MINUTES

<= /b>

WATERTOWN POL= ICE COMMISSION

REGULAR MEETING<= /b>

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WATERTOWN POL= ICE STATION

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2008, 7:30 P= .M.

PRESENT:            =             &nb= sp;    Patricia Kropp, Secretary

        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p; Judy Sprano, Chairman

        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p; Mark Tedesco

        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p; Jack Walton

ABSENT:           &nb= sp;            =        Robert LeBlanc

OTHERS PRESENT:            Roy Cavanaugh, Director of Public Works

= ;            &n= bsp;            = ;            &n= bsp;         Herm Desena, Deputy Police Chief

        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p; John Gavallas, Police Chief

1.&nb= sp;        Convene Regular Meeting - 7:30 P.M.

&n= bsp;

Ms. Sprano, Chairman, Called the Meeting to Order at 7:30 p.m.

&n= bsp;

2.&nb= sp;        Roll Call

Ms. Sprano, Chairman, executed the Roll Call.

3.&nb= sp;        Public Participation

&= nbsp;          None

&= nbsp;          Ms. Sprano, Chairman, Closed Public Participation at this time.

=             M= OTION:       (Mr. = Tedesco, sec. Ms. Kropp) to Add Agenda Item 7B, Tamarack Energy.

&= nbsp;           Di= scussion        None

&= nbsp;          MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

Watertown Police Commission

Regular Meeting

October 8, 2008

Page 2

4.         = Minutes

            A.        Regular Meeting – September 10, 2008

            =             M= OTION:       (Ms. = Kropp, sec. Mr. Walton) to Approve the Regular Meeting Minutes of September 10, 20= 08.

            =             D= iscussion:       None<= /p>

            =             M= OTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

5.         = Correspondence

None

6.         = New Business

A.        Traffic Issues at Heminway Park Ro= ad

            Mr. Cavanaugh gave a lengthy report on the traffic issues at Heminway Park Road/Heminway Park School. The safety of the children was in question, the crossing guards were having iss= ues. Heminway Park Road leads to Echo Lake Road and Main Street, currently there is 2 way traffic on Heminway Park Road.&nb= sp; There is a no parking area designated, however people aren’t always following that direction. Parents are entering into the plaza, dropping children off in the private plaza parking lot, and the children then have to cross Heminway Park Road which creates a safety issue. There= are 2 crossing guards, but there are no crosswalks in that area. The law states that crossing guard= s are only allowed to cross children at a crosswalk.

            They discussed making Heminway = Park Road a one way street, either at all times or during certain times in the morning and afternoon when school begins and ends. They felt the best recommendation would be to convert Heminway Park Road into a one way street, 24/7, at least for the duration of Heminway being used as a school. They would install a crosswalk rig= ht here, and there would be no cars coming this way.

            A lengthy discussion ensued. It= was felt that there were no problems when this was Heminway School in the past, but now that Judson has moved to Heminway, there is a problem, just as there was a similar problem at Judson last year. It was suggested that parents must= drop off children down below instead of up at Heminway Park Road, and have the bu= sses drop off at the top instead of down below.= If the busses came into Heminway Park Road from Echo Lake, they would be able to come in and park along the curb to discharge the students, but then the problem would be exiting onto Main Street, there would only be on= e way out.

Watertown Police Commission

Regular Meeting

October 8, 2008

Page 3

            It’s more of a problem with the parents dropping off their children in a haphaza= rd manner, at their convenience, such as the plaza parking lot, on a bad corner already. The parents may not = listen to a directive from the school. It was asked if parents could be ticketed for dropping off children at the pla= za parking lot, but that is private property.

            The Police Department recommended the business owners and neighbors should be contacted for their opinion. A special meeting will be held on October 22, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. at the Watert= own Police Department. A Board of Education Representative, the Principal of Heminway Park School, the Direct= or of Public Works, a representative from the Police Department, and residents= and business owners in the area will be invited to attend to discuss the traffic and safety issues relating to student drop off.

