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1 Mr. Pricket said he had moved his family from New Brighton to St. <br />2 Anthony a year ago because of the educational programs the City <br />3 offered. He thought the Council had to evaluate just how much the <br />4 Community Services programs were worth to the City. The resident <br />5 said he thought maybe subsidizing a few programs might keep St. <br />6 Anthony a vibrant city to which many former students would want to <br />7 return to make their homes. <br />8 Mr. Murphy stated that he thought one of the most valuable assets the <br />9 City had was its school system. He said he and his wife had come <br />10 from the southwestern portion of Minneapolis and had chosen St. <br />11 Anthony over Edina and Golden Valley because of the quality of life <br />12 St. Anthony offered as well as its school system. He anticipated that <br />13 when the older residents without children finally sell their homes, <br />14 it would probably be to families like his own with a 19 month old son. <br />15 Mr. Murphy perceived that if the school system ever went away, the <br />16 City would find that loss would have a big effect on the values of <br />17 homes in St. Anthony. <br />18 He was told the City had attempted to change the demographics of the <br />19 community fostering other types of housing like condominiums and <br />20 townhomes for the "empty nesters", perceiving that would help the <br />21 school district. Councilmember Marks said he perceived in the long <br />22 run those demographics would determine just what programs would remain <br />23 in the educational system and who would be running them. He said if <br />24 the City continues to get older and older, and there are fewer and <br />25 fewer kids and we have to do everything we can to keep the schools <br />26 open, it might well be that there would be a requirement program -wise <br />27 for the City to effectively take over. <br />28 The Councilmember reminded the visitors that the Council represents <br />29 all the residents and not just the 12% who have children in the St. <br />30 Anthony school system. The fact that some of the school taxes come <br />31 from New Brighton residents just complicates things all the more and <br />32 the Councilmember perceived was one of the reasons the Council wanted <br />33 to get the ownership of Parkview resolved and back in the hands of the <br />34 public who had made the original investment in the building. <br />35 When Mr. Pricket indicated that with 5 kindergarten classes in <br />36 Wilshire this year he would expect that the building would have to be <br />37 enlarged in the future, Councilmember Enrooth reminded him that the <br />38 Parkview building would not be appropriate and was already extinct at <br />39 the educational level. The Councilmember asked if the resident had <br />40 seen the school's student projections, which he perceived indicated <br />41 that even with open enrollment, there was very little possibility the <br />42 school district would be picking up the additional 30% necessary to <br />43 keep the system going. <br />44 Councilmember Marks told Mr. Pricket the state limits the City as to <br />45 how much taxes it can raise and he perceived that if all of the <br />46 sudden St. Anthony had to come up with an additional $200,000 or <br />47 $300,000 to operate the Community Services programs, he certainly <br />owl <br />