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Kent Tarbutton, 11292 31 st St. questioned expenditures of public safety. The <br />Fire Dept. is 15-20% ($250,000) of the General Fund. Is this typical as a percent <br />of the General Fund for a city this size? Does the police contract include direct <br />operating costs? Having lived in other parts of the country, particularly In the <br />New York area, Lake Elmo is a zero crime area. The coverage of the <br />Washington County Sheriff's Dept. is very high and response time is excellent. <br />Do you consider what the private sector is getting for increases; somewhere <br />between 0-3%. <br />Administrator Kueffner explained there were approx. 300+ fire/emergency <br />calls with cost per call at $421/call. This $100,000 includes the total police <br />contract with Washington County for two deputies which averages about <br />$30/call <br />Mayor John added it is typical for a city this size if you compare us to other <br />cities with a volunteer department. We try to anticipate what the trend in salary <br />increases would be. We have not arrived at individual increases in salaries, <br />which would come to a total of 4% which includes the cost of benefits <br />Warren Schmidt, 3240 Lake Elmo Avenue , stated they have been through my <br />trucks three times this year. We're pretty sparse out here, but we're growing and <br />we may need an increase in police protection. It might help if the council would <br />review monthly police reports from Sheriff's Dept. to find trouble spots. <br />Mayor John: Recognizing incidents like yours are likely to increase as <br />population increases, adding on another deputy has been reviewed. <br />Todd Williams, 3025 Lake Elmo Avenue N., supports building up capital <br />reserves, the budget looks reasonable, but asked the council to be cautious with <br />hiring a planner and all the costs involved. In regard to computer networking, he <br />has worked with Windows for Work Groups and it is not easy. <br />Mayor John closed the public hearing at 8:29 p.m. <br />Adoption of the 1995 Budget and Taxy Levy will be at the December 6th regular <br />council meeting at 7:30 p.m. <br />M/S/P Mottaz/Conlin - to adjourn the council meeting at 8:30 p.m. (Motion <br />passed 5-0). <br />