Canvassing board, EMS dispatch system top Cape Council agenda
City Council will address two important topics at Monday’s 4:30 p.m. regular meeting in Council Chambers at City Hall.
After a week’s delay, council again will discuss the composition and requirements to serve on the city’s election canvassing board. Members got into a somewhat heated discussion last week before deciding to pull the ordinance for clarification.
The disagreement centered around the meaning of “active participation” in a board member’s own or another candidate’s campaign. Active participation would disqualify one from serving on the canvassing board.
It was the canvassing board that came under scrutiny in the last municipal election, specifically between Mayor Marni Sawicki and former mayor John Sullivan. The city is entering the process now for replacing the board.
The other important topic is the city’s Fire Rescue and Emergency Management Services launching full-time use of the Medical Priority Dispatch System. As of Aug. 1, the MPDS went into service and helps determine the severity of a medical emergency call and the appropriate resources to be sent.
The city’s response times have been increasing along with the number of calls for service received. Fire Rescue and EMS now respond to 20,000 calls per year.
The MPDS has been used over a one-year trial basis since March 2014 at 10 local health care facilities. During the trial, 324 calls qualified for no response and Chief Donald Cochran states that the MPDS will reduce the medical service calls by 10 percent and reverse the deteriorating trend of response times.
Also on the agenda is a resolution to reverse the Zoning Adjustment & Appeals board’s rejection of a special exception needed to allow the operation of a car wash facility on Cape Coral Parkway just east of Del Prado Boulevard in the South Cape Downtown zone.
Council also is expected to approve five resolutions authorizing the use of Florida Department of Transportation funds to build stretches of sidewalks on Sands Boulevard, Chiquita Boulevard, Palm Tree Boulevard, and El Dorado Parkway.