Girdwood Public Safety Task Force s1

Girdwood Public Safety Task Force Meeting Minutes WED July 30, 2015 7PM Location Girdwood Community Room

1. Call to Order, Sam Daniel, Chair 7:03PM Introductions. Attending are: Tommy O’Malley, Marc Donadieu, Jerry Fox, Sue Kennedy, Mandy Hawes, Brian Burnett, Bill Chadwick, Sam Daniel, Lou Theiss, Janice Crocker.

Meeting Agenda Approval unanimous Meeting Minutes Approval 6/22/15 meeting with changes, unanimous Meeting Minutes Approval 6/9/15 meeting unanimous approval

2. Creation of Information Sheet Group reviewed information sheet and made changes. Updated sheet to be distributed to group via email for continued discussion and fine-tuning.

Motion to approve information sheet made by Bill Chadwick, 2nd by Kevin Opalka Changes to information sheet were approved unanimously.

3. Summarize and discuss the outcome of the GBOS and Municipal Manager joint meeting

Email to Sam Daniel from Assemblyman Bill Evans indicated that the new Anchorage administration is working with State of Alaska to keep trooper presence in Girdwood, to be paid by Girdwood property owners. For this reason, the Task Force did not meet for scheduled meetings in June, awaiting more current info from new administration.

Mayor Berkowitz attended most of the GBOS meeting on 7/20 and was updated on the public safety issue and current status of work by task force.

GBOS and MOA held their Quarterly meeting on 7/27 in Anchorage, this was the first meeting with new city manager Mike Abbott. Although there were many topics on the agenda, most of the meeting focused on the Public Safety issue.

Task Force chairs came to the meeting with the bare-bones plan B option that was encouraged by past administration. Chief Mew was not in attendance, although he has attended most prior meetings regarding public safety. Mike Abbott indicated that APD is

Girdwood Public Safety Task Force Agendas and minutes are available on line: http://www.muni.org/gbos not set up to provide rural law enforcement model and was skeptical of any model other than 3 officers/24/7 service as part of Anchorage Police Service Area. Abbott is to request a written response from Chief Mew regarding “bare-bones” model. Goal of the task force in receiving this response is to continue to conversation of a service model with APD that is less than 2.9 mills.

This was a significant departure from information provided by past administration. Mike Abbott continued to promote possibility of Alaska State Troopers to serve in Girdwood. Mike Abbott said that a letter from the MOA was to be sent to the Dept of Public Safety (State of AK) requesting Troopers stay with payment for service to come from MOA (Girdwood taxpayers). Tommy O’Malley is to request a copy of this letter, as GBOS was not cc’d in the original letter.

Abbott also suggested that Girdwood pursue other models, such as having service agreement with some other entity, such Whittier Police. Whoever would provide this service would need to be approved by the Alaska Police Standards Council.

In the past, both of these possibilities have been highly discouraged, as it was not favorable with AST to stay in Girdwood, and it was understood that service from entity other than APD or AST in Girdwood was not possible.

Concern is voiced that Alaska State Troopers cannot guarantee adequate level of service with number of staff being cut. Already, Girdwood Fire Dept has not received usual support from AST (no arrival at scene of accident recently on Seward Highway), and suggestion from AST that Fire Dept collect evidence and take statements.

Lou Theiss states that in order to proceed, there will need to be approval by Girdwood voters to give GBOS the power to tax and contract with police.

Bill Chadwick adds that insurance is an important component in the discussion of cost. With full APD service, MOA is self insured and that includes up to $200,000. Other scenarios will require that Girdwood to insure, and underwrite 100% of cost. Liability and workman’s comp are expensive.

Lou continues that in a conversation with the Whittier city attorney, it seemed a reasonable solution to co-opt with Whittier Police as they share similar policing models and could share the Whittier credential. City Attorney indicated that the most likely objection to this might come from Anchorage Police union.

Group decides to add Policing through another entity, such as Whittier, to the list of policing options and to pursue meeting with Whittier to see operation and discuss possibilities.

Laura Bowen suggests also investigating under “No Service” option, having Girdwood contract with private security for high-volume days. Others in the group recall that HLB contracted with Doyon Security for help with squatters on California Creek Trail some years ago, and that AST shows up at Arctic Man, although this is somewhat different as Arctic Man occurs in an area without other police support.

