City Council - workshop

A NEW ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN AS WELL AS THE GRIEVANCE AND ARBITRATION SECTION. AND I THINK THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN IT. THE SPECIALTY PAYS DO HAVE A SLIGHT IMPACT TO THE BUDGET. THEY WERE ALREADY RECEIVING INCENTIVE PAY, SO THIS WOULD JUST BE AN INCREASE TO THAT.

Questions? Counselor Morey. On the specialty and incentive pay, is there a cap to the number of officers that can participate in all of those breakout?

The only caps are going to be in the instructor pays. And within SWAT, if you're receiving SWAT pay, you cannot also receive the fitness pay.

And then also with the employment status, the introductory period, what is that timeline? How long is that set for?

I think the conversations were related around the inductory period being after they came back from post so that you had a period of time to reflect back on their performance after they become a police officer.

And through that introductory period, are they still considered an at-will employee?

Yes. Mm-hmm.

NORMALLY FOLLOWED.

YEAH, AND THERE'S A TRAINING PROCESS THAT THEY GO THROUGH, AN FTO PROCESS WHERE THEY'RE WITH AN FTO WHO HELPS TRAIN THEM ONCE THEY'VE COMPLETED POST. SO THAT KIND OF INCORPORATES THAT TIME PERIOD AS WELL. THANK YOU.

COUNCILOR SCHBECKELMEIER. THANK YOU, MAYOR. SO I GUESS THE CLARIFICATION OR JUSTIFICATION, IF YOU WILL, I don't quite understand the incentive for passing a PT test.

I think it's more of an encouragement to stay physically fit. And so by receiving a fitness incentive where they have to test twice a year, we're encouraging those officers to be able to maintain the physical components of post.

It's similar to a post-physical test. Isn't there a physical fitness requirement?

THERE IS NOT. THEY DO NOT CURRENTLY HAVE A PHYSICAL FITNESS POLICY WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT. UNLIKE FIRE, THEY DO HAVE AN SOP.

COUNSELOR, SO WHAT'S THE JUSTIFICATION FOR GIVING A CLOTHING ALLOWANCE FOR NON-UNIFORMED OFFICERS?

I THINK JUST THE, AND I'VE GOT THE FOP HERE SO THEY CAN HELP JUSTIFY IT, BUT I THINK THE IDEA OF HAVING TO PURCHASE CLOTHING RATHER THAN THE DEPARTMENT PURCHASING A UNIFORM. SO IT'S GIVING THEM THAT MONETARY BENEFIT TO BE ABLE TO PURCHASE CLOTHING FOR THE DEPARTMENT. AND THAT HASN'T CHANGED SINCE THE PREVIOUS CONTRACT HAPPENED.

UNIFORM IS STILL A SPECIAL, SOMETHING SPECIAL THEY HAVE TO WEAR? Sam would be a good example.

Yeah, do you want to?

Yeah.

Oh, Sam, like our evidence tech, they may damage their clothing just in the day-to-day of their job. So we're giving them that clothing allowance to otherwise replace that clothing.

Would you introduce yourself again? Yeah, Josh Regan, police officer of the city of Lewiston. Yeah, so as Nikki was saying, we do have some individuals that are employed in the department that are required to go out in the field sometimes, but they're not required to wear a uniform per se all the time. Sam would be a good example. She's our evidence custodian. If she was to go out into the field for some sort of incident, she's going to be wearing boots and pants of those nature, not something that she would have to wear every day, but it's part of the allowance. Like Nikki said, it's been in the contract for a while. There's no change to it, but that would be one of the reasons, if that makes sense.

PROBABLY MORE FOR DIRECTOR GORDON, BUT FOR THIS YEAR'S BUDGET, WHAT IS 1% PROPERTY TAX?

DIRECTOR GORDON, WELCOME. GOOD AFTERNOON. AMY GORDON, FINANCE DIRECTOR. I DON'T HAVE THE EXACT NUMBER, BUT IT'S APPROXIMATELY 250,000.

Councilor Wright. Thank you. The one piece I saw was missing here, and I just want to be clear that's the case when I looked at the red line version, is employees are still going to get paid overtime even if they didn't actually work 40 hours.

Yeah.

That's still going to be in this contract.

Yeah, that was a big discussion item that we did bring to the union, and there was back and forth, but ultimately the union didn't agree to that language. BUT THEY DID AGREE TO THE COLA AND THE AT-WILL. A LITTLE BIT OF GIVE AND TAKE.

THANK YOU.

COUNCILOR WRIGHT. It's almost like the clothing thing, but it's the getting overtime hours for court appearances if they cancel the court appearance. I could understand that to an extent if you already left and you're at the court and they canceled it, but hours beforehand, I mean, I get this is the agreement, but that's

Part of it is the inconvenience. And if you had had plans, you otherwise couldn't have those plans because you were waiting for your court. And so the inconvenience of counseling.

Yeah, I can see it would be inconvenient if you have to go to court. It's just that we're paying for not having to go to court.

Well, I think while that language changed, that benefit didn't. I think some of the language changed, but that was in the previous contract, yeah.

It was just formatting changes in there. It jumped out at me, isn't it?

Yeah. Mr. Spickelmeyer, and I read through several, a couple times it was listed on there that, so anytime an incentive pay is activated, if you will, it's due to an assignment from the police chief. Mm-hmm.

For example, the instructors, there's only a limited number of people that would be receiving that pay for each of those instructors, and that would be at the direction of the police chief.

Follow-up? Counselor? So then maybe it's for the police chief. Does the police chief follow a budget to see where he's at within a budget to know whether or not basically he can afford to have officers on incentive pay?

Yeah, I mean, I'm sure.

Please introduce yourself for the record.

Well, and I should say some of that instructor pay, too, is to compensate those employees to give the instruction rather than paying someone to give the instruction. So it kind of.

There's a little bit of a wash there. Yeah, and through negotiations, we established kind of a set number. Like, there will be no more than four FIRE instructors, no more than three ARCON instructors. So that is kind of already factored into the budget. So we kind of understand that. That's why we have a set number. So, you know, I could have five guys that suddenly, hey, I want to be this instructor. Well, sorry, we only have a certain number because that is what we're allotted to pay to try to keep it somewhat fiscally sound. Yeah. I mean, in theory, we could have every... Employee could be an instructor, but that won't be the case.

So it kind of gives us some cost surety by having a set number But thank you chief, but you don't follow a budget as to how much maybe you're accumulating Like this this number of increasing our budget by sixty nine thousand dollars You follow that in any way or this is this just a general idea

I THINK IT WOULD BE BUILT INTO SALARIES, INTO THE SALARY BUDGET AS AN EXPECTATION.

