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EMERGENCY SERVICES COMMITTEE

2001 Year-End Report

 The Emergency Services Committee, George Sattler (Chair), Carolyn Hayes, Bill Nasser, Norm Froman, and Jerry Raskin met regularly throughout 2001.

 To start 2001 we had three new committee members, Bill Nasser, Norm Froman, and Jerry Raskin.  Norm Froman took the place of Bill Gray who resigned after one year due to business reasons.  Norm’s term will expire at the end of 2002.  Bill Nasser and Jerry Raskin are both three-year terms (2001 through 2003).  This keeps us within the guidelines of having at least three of the five committee members with two or more years of committee experience.

 During the year 2001, the following action took place.

 ACCESS CONTROL: Several Village access control enhancements were implemented during the year. As you may have noticed all gatehouses now have signage with the name of the officer on duty at the time.  In October Emergency Services issued new residence and employee vehicle stickers.  The goal of these new stickers was two fold, first the larger and reflective stickers are easier for our officers to see allowing them to identify authorized vehicles more quickly and effectively; and second it gave us the opportunity to update our property owner database with critical information such as emergency contact numbers, vehicle information, etc. so we can provide you better service.  In addition, color-coded vehicle hanging tags are now used for contractor and temporary employees with expiration dates so access to these individuals can be better controlled.  Additional gates were installed at gates III and IV to help control tailgating and to allow officers more control of incoming traffic.  Gate I will soon have an additional resident’s lane to cut down on the stacking issue, thus providing better safety and access control.  The new lane at Gate I is still under construction, with a target date of late February 2002 for completion.  Gate 6T (located in the upper northwest portion of the Village off of Daniels Park Road) is scheduled to open within the next few weeks.  This gate is for construction traffic only and will cut down on traffic traveling through the developed portion of the village to access the new construction to the north.  Gate V, planned for the northeast portion of the Village, is scheduled to be opened in the fourth quarter of 2002. Watch future newsletters for more information.  In August a broadband wireless communication system for gates I, III, and IV was installed and tied into dispatch.  This system along with new access control software allows visitor information to be more quickly and effectively passed between dispatch and the gates.  We upgraded our radio equipment for better communications between dispatch and mobile units.  We conducted traffic counts at our gates including all residents as well as visitors and construction traffic during the month of December and found that over 2000 vehicles enter the Village during a normal business day.  This was done for future planning regarding access control issues.

HEALTH AND AWARENESS: Emergency Services purchased new automated defibrillators for the Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) to better serve the needs of the community and visitors.  In addition, automated defibrillators are located at the Canyon Club and Village Lake Fitness Center in case of emergency; the staffs at those locations were trained by Emergency Services on their use.  We are in the process of updating our Emergency Preparedness Plan, with a projected completion date of May 2002.  Emergency Services continues to use channel 8 and our website to better inform you of any emergency or safety issues.

 ANNUAL EVENTS: Emergency Services held several events throughout the year to acquaint the community with the department and its people.  Along with several other public safety organizations the department held an Open House in April.  October saw Vehicle and Traffic Safety Month, along with a pancake breakfast and a safety poster contest for Village children.  Watch for these events again in 2002.

 ADDITIONAL ISSUES ACTED UPON DURING THIS BUSY YEAR: We revised the guidelines and rules of the Emergency Services Committee, and adopted a new procedure whereby one of the Emergency Services Committee members attend the monthly meeting of the Homes Association Board on a rotation basis for the best possible communications.  The board approved a new fine structure for fineable offenses, watch your mailbox for more information. We also elected a new committee chairperson for 2002, Mr. Bill Nasser, and candidates were interviewed for a new committee person to fill an opening vacated by George Sattler the past chairperson.

 2002 GOALS: The committee will continue to explore ways to update the technology used by the Emergency Services Department, increasing  the quality of service as well as controlling  the cost of doing our business.  Issues to be explored are Emergency Services manning levels, manned and unmanned gates, EMT service, covenant enforcement, and a review of the Emergency Services Department budget on a monthly basis.

 Respectfully submitted, 

George Sattler, Chairman     

 

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