts of the County.  That isn't right.  We're working on this with Sheriff Beseler and with the Clay County BCC.  I have every reason to believe that we will come to an agreement. As we reach further agreement with the County, we hope that this will free up taxpayer money to help build the kind of Police facility our officers deserve and that our City needs.

Mike Kelter, Mayor

I hate to even validate even the mention of “consolidation” of any city service with the county, but I’ll just say this, Who ever said that has no concept of the meaning of ”Quality of Life Issues” for the people who live in Green Cove. Learn some facts before you mention ill informed ideas.

Speaking of facts, Kelter always has many good ones. (smart guy). I know your heart is in the right place Mayor but as evident in everyone’s response to this blog, the citizens want to see action. You have some good ideas so let’s get one of them done. Our officers have been neglected in the past (previous administrations) so I think it is time to start making up for lost time.

Pretty good guess, but I looked it up.  According to the Clay County Property Appraiser, the house was actually built in 1900, making it 108 years old.  I know you were probably just spitballing earlier, but it got me curious.  I know you like to have the facts, so I thought I'd share this one with ya.

Keep up the good work.  Your right, the new station is very overdue.

Pioneer,

City hall and law enforcement attract different clientel (sp).  One of the reasons, if it were big enough that the S.O. is not located in a central county government building.  It's just not practical.

You wouldn't want those 2 elements of society meeting that often.

Magnum,

I'm sure there are other reasons for not having the S.O. in a central building, so spell it out for the people.  I leave it to your experience.

The Sheriff’s Office grew to a large agency during the past 15 years. Moving the patrol and detective division to more of a central location in the county for better deployment was a good decision. It was also a part of the community policing concept to decentralizing operations from the traditional everything headquartered at one location. When the latest jail expansion was added in 1998 there was not enough room for administrative offices for civil process, warrants, finance, and training. Plenty of jail though. What you will see in the future is the current jail turned in to a pre trial detention center for non sentenced inmates and a jail for sentenced inmates built at another location. I say house the sentenced inmates in tents like the Sheriff in Arizona does. I don’t have a problem with it. Our military uses them in war time to house personnel.

I had touched on the consolidation of police dispatch services earlier. There is a monthly cost for phone lines and emergency phones lines to the center. These phone lines are not like the one connected to your home. They have to be a certain speed to run computers and radios and they cost big bucks. There is a cost for electricity, computer maintenance, Dictaphone recording equipment, console furniture and console radio repair and replacement. Some of this cost is off set by the monthly fee you pay on your phone bill for emergency 911. That money can be used for certain equipment purchases, but not for salaries or reoccurring monthly cost. Reoccurring monthly cost is happening currently at four locations, GCSPD, OPPD, Fire/Rescue, and CCSO. Wouldn’t it make sense to consolidate these services in to one location? I believe the county manager is looking at doing this with the new emergency operations center that is suppose to be built in the future.

Who would be in charge of this centralized location?  What would happen to the dispatchers from other agencies?  Would they be guarranteed jobs?  If they come from different retirement systems, what would be the new one and how would their current retirement fit into that?

Not meant in an ill tempered manner, but the S.O. typically tries to control everything.  So how would these dispatchers be treated, being the 'children of a lesser God?'

What do the citizens want?  Do they like their current independent dispaytch centers where they might know someone, kind of like the old home town feeling?  Or do they want a person who is preprogrammed to ask certain questions? 

 I'm not sure that came out right, but take it in the best possible light.  I mean to be civil.

Mikey,

I always wanted to call someone that since the kid on the cereal box.

On a more seroius note.  It seemed to have rained several times in the last few days.  Did the lights ever go out in the area covered by the Green Cove Springs Electric Department?  I know my lights stayed on where i lived, but I know the City is powered on several grids.

Any trees down?  Traffic rerouted, etc.?

Could you give us a little information on the operational effeciancy of the electric department?

 Evanalmighty, did your lights go out?