YES, WE BUILD IT INTO THE SALARY BUDGET. SO WE KNOW, LIKE, WHO ALL OUR CURRENT ROSTER OF EMPLOYEES ARE, WHAT ADDITIONAL PAYS THAT THEY RECEIVE. THOSE ARE BUILT INTO THE INDIVIDUAL BUDGET FOR THAT OFFICER. AND THEN IF FOR SOME REASON THAT OFFICER VACATES AND THEN WE HAVE TO FILL THAT POSITION, WHATEVER ADDITIONAL PAYS WOULD ATTACH TO THE NEW EMPLOYEE IN THAT POSITION WOULD LIKELY BE COVERED BY ANY VACANCY SAVINGS. SO WE BUILDED INTO THE PAYROLL BUDGET.

THANK YOU.

CAN I PROVIDE A CLARITY ON THE COURT APPEARANCES, TOO? IS PART OF THE REASON THAT LANGUAGE IS IN THERE IS THE SECOND SECTION OF THAT PROVISION IS BECAUSE THEY OFTEN HAVE TO COME IN ON THEIR SCHEDULED OFF DAYS, WHICH IS WHY THERE'S THAT OVERTIME LANGUAGE BUILT IN THERE. And then the other piece is sometimes they have to appear before their shift begins or they may have to stay beyond their shift to make that court appearance. So that language is consistent to what a callback or callout pay would be. So they're not receiving any different compensation than what they would be if they had been called in to testify. And then the other section of that provision is because they're having to come in on a non-regularly scheduled day to appear in court. And that is what gets to that inconvenience factor that Dickey was referring to, is because with little notice, they've been notified they have to appear in court, and they had that day scheduled off. It wasn't part of their regular schedule.

Do you have a question on that? When it comes to the court appearances, if they're requested to appear in court by the defense, do we get reimbursed for that money? We do receive a witness fee.

It probably doesn't reimburse us, though, because I think their fee is set at a fixed amount. I haven't seen one of those checks in a long time. It doesn't seem like the checks were ever that much money, though, like a $40 witness fee. And they usually come from the attorney's office.

Most court appearances are the prosecutors asking them to come in, then. I'd say that's accurate, correct, yes.

Oh, no, another lifeline.

I was trying not to step up because everyone's doing a good job of explaining things. But when it comes down to court fees, Jennifer Tingano, city attorney, when it comes down to preparing for court, typically it is the Nez Perce County Prosecutor's Office that's calling them, but that's because they bear the burden of proving the offense beyond a reasonable doubt, and that includes all witnesses. IN MANY CASES, THE POLICE OFFICERS ARE THE PRIMARY WITNESS, EXCEPT FOR IN THOSE INSTANCES WHERE MAYBE THERE WAS SOMEONE THAT CALLED IN FIRST AND THEN MADE THE REPORT OR THAT OTHER PERSON ACTUALLY SIGNED THE CITIZENS OR DID A CITIZEN'S ARREST AND SIGNED THE CITATION AND THEY WITNESSED THE EVENT. BUT MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, IT'S OUR POLICE OFFICERS THAT ARE TYPICALLY THE WITNESSES, WHETHER OR NOT THEY OBSERVED THE, YOU KNOW, THE if they're doing a DUI, they did a field sobriety test. They're the ones that are witnessing the different parts of that test. And so they have to be present to testify because there's a Fifth Amendment, I'm sorry, there's a constitutional amendment right to be able to cross-examine and stand in front of your accuser. And so because of that, THEY HAVE TO BE PRESENT. AND IN ADDITION TO EVERYTHING EVERYONE HAS ALREADY MENTIONED, THOSE OFFICERS ALSO HAVE TO GO BACK AND LOOK AT AND TRY TO REMEMBER THAT SPECIFIC INCIDENCE AND TRY TO REMEMBER THE SPECIFICS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED, WHICH MAY INCLUDE REVIEWING THEIR BODY CAM VIDEOS, LOOKING AT THE REPORTS. BECAUSE OF SO MANY ENCOUNTERS THAT THEY HAVE DAILY, IT CAN BE VERY DIFFICULT TO REMEMBER WITHOUT DOING SOME KIND OF REFRESHER PRIOR TO THAT CASE. AND SO HAVING A COUPLE HOURS TO DO IT AS SOMEONE THAT ALSO REGULARLY PREPARES, IT CAN TAKE A LOT OF TIME, BUT IT CAN ALSO JUST TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF TIME IN PROVIDING THE AMOUNT OF HOURS MORE OFTEN THAN NOT COMPENSATES THEM FOR THAT. BUT IN MANY CASES, THEY MIGHT BE AT THE TIME ON THE DAY WAITING, WAITING, WAITING, AND THEN IT GETS CANCELED AFTER THEY'VE ALREADY BEEN THERE. SO THEY COULD BE SITTING AT THAT COURTHOUSE FOR HOWEVER LONG IT TAKES TO GET THROUGH THE FULL CALENDAR BEFORE THEY REALIZE THAT THEY DON'T EVEN NEED TO APPEAR OR SPEAK.

Sorry, thank you Is it is this typically how it works that the the police department takes on the cost of having to appear in court? Are there other cities that and I can research this on my own?

But I'm curious if you know other cities that the court system pays No, it's typically the cost of the employer of whoever's coming to testify So if it's LPD, it would be the Louisville Police Department if it was a sheriff deputy or ISP It would be their employing agency. Okay, so and you know our officers do devote a lot of time to TO COURT AND THEIR REGULAR CASELOAD, SO RECOGNIZING THEM FOR THAT EFFORT IS APPROPRIATE.

THANK YOU. I THOUGHT THEY WERE LETTING YOU OFF BECAUSE THEY'RE NICE.

THEY JUST DON'T WANT TO GO TO COURT. I GUESS I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE PARAGRAPH. IT'S SECTION H.

In what article?

Sorry. In what article? Wages?

There's a line out, it said B in there, but basically it says full-time sworn personnel who are assigned to positions other than patrol sections WILL RECEIVE ASSIGNMENT COMPENSATION IN ADDITION TO THEIR BASE WAGE. THE AMOUNT OF COMPENSATION WILL BE 6% FOR INVESTIGATION SECTION OFFICERS AND 5% FOR OTHER OFFICERS. OF THEIR BASE, MIGHT KIND OF CUT OFF WAGE DURING SET ASSIGNMENT AND WILL ONLY BE IN EFFECT DURING THE ACTUAL ASSIGNMENT. AND THEN THERE'S A PERIOD SPECIALTY COMPENSATION SHALL NOT BE PAID TO officers on compensation. So once you get, say you get the 5% other than patrol, everything else is in addition to that then too? So if you're training it a little more?

