Winchester Council okays purchase of computer for PD

By Editor | November 8, 2023 |

By Carmen Ensinger

Winchester Council members approved the purchase of two new computers for the police department at the Nov. 1 council meeting due to the current ones being outdated.

Police Chief Steve Doolin explained to the council a specific incident where he couldn’t use his computer to perform a needed police task on his police department computer.

“I got a file from the crime lab from a phone and went to review this file and I couldn’t open it,” Doolin said. “I called our computer guy to see if they could help us open this file and he explained to me that this computer was only a 4 gig and the file was 12 gig and it would never open this file because the file was too big.”

Apparently, the computers were given free to the department from State Farm in 2015 and were obsolete then.

“I can’t do a whole lot on them at all,” Doolin said. “I ended up having to send the pictures over my phone because the computers won’t do it. The recommendation is to replace them immediately.”

Doolin said he went ahead and got quotes because there was no fixing what they already had.

The quote he received was $3,700 for two brand new computers with everything installed that included a $500 software fee. He already purchased the monitors previously so there was no need for new monitors.

Doolin said the new generator is installed and fully operational. He did have some information to share about the old generator however.

“I know Jeff Pittman (alderman) wanted to sell it for the metal and use the money for the Christmas fund but that thing is very heavy,” Doolin said. “I negotiated with this company to haul it away and give us a $150 for it. But rather than cutting us a separate check for it, they are going to apply it as a $150 discount.”

Another issue Doolin brought up was regarding golf carts and their use in the city.

“I like golf carts – I think they spread being a good neighbor,” he said. “People drive around in them and they stop and talk to people. They don’t drive around and act crazy here.”

Unfortunately, the city’s current ordinance makes them rather prohibitive with the cost of the license.

“Rather than penalize them $75 for the cost of a license, how about lowering the cost of the yearly fee and raising the fine if they don’t have it,” Doolin said. “The county doesn’t even have a fee. If we put it out that you are going to get a big fine if you don’t have one and it doesn’t cost very much to get one, then maybe people will be more likely to get one. Also put the sticker where it can be easily seen.”

Alderman Bill Jacquot reported on three regulations that came out of Cemetery Board meeting. The first was to make it a limit of two cremations per gravesites. The second was to ban all non-military footstones and the third was to allow service plaques, preferably on tombstones, but they have to be level with the grave.

“Also, there are five to seven graves in the fourth addition that need to be repositioned and made flush with the ground,” Jacquot said. “We will be sending out notifications to the families. We will probably be eliminating the concrete bases and just put the granite or marble stones in the ground.”

Superintendent of Public Works John Simmons wanted the council to look at changing the ordinance on all utilities regarding tapping fees.

“When we put in water and gas for someone, the cost averages close to $1,200 to $1,300 including parts and materials,” Simmons said. “Right now, in our ordinance books, it says we charge $475 tapping fee. We are losing money on both of these.”

Simmons wants to change it to a flat fee of $1,000 for gas, sewer and water. Currently, the charge is $475 for gas, $500 for water and $50 for sewer. This would be for new construction only.

The council discussed it for quite some time and decided to table it until a later date.

The city’s yearly insurance bill is due and the city was faced with paying the bill in full and receiving a $613 discount or paying the full amount of $61,340 in payments. With the discount, the city will be paying $60,976 and the bill will need to be paid by Nov. 17.

The city’s insurance carrier is Risk Management Association which covers all of the city’s buildings and equipment.

Alderman Ron Bell asked if the city had enough money to pay in full now to receive the discount.

“That is what we need to check into,” Mayor Rex Snyder said. “We are kind of in a pinch because we hve been spending a lot of money on the water project. That money will eventually come out of the loan, but for now it has come out of our general fund.”

The council discussed the possibility of putting it out for bid next year.

“I really think that we should take a look at putting it out for bid next year,” McIntosh said. “Before Risk Management had it, Vandevelde had it. The cost was about the same, the only difference was the deductibles. One deductible wiped out the difference in the bids. But I think it’s time we bid it out again.”

The city has had several claims this year and Clerk Teri Little said RMA has been very easy to work with

“When I have put a claim in, I have had a check within a couple of days,” she said. “They have been very cooperative and very easy to work with.”

Clark also requested and was granted permission to purchased two air purifiers for city hall at a cost of $200 each. One will be put in the lobby and one in John Simmons’ office.

Still on the subject of insurance, Simmons said that they all need to read their policies.

“In the past, when we had storms and damage, when FEMA didn’t pay for something, we usually just lost out,” Simmons said. “I didn’t know it until now, but we are going to get a lot of money back from our insurance for cleanup. With some of that money I need to pay back the county for what they did for us.

The city decided to rebid the contract for mowing and baling the hay at the city lagoon. The current contract was a three-year contract that had expired in 2021, so for the last two years there has been an informal extension year by year.

“It is good to rebid these contracts, especially since the price of hay has gone up lately,” McIntire said.

The bid solicitation will go in the paper and bid forms will be available at city hall.

The city will also be advertising for a new animal control officer after current Animal Control Officer Leigh Winners submitted her resignation effective Nov. 1. Winners has been the animal control officer for the past seven years and cited a need to focus on other commitments at this time as her reason for resigning the commission. She did say that she would help train another individual to take over the position.

McIntire said it will be a great loss to the city.

“I can’t say enough good things about Leigh and the things she has done for the city and the animals she has come in contact with throughout the years,” he said. “She has done a fabulous job and she not only cares about the job but she cares about the welfare of the animals too.”

The deadline to submit an application for the position of animal control officer is Dec. 1. Applications can be picked up at city hall.