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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes 08 December 8, 2003 Page 8 1 Mr. Nelson cited the comment made that approximately$267,000 of State funding had been lost 2 and stated one of the reasons the State had cut the funds to City government was"there was 3 never enough money." He noted the decision last spring to buy a new fire truck and stated a 4 better choice would have been to refurbish the existing fire truck,which would have cost the 5 City less money while meeting the needs of the community. He stated the City of Minneapolis 6 had been refurbishing their fire trucks from the 1970s and 1980s and added private businesses 7 and private citizens must make those types of decisions. He asked that the hard-earned dollars of 8 residents not be wasted. 9 10 Rick Lundeen, 3904 Fordham Drive, stated he had lived in St. Anthony Village for 50 years, 11 paid taxes for 33 years and been a member of the Fire Department for almost 34 years. He 12 agreed he did not want his taxes to increase. He indicated he had heard all negatives and not any 13 plusses and suggested citizens come to the Fire Department and meet its personnel, as they were 14 also taxpayers. He suggested personnel response time to reach the fire station needed to be 15 considered and added an industrial park location would not work. He stated"handfuls"of 16 people approved of the new location and those attending the current meeting were the"handful" 17 who disapproved. 18 19 Mr. Lundeen stated the City of Minneapolis did not refurbish its fire trucks from the 1970s and 20 1980s and added St. Anthony Village also did not buy a new fire truck, as a demo fire truck had 21 been purchased to save the City money. 22 23 Mr. Lundeen stated Fire Department personnel had saved the lives of people in the City. He 24 asked the residents to come to the fire station to "see what we are like before you condemn it." 25 26 Mr. Lundeen noted the taxes on his lake home had just increased by$240 and he was not able to 27 say anything about that. He stated he was glad he "could say something here." He warned that 28 residents did not appreciate their fire department until the life of a loved one was saved by its 29 personnel. He added the Fire Department was very considerate about using the sirens in 30 residential areas. 31 32 Mr. Lundeen asked Council to listen to all the residents who approved the new location and not 33 only those who were in attendance at the present meeting. 34 35 Another Village resident, who has lived on Armour Terrace for many years, stated he enjoyed St. 36 Anthony Village, as it was a nice, safe area in which to live. He indicated he read the article in 37 the Minneapolis Tribune that indicated St. Anthony Village was the most expensive place in 38 Ramsey/Hennepin counties with the highest tax increase. He noted he appreciated the road 39 improvements, driveway improvements, new fire station and new public works station; however, 40 he did not understand why the City was the most expensive area in the counties. He added the 41 areas surrounding the City did not have such a large tax burden. He cited the amount of taxes he 42 would need to pay, along with the percentages. He stated Council and City staff were doing a 43 good job but again questioned why St. Anthony Village was the most expensive area in which to 44 live. 45