Yeah, so basically what that means is that there's a specialty assignment that could be a school resource officer, that could be our admin sergeant, um, It could be investigations. In this case, they asked for an increase to investigations, which is where the 6% instead of 5% comes in. But yes, they would receive it on top of their base pay for all their hours worked, with the exception of if they were out on an extended workers' comp or extended sick leave. They have to be doing the assignment. So if they're no longer a school resource officer or they're no longer in investigations, they wouldn't receive it. I AM LOOKING FOR AN APPROVAL ON THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING DEFREMENT. I DIDN'T KNOW THE DIRECTION. MR. MAYOR.

COUNCILOR WRIGHT.

WHAT WAS THE CHALLENGE AROUND COMING TO AN AGREEMENT ON ONLY OVERTIME WITH HOURS WORKED?

WELL, WE CAN ASK THE UNION, BUT I THINK PART OF IT WAS THE INCENTIVE TO WORK THE OVERTIME AND THE CHALLENGE BEING THAT IF YOU'RE NOT, IF YOU'RE JUST PAYING FOR HOURS WORKED BECAUSE THEY HAD A VACATION THAT DAY, THERE ISN'T THAT INCENTIVE TO COME IN FOR THE OVERTIME.

ALL RIGHT. THANKS. I GUESS WE'LL FOLLOW ONTO THAT THEN. SO ALL OTHER CITY EMPLOYEES, IT'S OUR WORK, CORRECT?

CORRECT, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF FIRE.

YOU TAKE AS MUCH TIME AS YOU NEED. I'M GOING TO WAIT. ALL QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED. AFTER THAT, I WOULD ENTERTAIN A MOTION.

I'D LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT WITH PATERNAL WORD OF POLICE LEWIS CLARK LODGE NUMBER 10 AND AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR TO SIGN THE AGREEMENT.

SECOND. MOVED BY COUNCILOR MORRIS, SECOND BY COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLEAVER, TO APPROVE THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT WITH PATERNAL WORD OF POLICE LEWIS CLARK LODGE NUMBER 10 AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN THE AGREEMENT. Is there further discussion? Councilor Spicklemeyer.

I guess for me, just an explanation, I'm really hard lying on the 40 hours work. It's just with the other contracts, I was in the same place, so I'm going to have to stick with that. I just believe it's the right thing to do with the rest of our employees are doing, and I think that's, I'm just going to stick with the 40 hours work.

I just wanted to say that I'm at the same place that Councilor Spickelmeyer is at with the 40 hours worked.

And just to add on to it, I was able to watch three of the different videos, and I think that Negotiations that came a long ways from the first ones to your final ones on my thing both sides did a great job And I know that the fire department gave up a lot of stuff or sorry police department, but I Just want to appreciate it what you guys did it just didn't get past some of the things. I just have a hard line on So Maury a personal rebuttal to

that from personal experience, whenever we have accumulated guaranteed time off, that's our time that we've earned. And to be forced to work on days that you have off, time that you have planned with family, any of that stuff, I believe should be fairly compensated and should count and would be right to count towards the 40 hours work. Because those are hours that you've earned and you're choosing to spend them to take time with your family. So that's where I agree with that it does count towards that which worked. And that's just personal experience because I'm due for another 16 today. So it's one thing to look at it from the outside, and another thing to And I'm not saying that the police department and the police officers are being abused, but whenever you feel abused by your employer, every little bit counts and every little bit makes a difference. And I think that that's money well spent. Overtime is the cheapest labor to pay because all of your built-in is there. You're only paying that extra 50%. So to me, I think that this is a value to the city. OFFICERS TO SAY, YES, I WILL COME IN AND WORK THE OVERTIME, INSTEAD OF HAVING TO ADD ADDITIONAL RESOURCES, ADDITIONAL OFFICERS. AND THAT'S WHERE I STAND ON THAT. SO.

MAYOR. COUNCILOR FORESTMAN. I HAVE, I KEPT, I'M ON THE MIDDLE LINE, I'LL SAY. I AGREE WITH COUNCILOR SPICKENMEYER AND UNDERSTAND COUNCILOR KLEIN'S CONCERN WITH THE 40 HOURS. A LOT OF COMPANIES, THAT IS THEIR MODEL. Because it's not a part of your 40 hours work, but I also being working in manufacturing and being put on overtime and when someone has taken that time off in the middle of the week and then they ask if they want to come in on Saturday, most of the time it's a no. I'm not going to get overtime. So what's the point of coming in? So we do see a lot of people not sign up for that. And then so many people don't sign up for it. Then it becomes mandatory. And then it becomes mandatory so long. Then morale starts to hit because now they're being forced to come in and not really given a choice either way. So I have seen that hit morale really hard or just not get employees willing to step up. So I do see the sentiment where what way do they have to try to incentivize employees to come in and put that extra time in or take that time away that they were going to put into go camping with their family members or take that much needed time to reset. So I can see that concern there. I think in future negotiations, I'd like to see maybe more creative ways of trying to do that, but I think at this time... WE WERE ABLE TO NEGOTIATE ON OTHER REALLY IMPORTANT THINGS THAT WE WANTED, LIKE THE RIGHT TO WORK AND EVERYTHING THAT SEEMS LIKE A FAIR TRADE-OFF, AND I SEE THEIR REASONING BEHIND IT.

AND TO BE FAIR, WE DID HAVE CONVERSATIONS RELATED TO MAYBE NOT HAVING IT BE VACATION SICK, HOLIDAY AND COMP. MAYBE ONLY SICK LEAVE WOULD COUNT TOWARDS IT, maybe sick leave and holidays, something like that would count towards it, excluding vacation because that's a personal choice. But ultimately, it was a very important thing for the union to maintain.

I guess, and great explanation to making me think, but then again, for us, is it fair to the rest of the city employees that they're on 40 hours work? And I know the last union negotiation we worked on, we hard-lined this 40 hours work. So that's kind of, you know, is it good for one and not for the others? It's just a question.

Mayor. Counselor. I'm trying to remember in my recessive memories. But as far as those that really put in a lot of overtime, if I remember correctly, majority of that would have been kind of like our public works, street workers that put in a lot of overtime. Obviously, fire puts in a lot of overtime and police. But beyond that, it wasn't really a lot of other people that it really applies to. Is that?

