City Council hears citizen concerns

If a city council meeting could be said to have a "theme", the general focus of the October 12th meeting of the Buffalo City Council was a simple one: Be nice. Try to get along.

Tonya Foster, Director of the Leon County Domestic Violence Victims Advocates program, described the county's soon-to-be-opened new Safe House. Speaking in generalities, Foster stated, "What we 'do' is family violence, sexual assaults. With this program we do it on a daily basis...so we know that area pretty well. We work with every single law enforcement agency in the county," (and she went on to list Sheriffs Department, Texas Rangers, and each city's police department), "and we want a good, cooperative working agreement with Buffalo Police Department. My concern is that on family violence it seems like in several incidents interpretation of the law has been on the far end of the scope... The way the Buffalo Police interpret the law, we are 'way away from what it takes to service the victim." Foster went on to say that "I need help to cooperatively and successfully work with Buf- falo PD. I need open communication and cooperation, and I need to be able to depend on that even if we don't see eye to eye." The Council invited a response from Chief Lance Pavelka, and ultimately encouraged both agencies to keep the lines of communication open. It was also suggested that both parties sit down with City Attorney Gail Ray and compose a written working agreement that clarified the scope of the two agencies' interactions.

Area resident Margaret Cooper, 81, also appeared before the Council to describe, at length, an incident where she dealt with Chief Pavelka and felt she was "treated like a throw-away hound dog" during a traffic stop and felt she had been unnecessarily humiliated. At the end of her story, Mayor Royce Dawkins and the council members offered apologies. Councilmember Dianne Ryder stated, "We hope an incident like that never happens again to any of our citizens, and certainly not to our seniors."

Chief Pavelka had the floor just moments later since the Police Department Report was next on the agenda. After the Council heard that report, Councilmember Ryder addressed the concerns which had been brought up. "In light of a couple of the things we've heard tonight -- and this isn't the first case that I've heard -- I wish that you and your officers would try to treat people like you'd like to be treated if YOU were the person sitting in the car." The chief responded, "No problem..."

On behalf of the Buffalo Chamber of Commerce, Martin Housler reported on the 2009 Stampede and thanked the Council for their ongoing financial support of the Chamber. He promised to submit the BCC's 2010 budget by the next meeting.

Ken Jones presented the BEDC's annual report and budget, which were accepted.

Steve Torno, representing the Rodell Water System, requested a contract with the city to purchase water for that system which extends outside of the city limits. He specifically wanted the contract to include a defined rate, and the councilmembers expressed reservations about locking in a rate. A decision was tabled to allow time to confer with the City Attorney.

Terri Miller, Traffic Safety Specialist from TxDOT, made a brief traffic safety presentation. She pointed out that Texas leads all fifty states in DUI, and Leon County has a high rate of rural traffic deaths in proportion to its population size, with 18 fatalities in 2008. The top two crucial components in roadway crashes were defined as (1) failure to wear safety belts, and (2) drunk driving. Drowsy drivers and teens texting and talking on cell phones while driving were also noted factors. Miller went on to describe grant opportunities for programs to educate local drivers on safety issues.

The Council signed a resolution to pursue a grant for $20,000 in federal stimulus money targeted to make improvements in energy efficiency, contingent on the City Attorney reviewing the stipulations.

Paul Wells, a resident of Jennifer Estates, used the forum of Public Comments to express concerns about the roads and sewer lines in that neighborhood.

In other routine business, Council approved the police department report and municipal court report, minutes of previous meetings and outstanding bills. Ms. Ryder pointed out that the sizeable bill from the Auditor's office leads her to think that it might be beneficial for the city to hire a local firm for accounting/bookkeeping help on a monthly basis. City Secretary Debbie Waters was absent from the meeting, and the mayor recommended taking that suggestion to her.