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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION <br /> APPROVED <br /> 178 what the Board discussed the previous week. These include playground replacement at the <br /> 179 Brandywood and Birchwood Acres Park, and repurposing the bituminous at City Hall Park for <br /> 180 two pickleball courts and possibly a half basketball court. <br /> 181 <br /> 182 The Council expressed support of the Park Board's recommendations. <br /> 183 <br /> 184 Councilmember Lyden asked to explore locations and costs for a dog park. Mr. DeGardner noted <br /> 185 they are typically run by the County, but if the City Council would like to look at it, they can <br /> 186 explore options. The Council would like to explore costs and potential locations. <br /> 187 <br /> 188 The Councilmembers showed support for the playground replacements and the proposed <br /> 189 improvements at City Hall Park. <br /> 190 <br /> 191 Item 6—Blue Heron Days —Public Services Director DeGardner asked the City Council <br /> 192 whether they have opinions, ideas, or direction for 2023 Blue Heron Days. Staff would like to <br /> 193 host activities after the parade at the Rookery Activity Center for indoor/outdoor activities and <br /> 194 encourage people to become members and utilize the Rookery. <br /> 195 <br /> 196 Councilmember Lyden inquired as to what activities have gone well and not gone well in years' <br /> 197 past. Mr. DeGardner noted the touch a truck event and vendor fair have gone well. The bands <br /> 198 have not been well attended. <br /> 199 <br /> 200 Councilmember Lyden suggested a K-9 demonstration. <br /> 201 <br /> 202 Councilmember Stoesz spoke about the parade route being lopsided to the right-hand side and <br /> 203 asked about making the route narrower. <br /> 204 <br /> 205 Mayor Rafferty noted the limited funds make it difficult and asked the Council how much they <br /> 206 want to invest in the event. Mr. DeGardner noted there are residual dollars in the Blue Heron <br /> 207 fund from previous years of about $15,000 and they did not put dollars in this year's budget. He <br /> 208 agrees with the comment regarding changing the parade route and in the past they have looked at <br /> 209 alternate routes such as starting at the middle school, however the Legion has been against a <br /> 210 change to the route. Mr. DeGardner noted Staff will keep the Council updated on Blue Heron <br /> 211 Days progress and if they have any ideas or suggestions to let him know. <br /> 212 <br /> 213 Item 7— Q4 and Year End Wrap Up 2022 Public Safety Update—Director of Public Safety <br /> 214 John Swenson gave a summary of his written report and statistics in the City Council packet. He <br /> 215 noted case numbers for 2022 declined slightly with average response time for emergency/non- <br /> 216 emergency was 5 minutes 56 seconds. He shared about a reduction in wait time (stacked calls) of <br /> 217 44 hours in part due to being closer to full staffing than in years past, which is a positive. He <br /> 218 walked the Council through stats on medical calls and ambulance services, fire division calls, <br /> 219 mutual aid given and received, and included a staffing update, and notable Q4 events. <br /> 220 <br /> 221 Item 8—Duty Crew Staffing—Director of Public Safety John Swenson gave a summary of <br /> 222 his written Staff report noting they have learned over the last 8 months that the part-time <br /> 223 personnel needs more work than the City is giving, therefore those personnel are getting other <br /> 5 <br />