Yeah, I mean, you're going to have your water, wastewater call outs and extension of days, traffic. for accidents and things like that that would call overtime. And I think that's why it was such a big conversation within the AFSCME contract last time. But, yeah, your most is going to be within public works, fire, police. I think that would be fair to say that.

I'll throw something else out there, too. I don't have the budget memorized, but the police department, like all departments, has a budget that they can't exceed. AND YOU DO BUDGET OVERTIME IN THAT BUDGET, WHICH WOULD INCLUDE THIS TYPE OF OVERTIME. SO IT'S NOT JUST A MATTER OF SAYING, WELL, LET'S STICK TO THE 40 HOURS AT THIS L.A. DEFINITION. WE HAVE OVERTIME, AND SOMETIMES IT'S UNPREDICTABLE HOW THAT OVERTIME IS GOING TO BE SPENT. AND I KNOW THAT, BUT FROM A BUDGET STANDPOINT, AND I'M SENSITIVE TO THE BUDGET, WE'RE GOING TO GET INTO THAT, NOT TODAY. BUT WE HAVE INCLUDED THAT IN OUR BUDGET, THIS BUDGET AND PRIOR BUDGETS. AND I THINK IF WE WERE TO COMMENT ON THAT, IT'S ACCURATE TO SAY THAT CHIEF KUZICK HAS STAYED UNDER BUDGET AND HAS MANAGED THAT. SO AND THIS WOULD ALL BE BUILT INTO THAT. THIS WOULD BE INCLUDED IN THAT.

I THINK BUDGETARILY YOU HAVE TO THINK ABOUT IF SOMEBODY IS OUT ON VACATION, YOU'RE PAYING THAT EMPLOYEE TO BE ON VACATION, BUT YOU'RE ALSO PAYING SOMEBODY OVERTIME. TO COME IN. SO YOU KIND OF HAVE A DOUBLE EXPENSE THERE.

COUNSELOR FORSMAN.

I'VE BEEN A BIG PERSON TO SAY THIS, BUT I DO STRUGGLE A LITTLE BIT SOMETIMES, AND I WILL SAY THIS FOR ACROSS THE BOARD BECAUSE WE HAVE A PLAY HANDBOOK THAT APPLIES TO A BROAD RANGE OF PEOPLE THAT DO SO MANY DIFFERENT TASKS AND WORK. It does make it hard to compare them, though. And I think that's where I struggle a little bit. I don't know what the life of police officers over time looks like and how often they're being called and not called in versus, like, another group that has to get called in over time. Is it a fair assumption that they... ARE BEING CALLED IN THE SAME OR IS IT LESS ONE GROUP IS GETTING SIGNIFICANTLY LESS OVER TIME OR SIGNIFICANTLY LESS TIME THAT THEY HAVE TO GET CALLED IN VERSUS LIKE OUR POLICE. I KNOW OUR POLICE ARE NOT FULLY STAFFED AND THEY'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET THERE AND THEY HAVE YET TO BE ABLE TO GET THERE. I DON'T KNOW ABOUT OUR PUBLIC WORK, SO I WON'T SAY OUR TRUTHS. I'M NOT SURE WHERE WE'RE STAFFED ON THAT, BUT IT MIGHT BE SOMETHING CONSIDERED TO TWO. WHAT ARE WE LOOKING AT AS FAR AS WHAT ONE'S WORLD LOOKS LIKE VERSUS THE OTHER PERSON'S WORLD LOOK LIKE?

COUNSELORS, IF THERE'S NO MORE QUESTIONS.

DO YOU GUYS WANT A FURTHER CLARIFICATION FROM THE FOP ON 40 HOURS AND HOW THEY FEEL ABOUT IT?

WOULD YOU LIKE TO HEAR FROM THE FOP, COUNSELOR?

SURE. PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF FOR THE RECORD. THANK YOU. I'M OFFICER KENEGIE, LOUISON POLICE. I'M ALSO A FIELD TRAINING OFFICER. I know the 40-hour work week has been kind of back and forth and being on the negotiating team. And more recently, going kind of through this experience with staffing officers, we have minimum staffing that we have to meet per our negotiation contract for certain hours of the day. Day shift, you have to have more officers on the road. Along with Swing Ship and then Graveyard, I think there's one less officer. This last week, I was on vacation for a week. One of our other officers got married down in Louisiana. So I was in Louisiana on vacation. I was a groomsman in his wedding. Speaking further on that, while I was on vacation, one of our other officers had to pick up a significant amount of overtime, which happened to be our FOP president, Officer Rigney. Did you work 14 straight days? 12. 12. 12 straight days. That's a lot. He's got four kids. I have a newborn son myself, and I know that I myself pick up a ton of overtime. I do. I have a 10-month, or I guess he's 11 months now. I cherish that time. But I also know that the city counts on police officers filling those seats. And when we have that incentivization of saying, hey, you know, yeah, I'm taking time away from my family, but I did just take vacation, that makes me rethink coming in. something that we were to lose my time with my family is way more valuable and I know that morale will hit our officers That's really all I have to say on it. I know that it's been a hard line, but this is something that we cherish because the people that we put in those seats that choose to be in those overtime slots want to be there. That's what allows us, even when we are short-staffed like we are right now, keeps the morale in our PD up. And that's why we're so... persistent on keeping this. So just wanted to give you a little insight of just the last two weeks because my next six weeks I have a stretch at the end of August where I work based on training new officers and going to SWAT training. I'm on the SWAT team as well. I think it's 13 straight days that I And there's no ifs, ands, or buts because we have those minimum seats. And I would not be able to take any vacation or overtime if we were to lose that. Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Thank you. Any questions? I'll read the motion one more time. Moved by Councillor Morey. Moved to approve by Councillor Morey. Seconded by Councillor Preston-Cleaver. ORDER OF POLICE, LEWIS CLARK LODGE NUMBER 10, AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN THE AGREEMENT. AND I'M GOING TO ASK CLARK ROCKY TO CALL THE ROLL.

COUNCIL PRESIDENT KLEEBERG.

AYE.

COUNCILOR SPICKELMEYER.

AYE.

COUNCILOR WRIGHT. NO. COUNCILOR MORI. AYE. COUNCILOR KLEIN.

NAY.

THE BARGAINING IS NOT EASY SOMETIMES. AND IT'S REALLY BUILT ON TRUST. AND I WILL TELL YOU, COUNCIL, THAT I DIDN'T GET EVERYTHING I WANTED. AND THE OFFICERS WILL TELL YOU THAT. BUT WE JUST TRY TO DO THE BEST WE CAN AND MOVE FORWARD WITH THAT. AND SO THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK SERVING US. AND COUNCIL, THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION OF THIS. Council, next up we have item B, resolution 2026-34, considering repealing and replacing the City of Lewiston's purchasing policy. This is an action item, and our finance director, Amy Gordon, is with us here today. Welcome, Amy.

