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Meeting date: 2/15/95 Agenda Item: D - 3 CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS PARK AND RECREATION COMMISSION ITEM DESCRIPTION: Request for consideration of public phone at Curtiss Field SUBMITTED BY: Carol Kriegler, Parks and Recreation Director at the request of Judy Sabean, 1847 Pascal Street EXPLANATION/SUMMARY: Resident concern. Approximately two weeks ago a resident, Judy Sabean, who uses Curtiss Field as a daytime play area for young children, called to express her concern over the absence of a public telephone at Curtiss Field. She explained that there is no immediate way for a park user facing an emergency to make a 9 - 1 -1 call. Staff explained that after careful consideration, the public telephone, which had been located on the park building, had been removed to enhance park and neighborhood security. Staff also explained that the Park and Recreation Commission, who are aware of some of the problems at Curtiss Field, could review the availability of the public phone at its next meeting. Background. Although the Curtiss Field improvement project had no provisions for the installation of a public phone, one was installed on the east side of the park building a year or so after completion of the Curtiss Field improvements. There were two purposes for installing the public phone: 1) to allow park users to make phone calls; and 2) to provide a phone for 9-1-1 emergencies in the park. In hopes of deterring illegal activities associated with the phone, the phone was programmed only for out- going calls. Staff doesn't know how often, if ever, the public phone was used for an emergency call. Nevertheless, it provided the opportunity to call 9-1-1 event that an emergency might arise. Rising neighborhood/park security issues. After two summer and fall seasons at the park, the phone was removed because it appeared to be generating undesirable activity such as major vandalism and illegal and unacceptab-e behavior that potentially created a security threat to the park and surrounding neighbors. After several costly and incidents of serious vandalism as well as reports of inappropriate and potentially dangerous behavior by young adults, staff and neighbors reviewed the incidents and determined that often (not always) the behavior centered around using the telephone by a group of young adults. Police Chief Engstrom said that the public phone may have been programed only for outgoing calls, but that if the phone users are dealing in drugs, they probably pagers and frequently return calls on a public phone in response to a page. Therefore, they do not need to accept in-coming calls on a telephone. Furthermore, Chief Engstrom said that the location of this park by Snelling and Larpenteur Avenues may make it attractive to those interested in illegal activity