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<br />Regular City Council Minutes - 08/04/03 <br />Page 3 <br /> <br />a savings of $12,000. <br />Councilmember Schroeder asked for clarification on the <br />number and age of the existing warning sirens. <br /> <br />Lt. Rick Mathwig responded that approximately one-half <br />of the City's sirens are the original 1955 models, making <br />labor costs extension if next to impossible due to their age <br />and difficulty in finding replacement poles and equipment. <br />Lt. Mathwig estimated that the City's remaining units <br />were purchased in the late-1980's. <br /> <br />City Manager Beets responded that staff was currently <br />investigating and recommending the City having a battery <br />back-up system in case of electrical failure. <br /> <br />Councilmembers and staff continued discussions and <br />clarifications of staff proposals. <br /> <br />Discussion items included anticipated salary fluctuations <br />in retirements versus new hires; average annual turnover; <br />earlier retirement ages in the department; use of college <br />students considering a career in law enforcement for the <br />City's bike patrol program and their attention to the parks, <br />streets, enforcement and oversight of bicycle safety and <br />laws, and participation in the Family Night Out; various <br />training and seminars and what was considered a core <br />requirement, or mandatory, and those that were elective; <br />advantages and past success of the City's cadet program in <br />recruitment efforts for the department; and proposed grant <br />funding and future encumbrance of City funds for <br />considering two entry-level officers. <br /> <br />Councilmember Klausing sought clarification regarding <br />the incorporation of the City's portion of support for the <br />Northwest Youth and Family Services (NYFS) funding in <br />the Police Department budget and rationale for identifying <br />it as a police function and subsequent inclusion in that <br />particular department. <br /> <br />Chief Sletner rationalized that her department utilized the <br />services exclusively for diversion programs and lauded the <br />