Good afternoon, Amy Gordon, finance director. This is our annual update to our purchasing policy. We've updated it annually for the past several years. We... INCLUDED IN YOUR AGENDA ITEM HISTORY WAS A SUMMARY OF THE CHANGES. WE DIDN'T MAKE ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES THIS YEAR. IT'S PRIMARILY HOUSEKEEPING. WE ADDED SOME ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE FOR CLARITY. AND THEN WE ADDED SOME ADDITIONAL INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS REGARDING CYBER INSURANCE AS WELL AS PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY INSURANCE. THE REASON WE'RE BRINGING IT TO YOU TODAY DURING A WORK SESSION RATHER THAN TO ONE OF YOUR EVENING MEETINGS IS WE'RE TRYING TO EASE THE BURDEN OFF OF YOU FOR NEXT MONDAY NIGHT BECAUSE IT WAS FULL AGENDA, BUT IT ALSO GIVES ME AN OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE OUR PURCHASING STAFF HERE WITH US TODAY WHILE YOU CONSIDER THE UPDATES TO THE POLICY. THESE POLICY REWRITES ARE DONE BY OUR FINANCIAL SERVICES MANAGER, DEB LEWIS. SHE PUTS A LOT OF TIME INTO MAKING CERTAIN THAT THE POLICY STAYS UPDATED, COMPLIANT TO STATE CODE. WE ALSO HAVE WITH US TODAY CANDY MCCARG, WHO'S OUR PURCHASING COORDINATOR FOR THE CITY OF WISCONSIN. SO I'M SURE COUNCIL'S AWARE EVERY TIME WE GO THROUGH A PROCUREMENT PROCESS, THEY CAN BE LENGTHY, QUITE INVOLVED, AND WE TYPICALLY HAVE, IF NOT DEB, CANDY INVOLVED IN THOSE PROCESSES. THEY AID THE DEPARTMENT THROUGH THE PROCESS, ENSURE THAT IT'S COMPLIANT TO CITY POLICY, AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE JENNA NICHOLSON, OUR PURCHASING ASSISTANT. SHE'S THE ONE WHO GETS TO REVIEW ALL THE REQUISITIONS AND MAKES SURE THAT THEY'RE COMPLIANT TO THE PURCHASING POLICY AS WELL AS OTHER FINANCIAL POLICIES WE HAVE AT THE CITY. THE REASON WE BRING IT TO COUNCIL IS THIS IS A FORMAL POLICY THAT'S APPROVED BY COUNCIL. SO WHEN WE NEED UPDATES TO IT, WE BRING THOSE UPDATES TO YOU TO APPROVE, AND THAT KEEPS OUR PURCHASING AND PERFORMANCE AND COMPLIANCE OF STATE CODE AS WELL AS PROVIDES THE DEPARTMENTS THE AVENUE TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THEIR SERVICES.

I'M NOT BIASED OR ANYTHING, BUT I THINK WE HAVE THE BEST PURCHASING TEAM I'M NOT SURE ANYBODY CAN SEE YOU HIDING BEHIND THE OFFICERS. WE HAVE ALL YOUR POLICEMEN WHO ARE COVERING YOU, BUT IF YOU PLEASE STAND SO THEY KNOW WHO YOU ARE, PLEASE. THANK YOU. JEN IN BLACK, CANDY IN WHITE, AND DEVON WHITE ALSO. BUT THANK YOU. YOU GUYS DO A WONDERFUL JOB FOR US. I APPRECIATE EVERYTHING THAT YOU DO AND FOR KEEPING THIS POLICY UP TO DATE. COUNCIL, VERY IMPORTANT. I think we need to do that.

I have a question. Yes, Councillor. And I'll be honest, I didn't read it all. I'm just curious, when we have different things like we're on the surplus or maybe they're still there, all those computers, we can't donate them to something? I know like when I do my taxes, you get money off if you donate it to something, a laptop or whatever. We have to always surplus them and sell them? DONATION?

WE DON'T HAVE TO. WE HAVE COUNCIL SURPLUS AN ITEM, AND THEN AT THAT POINT OUR PURCHASING DIVISION GETS TO DETERMINE THE BEST WAY TO DISPOSE OF THE ITEM. I DON'T KNOW WHY WE DON'T DONATE COMPUTERS, BUT MY GUESS IS THE I.T. MANAGER HAS LOOKED INTO THAT, AND THEY'VE DETERMINED THAT THEY'RE EITHER NOT WANTED OR I CAN'T ANSWER THAT QUESTION. but we can follow up with you on that.

Maybe what's on the hard drive or something.

An average lifespan of computers.

So didn't we, a couple years back or something, donate a vehicle to the airport? Like a pickup or something like that, or a truck, I remember something like that.

We do occasionally donate. Usually when we donate, it will be to another municipality or another local government. We've donated some lighting at one of the ball fields. We've donated... SOME OTHER VEHICLES. I KNOW THE FIRE DEPARTMENT HAS DONATED THEIR HOSES OFF THEIR FIRE ENGINES TO LOCAL FIRE DEPARTMENTS.

THANK YOU.

YOU'RE WELCOME. I WAS JUST WONDERING WHY THE PROFESSIONAL DESIGN SERVICES ARE COUNCIL APPROVED OVER 100,000, BUT EVERYTHING ELSE SEEMS TO BE OVER 250,000.

IT'S CONSISTENT TO WHAT STATE CODE'S THRESHOLDS ARE. THAT'S ANOTHER REASON WHY WE BRING IT TO YOU THIS TIME OF YEAR, IS IT'S RIGHT AFTER THE NEW, ANY UPDATES TO THE STATE CODE HAS GONE INTO PLACE ON JULY 1ST, THEN WE COME BEHIND THAT AND WE UPDATE OUR PURCHASING POLICY AND ACCORD US TO ANY CHANGES THAT THERE MIGHT HAVE BEEN. BUT ALL OF OUR APPROVAL THRESHOLDS ARE CONSISTENT TO WHAT THE STATE CODE IS. IF OUR POLICY CAN BE DIFFERENT THAN THE STATE CODE, IF OUR POLICY IS DIFFERENT, THEN WE FOLLOW THE STRICTER OF THE TWO. SO IF THERE'S A CHANGE IN STATE STATUTE THAT IS STRICTER THAN WHAT OUR POLICY IS, WE WOULD FOLLOW STATE STATUTE. VICE VERSA, IF OUR POLICY WAS STRICTER THAN STATE STATUTE, WE WOULD FOLLOW OUR POLICY.

