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Mounds View City Council April 12, 2021 Regular Meeting Page 2 1 and has been a member of the National Guard since the spring of 2016. He reported on June 1, 2 2020 he was called up and deployed to East Africa. He stated on October 23, 2020 he received an 3 emergency message from his brother (who was living at his house at the time) letting him know 4 that one of his dogs got out overnight. He indicated he contacted City Hall and the Police 5 Department to see if his husky had been picked up. He noted he also reached out to his neighbor 6 to assist with finding his lost dog and posted an ad on Facebook. He learned that all dogs found in 7 Mounds View were impounded at the Hillcrest Animal Hospital. He called the Hillcrest Animal 8 Hospital and learned this business was permanently closed. He commented his neighbor was able 9 to contact a City Councilmember and learned impounded dogs were brought to Otter Lake Animal 10 Care in Hugo, Minnesota. He stated the number for Otter Lake also did not work. He explained 11 his brother found another number for Otter Lake and learned the lost dog was at this facility. He 12 indicated his brother went to this facility right away to pay the $90 impound fee and get the dog 13 back. He stated he spent 3.5 hours in the middle of the jungle in Africa trying to get his dog back. 14 He commented he had an issue with how this situation was handled by the City. He reported he 15 had informed the City, specifically Executive Assistant Barb Benesch that he would be on long- 16 term military deployment and had applied for all necessary pet and kennel licenses for his three 17 dogs. He questioned why his licensed pet was not brought back home at no cost, since this was the 18 benefits listed on the City of Mounds View's website. He believed the Mounds View Police 19 Department had more than enough information on file to return the dog. He expressed frustration 20 for having to pay an impound fee when his dog was licensed and microchipped with the City. He 21 stated his dog was not brought home and the impound did not contact him even though they had 22 access to his contact information. He encouraged the Police Department to take a little more time 23 on these matters. He proposed a database be created for all licensed pets in Mounds View and that 24 the Police Department try and contact owners prior to impounding pets 20 miles away. He stated 25 if the City did not have a microchip reader, he would personally donate one to the Police 26 Department. He suggested a volunteer task force be created to assist with getting dogs back to their 27 owners. He did not want to see pets brought to an impound unnecessarily. 28 29 Mayor Mueller thanked Mr. Tilleskjor for sharing his experience with the City Council. She 30 thanked Mr. Tilleskjor for his service to the country. She apologized for the experience he had and 31 stated she appreciated the solutions Mr. Tilleskjor offered to the Council. 32 33 City Administrator Zikmund reported this information was brought to his attention earlier today. 34 He noted the City's website has been updated and explained Police Chief Harder was made aware 35 of the concern. He explained Police Chief Harder would be making his officers aware of the 36 process to follow to look up information for pets. 37 38 7. SPECIAL ORDER OF BUSINESS 39 A. Proclamation: National Public Works Week. 40 41 Mayor Mueller read a proclamation in full for the record declaring May 16 through May 22, 2021 42 to be National Public Works Week in the City of Mounds View. 43 44 B. Annual Audit Review — Aaron Nielsen, Principal MMKR. 45