Sam Daniel says that moving forward, members of the task force should break up the policing scenarios and report back to the group, so that we can prepare for large community meeting to address what the task force has found and to gauge public opinion on those options. Lou Theiss suggests that one goal for task force to have in mind as they research their areas is that of Community Policing.

Topics are divided up as follows: Option A: APD full service has already been vetted and costs/benefits are known Option B: APD bare bones service will be researched further by Sam Daniel Option C: No Service with possible contracting with private security will be researched by Mike Opalka & Laura Bowen. Option D: Effort to contract with AST will be researched by Tommy O’Malley Option E: Service from another enforcement area, sharing credential of Alaska Police Standards Council, is to be researched by Louis Theiss and Chief Chadwick.

At community charrette meeting, public will break into small groups and gain community consensus as they review models in-depth.

Group discusses that it is possible to have a special election prior to April.

Motion: Girdwood Public Safety Task Force moves to request that Girdwood Board of Supervisors write a letter to the Mayor, Governor, Representatives Geissel and Hawker, Assemblymen Johnston and Evans, Commissioner of Dept of Public Safety and Colonel of Alaska State Troopers in support of continuing coverage of Girdwood, with cost of such service to be paid by Girdwood property owners. Motion made by Bill Chadwick, 2nd Lou Theiss Motion approved unanimously.

4 Community outreach/Community involvement Mandy Hawes stated that she is attending as available on behalf of herself as a resident and representing Alyeska Resort. The Resort’s position is to support a model of policing that is right of the community.

Laura Bowen provided several suggestions to bring about community involvement:

Receiving/creating mailing labels for all Girdwood residents/homeowners to send mail out advising them of community meeting, explanation of who is qualified to vote in the election, etc.

Create sandwich board or other signage to be placed at corner of Egloff and Alyeska Highway “GBOS Meeting Tonight!” Create contact list of members of task force and willing attendees so they can contact each other.

Offer call-in (especially for representatives Hawker and Geissel), so that they can attend even if not in person. a. Attend local organizations meetings once message is clear Group discussed: Fire Dept open house on SUN 8/23 Laura Bowen and Tommy O’Malley to attend Girdwood 2020 Mandy Hawes to contact and present GW Rotary Lou Theiss to attend and present PTA/Community School/GW SchoolSam Daniel to contact and discuss with all Lions Club TBA Next meeting not until September Girdwood Chamber TBA LUC/Trails Brian Burnett to attend and present Assemblymen Evans and Johnston Sue Kennedy to contact State folks: Hawker and Geissel Bill Chadwick to coordinate a meeting to discuss

Mark Donadieu suggests that editorials written on the topic of public safety would likely make it in to the Turnagain Times. He is willing to help with editing and proofreading these letters. His email is: [email protected] b. Host public meetings Group will set public meeting at next Task Force Meeting c. Other Assigned Tasks for next meeting: Margaret: Update and send out information sheet Create contact list and send out

Laura Bowen and Tommy O’Malley to attend Fire Dept open house on SUN 8/23 Mandy Hawes to contact and present at next Girdwood 2020 meeting

Lou Theiss to attend and present at Rotary Sam Daniel to contact and discuss with PTA/Community School/school ?? to attend Lions Club meeting in September ?? to attend Girdwood Chamber Brian Burnett to attend and present at LUC & Trails Sue Kennedy to contact and update Assemblymen Evans and Johnston Bill Chadwick to coordinate a meeting to discuss issue with Hawker and Geissel, many other task force members wish to attend this meeting. Marc Donadieu will help with editing/proofing editorials for Turnagain Times Kyle and Margaret work on receiving tax/resident lists of Girdwood for mailout and to make GBOS meetings more visible with sign at corner on the day of meetings. Tommy O’Malley will research cost of special election & how HLB contracted with Doyon for security work in past Laura Bowen suggests requesting Freedom of Information Act request from troopers regarding all contact regarding removal of troopers from Girdwood.

5. Set Next Task Force Meeting Next meeting is set for Monday, August 24 at 7PM. AT that meeting, the community Charrette is likely to be planned. Date/time/location.