SORRY, JUST TO CLARIFY. THAT, THOUGH, RIGHT? OR BELOW. CAN WE GO BELOW OR CAN WE GO EITHER WAY? CAN WE GO ABOVE THE THRESHOLD OR BELOW THE CURRENT STATE THRESHOLD?

IF THE STATE REQUIRED COUNCIL APPROVAL AT 100,000 AND YOU SAID, WELL, WE WANT TO INCREASE IT TO 150, WE WOULD STILL FALL TO 100,000 BECAUSE THAT'S THE STRICTER OF THE TWO POLICIES. I SEE. We could make it stricter. It would be pointless to make it less strict. Okay.

That's all right. Thank you. In the section where it's talking about bid splitting and avoidance of competitive bidding and procurement, When we're getting a software license, what's our thought process when we go through that? Do we look at it as we want to buy this and we know we're going to have it for five years, so what's the total amount for five years? Or what's the total amount for one year? How do we think about stuff like that?

I'm going to phone a friend on this one. I know all their contracts that we have for software, they have annuals. Fees and I'm and those are wire appropriation of funds so we didn't appropriate the funds next year the contract would be void but Candy answer this I don't know if we have any of X didn't be on the year Coordinator so if understand your question correctly you're asking about

the procurement process for one year versus a five-year contract on software?

Well, if we're, I can give an example. So let's say we're looking at a chat system and we're trying to decide do we want to purchase with Teams, Microsoft Teams, or do we want to purchase with like a Google product or Slack or something like that for our instant chat system. And we know that it costs maybe $10,000 a year or $5,000 a year, whatever the threshold is here. But if we know once we buy it, we're going to have this for at least the next five years. Do we look at the total for how long we think we're going to keep this when we decide if we need to do competitive bidding? Or do we look at just what it costs annually? For this year.

It depends on how the contract's written. So if we're doing a one-year contract, it's based on one year. If it's one year with the option to renew for four because there is a non-appropriation of funds in Idaho. So we can only appropriate funds for one year. Generally, it's just based on the one year. So if it's $100,000, then that's what we're looking at. If it's $100,000 a year, but we are a one-year contract with the option to renew for four years, we're still only looking at the one year. IF WE'RE GOING TO PAY FOR SEVERAL YEARS IN ADVANCE, THEN THE CONTRACT PROBABLY SAYS SOMETHING DIFFERENT, AND THEN WE WOULD LOOK AT THAT TOTAL.

I WAS JUST CURIOUS MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, BUT IT SEEMED LIKE A SCENARIO WHERE IT, YOU KNOW. NO, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.

IT JUST DEPENDS ON HOW THE CONTRACT'S WRITTEN.

OKAY.

THANK YOU. YOU HAVE RESOLUTION 2026-34 BEFORE YOU.

MOTION TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 2026-34.

IT'S BEEN MOVED BY COUNCILOR CLUNK, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR FORCEMAN TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 2026-34. THOSE IN FAVOR, PLEASE SIGNIFY BY SAYING AYE. OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES. THANK YOU, COUNCIL. THANK YOU, PURCHASING DIVISION. IT'S GREAT TO SEE YOU. OUR NEXT ITEM IS POLICE DEPARTMENT'S K-9 UNIT UPDATE. RECEIVE AN UPDATE ON THE CITY OF LOUISON'S POLICE DEPARTMENT K-9 PROGRAM AS REQUESTED BY COUNSELOR JOHN SPICKELMEIER AT THE JULY 13, 2026 MEETING. COUNSELOR, I'M GOING TO TURN THIS OVER TO YOU. IF YOU'D LIKE TO CALL ANYONE FORWARD OR ANYTHING.

HOPEFULLY HAVE AN UPDATE FROM THE CHIEF. AND I GUESS MY CONCERN WAS THAT WE HAD LOST OUR LAST K-9 AND KIND OF MAKES A CONCERN IN MY MIND. I THINK IT'S AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT. SO, CHIEF, IF YOU HAVE AN UPDATE. YES, CHIEF OF POLICE.

I'LL GIVE YOU A LITTLE MORE NUANCED. I CAN ANSWER THE OVERARCHING QUESTION, YEAH, BUT FOR REALLY A GREAT OVERVIEW OF THE PROGRAM, I'M CALLING UP CAPTAIN CHRIS REESE, WHO'S ACTUALLY THE CANINE COMMANDER. Yes, we did lose one to resignation recently. My intent is I am going to back for that position. We've also had four resignations in about the last week, the last six weeks, one of them including the canine officer. So we are strained with staffing. Um, so I'm going to have to build up capacity again, uh, until I get to a point where I'm comfortable having that second position filled. So it's just going to remain vacant until we get to that spot. It's not lack of intent on my part. It's, I'd actually grow it even more. I'd love to have even a third canine eventually, but, uh, we get a lot of return on investment on that position. So, um, I'll let Captain respond kind of the details. He's got some statistics as far as a number of stops and narcotics and things like that. But yeah, it was, it was unfortunate, but you know, it's just, it's life.

Is it difficult to find officers that want to be a K-9 officer?

I don't think so. No, I think we always have several people that have applied the two times we've gone through testing process. We've had more than one officer. So I don't think it's a difficult recruitment. It's just more capability and capacity within the department right now. Captain Reese.

