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In response to a question from Councilor Fart regarding the notice to postpone the verified <br />response policy, City Manager Jim Carlson said the council could pass a motion to direct the City <br />Manager to extend the implementation date if the council chose to do so. <br /> Councilor Fart, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved to postpone the <br /> implementation of the verified response policy until January 1, 2003. <br /> <br />Councilor Nathanson said she would support the motion. <br /> <br />In response to a question from Councilor Nathanson regarding the reason it had taken so long for <br />the Eugene Police to implement the ordinance passed by the council, City Manager Carlson noted <br />that it had taken time to develop a database of all alarm owners in the City and said that there had <br />also been changes in the industry since the ordinance was passed that lead the department to <br />believe that verified response was a more cost-effective way of approaching the problem. Acting <br />Police Chief Thad Buchanan added that the delay was based on prep work and getting lists for <br />registration and program development. He reiterated that more information on the industry had <br />been collected to show that fee programs were not particularly successful and verified response <br />was more effective. He stressed that out of 6,000 alarms responded to, only 10 actual arrests <br />had been made because of the high number of false alarms. He commented that this was a ratio <br />that could not be maintained when the organization was struggling for budget resources and <br />staffing. He said private industry could provide an adequate response and noted that there were <br />private security companies in the City that were willing and ready to provide the service. <br /> <br />Councilor Bettman said she supported the verification system because police should only be <br />responsive to legitimate calls and not false alarms. She raised concern that responding to so <br />many false alarms might cause a safety issue for officers. She said the ordinance should be <br />implemented as soon as possible. She said she would not support an extension to January. She <br />said that verified response was a nationwide trend and opined that the change could not have <br />come as a complete surprise to local security companies. She said she would only be willing to <br />support an extension of 30 days. <br /> <br />Councilor Kelly noted that the council had spent a lot of time working on the false alarm <br />ordinance. He commented that things broke down when the department changed its mind but did <br />not come back to the council and request revisions to the existing ordinance. He said he would <br />support the motion. <br /> <br />Councilor Pap~ remarked that the council was spending too much time on the issue. He <br />suggested that the City Manager and the alarm industry get together and work out a time line for <br />implementation. <br /> <br />Councilor Fart withdrew his motion with the permission of the second. <br /> <br />Councilor Bettman thanked those who testified and apologized to the few people at the end of the <br />forum who had their time reduced to two minutes. <br /> <br />Regarding the fees charged for police services during the Veterans Day Parade, Ms. Bettman said <br />that when the fees were forgiven it meant that the services still had to be paid for by another <br />source. She expressed her willingness to make a personal donation toward covering the cost of <br />those fees. <br /> <br /> MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 12, 2002 Page 3 <br /> Regular Meeting <br /> <br /> <br />