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HomeMy WebLinkAboutInformation Item: City Back to School Efforts - Fall 2006WEEKLY INFORMATION PACKET TO: Mayar Ruzzin and Members of the City Council FROM: Frank Bruno, City Manager Kevin Burke, Deputy City Manager Stephanie Grainger, Deputy City Manager Mark Beckner, Police Chief Maureen Rait, Director of Public Works for Development and Support Services Sherry Kenyon, Fire Safety Coordinator Ellen Cunningham, Operations Coordinator/Pearl Street Mall Mary Huron Hunter, Public Relations Manager Jennifer Korbelik, University Liaison DATE: Au~ust 23, 2006 SUBJECT: City Back to School Efforts - Fa112006 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: In preparation for the retum of several thousand University of Colorado (CU) students that occurs each fall, city of Boulder staff from various departments prepare to welcome students back and address the impacts that the back-to-school season has upon the Boulder community. A summary of these efforts is ouflined below. Public Safetv: • The Boulder Police Department (BPD) will increase staffing for the first three weekends of the new school year to carefully monitor areas around the university in an effort to educate residents on city ordinances and address any violations and incidents that arise. As part of a joint grant between the Boulder Police Department and the University of Colorado to reduce underage drinking, officers will be visiting student households on the Hill to distribute tips on hosting safe and responsible parties. The conmZUnity will also see a collaborative efFort between Boulder and CU police departments to send consistent messages regarding underage drinking. In addition, alleged violators of city ordinances, state laws and campus regulations will see more prompt processing by the local Municipal Court, the campus Judicial Affairs Office and the Restorative Justice programs. And although the CU/Colorado State University football ganie will be held in Denver, residents also can expect to see mcreased staffing on Saturday, Sept. 9 to handle any situations that arise. Citv Environmental and Zonine Enforcement (EZEOI • Special Trash Service (Six Day Review) is currently underway (Monday, July 31 - Saturday, Sept. 2). This pxogram is a code requirement that applies to the Goss Grove and University Hill neighborhoods. During defined peak periods, property owners/managers airange to have the trash hauler come to their property, Monday tlu•ougl~ Saturday, to dump the containers and remove any refuse on the ground. This special trash service requirement applies during the "move in" (fall) and "move out" (spring) periods. This program can save the expense of special pickups and potential fines as landlords, that are sigied up for the program, will not be issued summonses for trash accumulation. • Tlu'ough November 4, the EZEO work schedule will include staffing for Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays generally from 5 p.m. until3 a.m. EZEO will continue to conduct both complaint-based and officer-initiated enforcement. BPD will continue to be the first responders on noise complaints in the University Hill neighbarhood, while EZEO will respond to noise complaints in other areas of the city. On Monday - Friday, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., staff will follow up on enforcement cases, based upon available resources. • With respect to staffing, currently there are fluee EZEO officers with one of these sta£f inembers (Brett Weideman) serving as the acting Code Enforcement Supervisor. A half-time position provides administrative support. One officer position remains vacant, but temparary employees are supplementing daytime enforcement and evening noise patrol staffing during this time. Interviews with top candidates for the Code Enforcement Supervisor are scheduled for this week. • The City Mauager's Recommended Budget for 2007 proposes additional resources for EZEO. A two-year, fixed term (full-time) officer position is proposed along with au additional half-time administrative support position. Fire Safety Programs for CU students: The city and CU have developed a campus fire safety prograin with various components to reach students who live on and off campus. The goal of the program is to change student's behaviors regarding fire hazards and fire safety. Students and staff are taught what actions to take in an emergency situation and why these actions are necessary. Since the program started six years ago, there have been fewer fires in off-campus student housing in Boulder, fewer false alarms on campus and greater numbers of students evacuating for alanns. One of the main components of the education campaign is the Residence Life Fire Academy held on August 15. This event is a train-the-trainer program for over 200 CU residence assistants, administration and student leadership. The training includes a practice evacuation from a smoke-filled residence hall floor, fire extinguisher use on live fires and case studies of fires in off-campus student housing in Boulder. The fire academy is designed to: • enaUle housing staff to teach all fi~eslunau residents about fire safety; teach the importance of evacuation for any alarm; provide an understanding of the emergeucy response process to campus; and • provide students with life skills that prevent fires and improve their life safety in relation to fire. Parents of all incoming freshmen receive a first class separate mailing from CU Housing and Boulder Fire expiaining the fire hazards that are prohibited in the residence halls and policies regarding evacuation, etc. The sixth annual Greek Fire A.cademy will be held at the Fire Training Grounds on Saturday, Sept. 23. Boulder Fire personnel will train CU fraternity and sorority presidents in fire behavior, evacuation strategies, fire extinguisher use, and search and rescue techniques. The goals of this academy are to: 1) increase awareness of the dan~ers of fratemity/sorority house fires; 2) increase ability to escape from fires by improving access and egress; 3) improve ability to prevent fires by changing risky behaviors in relation to fire; and 4) appreciate and understand the work of the fire service. • Landlords and property management companies have received inforxnation on the outdoor grill ordinance and updated fire safety education materials for move-in. Communitv Building and Communication Each year, CU and city staff work together to make students feel welcome and to educate them about issues that should be important to them such as locking their aparhnents and cars, how to have safe parties where people are not ticketed or arrested, being aware of an increased police presence during this time, what it means to be a good neighbor, etc. The efforts this year include: • A series of "Walkabouts" are scheduled on the aftemoons of August 24-25, August 31 and September 1, during which CU students, city and CU staff will go door-to- door on the Hill and distribute CU Off-Campus Student Services' newly-created brochure entitled "The Smar[y Party off campus" along with cookies. • City and CU communication staff inembers are hosting a joint press briefing on Thursday, Aug. 24, as well as collaborating on a number of news releases to send back-to-scl~ool messages and pitch stories to local media. • A couple of welcoming events are scheduled on the Hill and downtown. The Hill Fest hosted by the Hill Alliance will be held from 4 to 10 p.m Thursday, Aug. 31. From 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 1, the Colorado Daily is sponsoring a Welcome Back Buffs Bash on the Park Street Mall (1300 block). • UHGID is sponsoring the distriUution of free pizza by BPD officers as part of the Hill Fest. • CU's Off-Campus Student Services Department, in collaboration with the Unieersity Liaison, will start up the Studeot Liaison program for the school year to perform targeted, peer-to-peer outreach to feilow students who are involved in quality of life infractions off campus. For more information, go to ~n~n~~.bouldercolorado.gov and click on "University Liaison" under the City A-Z list or www.colorado.edu/studentaffairs/nsw/.