Introduce yourself for the record. Thank you. Chris Reese, some of the field operations and investigations captain. So, yeah, we're going to talk about puppies. So, you know, it's kind of difficult topics the previous one. So just real quick to answer your question. Yeah, we do have several officers that are interested. It's just really finding the right one because it is such a specialty role. There's a lot of commitment. A lot of hard work and dedication that goes with that. So just because someone is interested in it, you really have to have the right fit. So it's not about finding who's wanting to do it. It's if they have the ability and the assets and attributes that we're looking for. But yeah, I was asked to give a brief update on our K-9 program. Currently, our K-9 program is strictly dedicated to narcotic detection. We currently are staffed for two canines and canine handlers, but as Chief Cusick mentioned, we did retire our last canine upon the resignation of the previous canine handler. She had met her end of service life. Currently, we have one Narcotics Detection Canine, Canine Quincy. If you guys have met Quincy yet, he's about a three-year-old black lab. Currently, Canine Officer Vanover is Quincy Sandler. They're state certified to locate the odors that emanate from methamphetamines, heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and fentanyl. To maintain their certification, they have to complete about 192 annual hours of training. as well as an annual certification process, and that's to ensure that we get the highest level of training as well as the proficiency that we can get out of our canine teams. In fact, Idaho has one of the most strictest canine certification in the entire nation. So Idaho's a very pro-canine state. We're trying to keep it that way. So far this year, our canine teams They've been deployed approximately 110 times, and that's resulted in the seizure of methamphetamines, cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, as well as marijuana. They've also led to investigations for the recovery of stolen property, the apprehension of wanted felons, the seizure of firearms by those who are prohibited from possessing firearms, as well as the forfeiture of vehicles and currency connected to criminal activity. So not only do we assist our own narcotic investigators, but we also assist a lot of our partnering agencies, such as Clarkson, PDS, Hilton County, ISP, Quad C Threat Task Force, the North Idaho Violent Crimes Task Force, FBI, just to name a few. Our own narcotic investigators have made it very clear that without our canine program, their job would be a lot more difficult. as far as drug investigations, contacting confidential informants, developing information that leads to bigger drug seizures. Drug abuse continues to be a driving factor by many of the crimes we investigate. A lot of our property crimes, our thefts, our burglaries, even a lot of our violent crimes, they are directly attributed to our drug issues here in the Valley. So by proactively locating illegal narcotics, our K-9 program helps reduce crime, improve public safety, and just overall improve the quality of living for the Liston. Simply put, our K-9 program is one of the most proactive tools that we have in law enforcement. Not only helps prevent dangerous drugs in our community, but also supports broader criminal investigations, strengthens our partnership with neighboring agencies, and hopefully makes the Liston a very much safer place to live. So I was very proud of our K-9 program, being a part of it for the last 15 years now. WE'RE THRIVING. AS KEITH KUZICK SAID, YEAH, OUR ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO REPLACE THE SECOND K-9 WHEN WE GET THOSE NUMBERS UP AND HOPEFULLY CONTINUE TO GROW FROM THERE.

AND ONE QUICK OPPORTUNITY. I'M SORRY. Every said actually structured the program to when we have the two canines. Yeah. Rotating. So one was a full time can officers worked on a modified schedule. Then the officer was plugged into it as a patrol officer to fill the patrol role. And then they had to cycle around. So each one got times a full time. That could help allow them to get the training hours in. be fully available for every canine needs, but then we'd still have one officer kind of like on the bench, still could work, still could call out, could still help out, but they filled a patrol capacity as well. But it was kind of a rotating system. It was really working well. So again, that's kind of how it's structured for our program right now.

So either one. So you said we're budgeted for two canine units. Is that what you said? Yes. So what does it, curious, what does a canine cost? What's it cost a city to have a canine?

The average cost for a green dog, meaning a dog that does not have any training, maybe they've been imprinted on the drug odor, is between $5,500 to $6,500. For a fully trained canine, you're looking at in excess of $10,000 easily.

But what we see, some costs now, is that Captain Reese went through the certification, so he's now a post-certified canine trainer. So instead of having to send our officers additional costs for training, we can do it in-house now.

How many does the county have? Do they have any canines? I know they did it at one time.

The county currently has one operational canine. They have one? Okay.

I will note, with our just previous conversation, Correct me if I'm wrong, but I know when I first had taken my ride along, you were the only K-9 officer. So if a K-9 is needed, they either maybe can get a hold of the county if that K-9 is available, or Mr. Reese here would have been the one that has to take calls at all hours of the night to respond to that. So it is quite the ordeal.

We've actually been very fortunate, like Chief Guzik said, We added a second canine here not too long ago. I had tried that for 15 years because I was the only canine handler in the area. And so I was going all the way up to Pullman. I was going to Moscow. I was kind of getting running ragged as far as the canine call outs go. And then when he came on board, he definitely saw the need. And through some grant funding, we were able to secure that second canine, canine Quincy. We're more fortunate now where we're seeing more and more canines throughout the area. So Nesquik County, they've only had their dog for about the past two years. ISP has had their canine here locally for several years now. Valeta has acquired a dog. Clarkson PD is now running a canine program. So agencies are Securing the funding and seeing the need and they're and they're making it happen. But as Lewiston being the biggest agency, you know within 140 miles a year. We definitely see the need for more than one dog, you know multiple dogs Definitely definitely the need

What is the criteria for retirement for the dogs? Is it helping? Is it a certain amount of years?

For direct detection canines, it's primarily the health. You know, because these dogs, they're very high drive dogs, so they don't make good family pets. So they're jumping, they're running, they're just high energy, go, go, go, go, go. So the wear and tear on hips, the wear and tear on just overall health, tends to come a little bit quicker than just an average family pet. And so their health or safety is always paramount. So when it gets to that time where we see the decline in the health, we obviously want to think about quality of life versus keeping the dog up and running just to meet our needs. It's really about the canine at that point in time. So health is the number one thing that we look for when it comes to retirement.

What's the average we usually get out of a canine dog?

Drug detection canines, we can usually get between six to eight years, depending on the health. Okay. Depending on the health. But, you know, one of my dogs, my very first dog, canine Lucy, I think you were with Lucy, we had her for just under five years because she started having seizures. You know, unfortunately, they get health issues, they get cancer, just like we do. You know, we can't predict the future when it comes to that stuff. But our other dog, Marta, that I ran, we had her for almost nine years. Okay.

Councilor? Yeah, this might get more into the legal side of it, but I'm curious, when it comes to a canine during some sort of a stop, does there have to be probable cause? The police officer has to identify probable cause before bringing in the dog, the canine, or is the canine the means to get probable cause?

That's a really good question. So in order for the canine to be deployed around the vehicles, called a freer SNF, The officer who made that traffic stop or the canine officer who made that traffic stop, they just have to have a nexus to drug activity. So it could be someone's prior history. It could be indicators that they're seeing. More than likely, it's going to be indicators that they see on the driver around the vehicle. Maybe they have information that this person might be dealing drugs from our task force people. But they just need a nexus. the canine alerts, with the canine alerts on the vehicle for the odors of narcotics, that's the probable cause that gets officers or law enforcement to do a probable cause search on the vehicle.

Gotcha. Okay.

Thank you.

No, thank you very much.

Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. finish up here. I would like the officers if you could just take a minute and just, I don't know how familiar the counselors are with the city, but just very briefly explain what your role is in the police department so that we can understand maybe some of the different things going on. I appreciate you being here.

I want to start off, Mr. President.

Officer Josh Rigney, I am one of the field training officers as well as being the athlete

over four years.

Prior to that I worked for the tribe for I'm also on a SWAT team.

