Seabrook council approves $125,648 from public safety fund for capital purchases

Seabrook City Council on Feb. 18 approved an amendment to the city'019s public safety fund for $125,648.03 to purchase equipment for local emergency services.

The funding was requested by the Public Safety Task Force and presented to council by Kevin (city staff). Kevin said the fund had received $123,470.78 the prior year and that the public safety fund balance stood at $221,445.26. He told the council that the task force had "identified all requests as appropriate and justified" and that approval would leave a reserve balance of $108,144.30.

Jack Butler and resident speakers had spoken earlier during public comment about transparency in city finances; during the item a councilmember asked whether the public safety fund was replenished annually. Finance staff answered that the fund averages about $110,000 per year.

A motion to approve the request carried unanimously. There were no recorded roll-call vote tallies in the meeting minutes beyond the mayor'019s declaration that the motion passed "unanimous." The council did not attach any conditions to the purchases in its motion, and staff said they would proceed with the procurement consistent with the task force recommendations.

The public safety fund is a donated fund that the council has previously used for capital purchases for police, fire, EMS, emergency management and allied agencies such as BayCERT. Laura Davis, who identified herself as a Seabrook resident and a citizen member of the public safety task force, spoke in favor of the request during public comment and asked council to "take a really good look at some of the items" recommended by first responders.

The council recorded no further direction beyond approving the budget amendment; staff indicated they could provide historical revenue figures on request.