7.         = Unfinished Business

A.&n= bsp;            = ;    Civilian Complaint Policy

Ms. Sprano reported the policy is still being reviewed.

B.         Tamarack Energy = Inc.

            Mr. Tedesco explained he called the State as a civilian citizen, not as a Commissioner, to see if the State would give Tamarack permission to take out some of that rock/ledge site line problem, at their cost, to eliminate the = site line problem and the State said absolutely, that was not a problem. If it’s a safety issue, it wouldn’t be a problem. However, he read in the Minutes of the last meeting (he was not pres= ent at that meeting) that Mr. Mirabito from Tamarack stated the State would not allow them to do that site line work.

            Mr. Walton explained Mr. Mirabito got that information from the neighbor across= the street, the Good Earth people, not the State. Ms. Kropp stated she thought Mr. M= irabito said that he also spoke to someone at the State and they told him it could happen, but he would be a very old man before it actually did happen.

            Mr. Tedesco felt the Commission was taken advantage of. He asked Mr. Cavanaugh if he fores= aw the State taking years to decide whether a site line issue could be adjusted. This Commission gave an approval on information that was not correct. Maybe Tamarack was misinformed.&nbs= p; He spoke to 2 people in the State and they both said it wouldn’= ;t be a problem to do this work, as long as it was at the property owner’= ;s expense, not the State’s expense.&nb= sp; He felt the Commission is setting a precedent with the flashing ligh= ts, and it will be very difficult to say no to the next person just because they didn’t want to do their due diligence in getting a site line requirem= ent.

            Ms. Kropp stated she had no qualms with what the Commission did.

Watertown Police Commission

Regular Meeting

October 8, 2008

Page 4

            Chief Gavallas stated Mr. Mirabito was pretty adamant about saying the neighbor w= as denied.

            Ms. Sprano felt Mr. Mirabito stated the neighbor was denied for blasting.

            Mr. Tedesco reiterated that the Commission asked Mr. Mirabito to look into this= through the State, not ask the neighbors their opinion.

            Ms. Sprano replied Mr. Mirabito did contact the State, and was told quietly the answer was no.

            Chief Gavallas felt if the neighbor next door was denied, Mr. Mirabito would be denied as well. Dealing with = the State over the phone is easy, but getting them to come through is another story.

            Ms. Kropp felt based on the information they had to work with, she felt the Commission made a good decision.

            Mr. Tedesco agreed, but what piqued his curiosity was that the State would not = give them permission. Either the S= tate lied to Mr. Tedesco, or they lied to Mr. Mirabito.

            Ms. Kropp suggested Mr. Tedesco get something from the State in wiring and they= can ask Mr. Mirabito to come to another meeting.

            Mr. Tedesco replied what was done was done, but he wanted to at least bring thi= s to the Commission’s attention.

            Ms. Sprano stated they did ask him to continue discussions with Mr. Fusco to cut trees down to increase the site line.

            Mr. Walton stated Mr. Fusco doesn’t care if the trees are taken down, but= the property will be sold eventually and the new owner may object to it.

8.         = Chairman's Report

&= nbsp;           No= ne

9.         = Chief's Report

&= nbsp;           A.=         September, 2008 - Police Department Activity

            &n= bsp;           Chi= ef Gavallas gave a report regarding the September activity in the Police Department.

Watertown Police Commission

Regular Meeting

October 8, 2008

Page 5

10.       Adjou= rnment

=            MOTION:=        (Ms. = Kropp, sec. Mr. Walton) to Adjourn the Regular Meeting at 8:15 p.m.

=             D= iscussion:       None<= /p>

=             M= OTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

=             R= egular Meeting Adjourned at 8:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Judy Sprano, Chairman

Watertown Police Commission

=

= Approved:     _________________= ______________

         = Lynn M. LaForme, Clerk