Thank you. I didn't mind you. I'm Officer Knigge. I'm also a field training officer. I'm one of our TASER instructors. I'm also on the SWAT team. And before LPD, I didn't have any law enforcement background. But my wife is from the Valley. I'm from Idaho. I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon, so.

Jason Marchetti. I'm also a field training officer. I started with the Nez Perce Tribal Police like Officer Rigney. I'm also on the major crash team. So any serious vehicle accidents that we have here in the valley, I respond to to help with that investigation, be it serious injury or death. I also am part of the negotiations, hostage negotiations team. ASSIST WITH ANY HOSTAGE NEGOTIATING AND TALKING WITH THE SUSPECTS AND TRYING TO FIND A SAFE RESOLUTION. I'M ALSO A TASER INSTRUCTOR. THANK YOU.

THANK YOU ALL.

You guys got a hard road to hold, and I don't know how you do it some days, but I do thank you. Josh, you've been through the wringer, so I'm glad to have you here instead of at the tribe. Thank you all for the efforts that you put forth in the negotiations. Y'ALL VERY MUCH FOR YOUR SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY, GIVING US A GOOD PLACE TO LIVE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT.

OKAY, COUNCIL, NEXT WE MOVE TO RULE NUMBER FIVE, UNFINISHED AND NEW BUSINESS. ITEM A, CITY COUNCILOR COMMENTS. COMMENTS SHALL NOT BE RELATED TO AN ITEM CURRENTLY FOR THE COUNCILOR WHEN IT MAY COME FOR THE COUNCIL IN THE FORESEEVABLE FUTURE, AND SHALL BE LIMITED TO COMMENTS, NOT DISCUSSION. COUNCILORS. COUNCILOR FORESTMAN.

ALWAYS ME. THIS IS GOING TO GO FOR OUR DEPARTING FIRE CHIEF, GREG REITMEYER. I JUST WANTED TO... say it has truly been an honor to have worked alongside you. I hope you have an amazing time as you set off on this new adventure. I want to thank you sincerely for your dedicated service to Lewiston and for the time you spent helping me understand things when I needed that extra guidance. Your dedication to the fire district information process has been invaluable, and your commitment to keeping our residents safe is truly appreciated. I have no doubt that you will do amazing things and make a big impact on your new role, and congratulations, and once again, best of luck. AND I'LL GIVE MY CONGRATS TO LUCAS WHEN HE IS HERE. HE'S NOT HERE UNTIL THE 10, SO WHATEVER. COMING IN AND GOING OUT. BUT I TRULY APPRECIATE ALL THE TIME THAT I'VE HAD TO WORK WITH YOU.

THANK YOU, COUNSELOR. COMMENTS? COUNSELOR WRIGHT. WITH THE TWO TAZER INSTRUCTORS HERE, I AM CURIOUS HOW YOU DECIDE WHO GETS TAZED IN THE TRAINING. Everybody.

It's frowned on if you don't. It's not a requirement. However, both of us, we call it taking the ride. We've both been tased and it is not enjoyable.

I'll say if you do this, the Police Academy, Citizens Academy, you can do it.

Oh, I can go get tased. If you wish. I have mine. We can do it now. Great.

ANY OTHER COMMENTS?

I THOUGHT YOU WERE ON THE SCHEDULE.

ANY OTHER CITY COUNCIL COMMENTS? OTHER THAN COUNCILOR WRIGHT, WHO JUST BACKED OUT OF THIS. NEXT UP, ITP CITY BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, LIAISON UPDATES. ANY UPDATES TO THE COUNCIL? NOT YET. NOT YET. ALL RIGHT. MAYOR TRUMP, I'M GOING TO SHARE ONE WITH YOU THAT I RECEIVED TODAY. I MEAN, IT'S KIND OF A HERE AND JUST WANTED TO LET ME JUST READ IT TO YOU. IT SAYS, DEAR MAYOR JOHNSON, THE 1 AUGUST, 2026 SPOKANE FIRE COULD EASILY HAPPEN HERE AND THE CITY OF LOUISON SHOULD ENFORCE CLEAN AND SAFE YARDS IN PLACE OF DEAD TREES, BRUSHES AND FLAMMABLE GARBAGE WITH NO OUTSIDE WATER. AND THEN HE SAYS THERE'S NO EXCUSE FOR THIS NEGLECT AND RISK AND MY CITY DOES NOTHING. I'VE TOLD YOU THIS BEFORE, I HESITATE TO REPEATLY CONTACT YOU, BUT I DON'T WANT TO BURN. SO JUST A REMINDER TO ALL OF US, AND WE WORK WITH OUR CODE ENFORCEMENT, TOO. I KNOW THAT LPD IS ON THE WATCH AND FIRE DEPARTMENT IS ON THE WATCH, BUT IF WE SEE UNSAFE CONDITIONS OUT THERE, CERTAINLY REPORT THEM TO THE CITY AND WE CAN VISIT WITH OUR FRIENDS, OUR NEIGHBORS. BUT IT IS A GOOD PIECE OF ADVICE. All right. Item D, agenda topics. Councilors.

Mayor.

Councilor Forsman.

I would like to add to the October 5th. Since January now, I have been meeting with all the fire chiefs around the area and also with Commissioner Gish and what it looks like to form fire districts and how you do that and then also whether the area that you live in is structure fire protected or what kind of fire protection you have. THIS IS PURELY INFORMATIONAL FOR THE COUNCIL TO KNOW WHERE WE'RE AT AND HOW FAR WE'VE COME AND WHAT OUR PUBLIC INITIATIVE IS GOING TO BE ON THAT BECAUSE HERE SOON WE'LL START GOING PUBLIC WITH ALL THE INFORMATION WE HAVE AND GETTING CITIZENS THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN ABOUT IT. SO I'D LIKE TO ADD THAT TO THE OCTOBER 5TH SESSION.

SECOND. SECOND. IT'S BEEN MOVED BY COUNCILOR FORESTMAN, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR SPICKLEMARK TO ADD FIRE DISTRICT. SAYING AYE. AYE.

AND JUST A NOTE, COMMISSIONER GISH AND I WILL BE PUTTING THAT INFORMATION TOGETHER TO PRESENT TO YOU GUYS.

OPPOSED. MOTION CARRIES. THANK YOU, COUNCILOR. ARE THERE FURTHER AGENDA TOPICS? OKAY. THAT MOVES US TO RULE NUMBER 6. No one wants to go home. This has been moved by Council President Kleberg, seconded by Councilor Morey, to adjourn. President Kleberg, please signify by saying aye. Aye.