I know i'm a couple of days late replying to this blog, but Magnum - you absolutely hit the nail on the head when you said You never know what Mother Nature is going to do.  I saw some devastation down in South Florida a few years ago that was not expected to end quite the way it ended up.  I hope to never see that again.  Amie

Mag,

Last weekend, I presented scholarships for students of the Florida Youth Challenge Academy.

When I last presented to this Academy, you indicated through blog-land that you witnessed my presentation and described what I was wearing. It kind of gave me the hee-bee jeebies...I felt like I was being stalked.

Were you there two weekends ago? If not, can you assure bloggers that if they participate here at myclaysun.com that they won't have to worry about who's tracking their blog name and picture?

Karen Lake

Magnum you also nailed it in your statements about a dispatch center (most likely operated by the sheriff)....I think people like knowing that their dispatcher is actually in their same town, knows the officers in person, and even knows who the officers deal with on a daily bases. This is what people dont understand, you can not make up for a personal touch like that.. Hey we all know what happens to businesses that merge into bigger companies, the customers always seem to lose out. 

Sorry I missed the FLYCA graduation. I am surprised you have lashed out at me like you have since it has been a while since we chatted. This is just so unlike you. I thought we were on the same team. I am no stranger to you nor am I stalker. Settle down I have a significant other in my life that I am very happy with and I am not shopping around. You have interviewed me a couple of times and we have chatted by phone when you were a reporter for the LRM. Back when I blogged I had seen you at the last FLYCA graduation I was there for a young man I am mentoring and my focus was on him after the graduation and not making my way over to you to say hello or to the many people I am acquainted with in the county. The next time I do see you I will make a special point to come over and give you a big hello. Don’t let your curiosity is getting the best of you.

I can see where readers may make an assumption that having all police communications in one location would want to be ruled by a larger agency. Why couldn’t all these services come under one roof and still work for the same agency? Inter-agency agreements could be written to iron out rules and policies for a shared facility.

Evinalmighty1,

You should know your officers regardless of where they are dispatched. Yes you can make a call to the station and say please send officer so and so by my house or business I need to speak to him. You don’t believe that happens when a resident or business owner in Middleburg calls the Sheriff’s Office in GCS and the dispatcher passes the message on? It happens all the time. When I call Clay Electric about a problem with my service I am speaking to a person in a call center in Keystone Heights. They dispatch a truck out and take care of the problem. Most of the time its one of the guys who lives in my area and I know them. By the way they have some great folks and they are very friendly.

Snookie,

Why would it matter about all of the benefits unless you are a dispatcher? The voters spoke and they don’t care about our benefits. A majority of the voters feel we have it way to good now and have a lot of benefits they dream about. All they care about is that when they call for the police they respond in a reasonable amount of time and do their job. That’s the bottom line.

Folk’s voters voted in Amendment 1 for tax breaks and I believe sooner or later we will have to face reality and give up some of those things we were so use to having. The way to survive in hard times is shared services and working as a team.

If you are a dispatcher for OPPD or GCSPD you are on a different retirement system from each other and the S.O. (which is on state retirement).  If you've been at one of the PDs for ten years and have to go to the S.O. under a forced merger, you're retirement would start at zero. 

Basically ten years wasted toward retirement.  Now you have to work 30 years to get your full retirement.

The state does not allow many mergers of retirement systems.  And when they do, You have to pay big bucks.  So how old would that make you?  Depending on how old you were when you originally started.

I had not considered the combined center where you continue working for your original agency.

That was my main question.

And no, I'm not a dispatcher, but know a couple pretty good.

Yep benefits do matter, but the majority of the citizens could careless about government employee’s benefits regardless of what you may believe. They want tax relief.

Magnumforce...

Thank you for your rock solid response. I have to tell you that I downplayed my reaction to your blog six months ago. I was freaked out about your ability to identify me and my inability to identify you. [Blog identity versus blog anonymity]

So when I attended the graduation of the current class I was looking over my shoulder expecting an introduction and none never happened.

Please accept my sincere and humble apology if your were offended by my strong statements. I love the students of the Florida Youth Challenge Academy. I support and recognize your contributions as a mentor to a graduating student of the program.

As a single woman, you need to be aware that anything you say can and will be used against you...so support single mothers.

Karen Lake