The Dublin City Council discussed lowering the speed limit on West Blackjack within the city limits during a regular meeting which included several EMS and police considerations Monday night.
The meeting began with an executive session after which Juanita Torres was unanimously approved to be Dublin’s Municipal Judge at the same salary as the recently retired Judge Latrelle Cain. (Council members Darrell Curry and Lee Jones were absent.)
Dublin Police Chief Cameron Ray said the city was approached recently about dropping the speed limit on W. Blackjack from Highland to Patrick after concerns were raised about the speed of vehicles passing by houses on the road. Ray said he and his officers didn’t observe speeding but agreed that the 40 Miles per hour speed limit seemed high for the area and was out of step with the highways on the other sides of Dublin which don’t rise until much further away from town.
Since Blackjack is a state highway (Highway 6), it falls upon TxDOT to decide whether changing the speed is necessary following a study, but TxDOT asked the council to submit a vote if they are in favor of the change of lowering it to 30 to 35 miles per hour.
Ray also reported he had a petition with 104 signatures submitted by residents in favor of the change. Council members unanimously agreed to show support.
EMS Director John Tadlock asked the council members for more input about the construction of an EMS building noting that they had three locations and needed to pick one so official plans could be drawn. Previously, there had been discussions about the parking lot across from the library and Brookshire Brother’s but Tadlock said he was in favor of constructing a new building facing Grafton in the rear parking lot of city hall. Tadlock said there were benefits to having EMS, Dublin Volunteer Fire Department and Dublin PD in the same location and that the departments could share a planned training room, which could double as a community room since it will be removed from the crew’s space and offices.
Tadlock assured it is a cost-effective solution and that it will fit in the space, although the generator will have to be upgraded to cover both buildings. City Manager Bobby Mendez added that the demo of the current EMS space will result in parking spaces to replace those that will be lost.
Council members unanimously voted to pursue plans with that space in mind.
Ray also spoke to the Council about the creation of a cadet program in the interest of creating and keeping viable candidates for officers. Ray said other local agencies have had luck with the program in which the department will pay for the academy fees and training of an interested officer in exchange for an assurance that the officer will stay with the department for at least 36 months after completing the academy and 16 weeks of training.
Ray said he’s heard from some locals who would be interested and believes that they can get some quality officers who aren’t as apt to move away. He also assured that the current budget would allow for two candidates in the program. The council unanimously voted to approve the program.
Ray also addressed the purchase of a vehicle to replace the cruiser that was recently totaled after going through the rock wall at the Dublin Public Library. Ray said the department looked at several options but found that the purchase of a Charger (like the previous vehicle) would be the quickest and most costeffective. Ray said 90 percent of the equipment could be reused and that after the insurance reimbursement, the cost would only be $3,809 to get one in December. Ray also reported that the department hasn’t faced many issues with Chargers outside of some involving user error.
The council approved the purchase.
Mendez also spoke about the purchase of four Dodge pickups for the Public Works Department to replace outdated vehicles. Mendez presented several payment plans with the longest-term being five years at around $29,000 per year. Public Works Director Cory James said the vehicles would last much longer than five years, and it was noted that the newest public works truck was currently a 2008.
Mendez also noted that $35,000 was budgeted for vehicles in the program so the first payment could be applied after the vehicles were due to arrive in December/January.