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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes 16 December 8,2003 Page 16 1 Councilmember Faust reported he and Mr. Mornson had a meeting with the Hennepin County 2 assessor and his staff the previous Wednesday regarding growth in property values and where 3 the trends were. He noted property values were increasing in St. Anthony Village at a very fast 4 rate and the trend would continue. He added property values did not cause taxes; however, 5 spending did cause taxes and Council would watch the spending. 6 7 Councilmember Faust explained a Blue Ribbon Panel had been started the previous year, which 8 had to do with telemedicine education, employment and training. He stated on December 5, the 9 previous Friday,Mayor Hodson, a couple of staff members and he had the opportunity to meet 10 with the"heart institute guru,"Dr. Goldberg, who showed them how telemedicine could be set 11 up and utilized. He noted, ironically, there was a recent newspaper article relating to rural 12 Minnesota and telemedicine. He indicated telemedicine did not have to be exclusively rural but 13 could be a way to help elderly people stay in their homes and mitigate some of the costs of 14 entering into a nursing home. He stated the Northwest Quadrant would be the first area with 15 access, which would hopefully move on from there. He added telemedicine was currently in an 16 infantile stage; however, he felt it was doable with the will of residents and developers. 17 18 Councilmember Faust stated he also wished to thank Councilmember Sparks. He asked her to 19 keep active with Village Fest if possible, as she had done an outstanding job. He added she 20 would always have Council's ear. 21 22 Mayor Hodson reported he and Mr. Mornson attended a meeting with the Met Council on 23 December 1, where they thanked the Met Council for allocating the grant for asbestos abatement 24 and the Local Community Grant to "kick off"the Apache/Northwest Quadrant redevelopment. 25 He noted the Met Council had identified those who would receive future funding and it did not 26 appear St. Anthony Village was one of those chosen. He added Met Council staff, however, 27 brought them aside and indicated it was possible they had found an additional funding source for 28 the City. 29 30 Mayor Hodson stated Councilmember Faust and Mr. Mornson had spent a considerable amount 31 of time keeping relationships going and noted the amount of grants awarded to the City in the 32 last six/seven years had been incredible for a community the size of St. Anthony Village. He 33 added Council and staff were working diligently to look for revenue sources, despite the 34 increases being seen in taxes. 35 36 Mayor Hodson indicated he was encouraged about a federal source of funds that might be 37 available for the 39'Avenue/Apache redevelopment area. He added staff and Council were 38 continuing to work toward bringing additional funds into the community. 39 40 Councilmember Faust stated the grant total of$7,771,054 equated to $971 per resident,which 41 was a"pretty awesome"amount for a City of 8,000 people. 42 43 Mayor Hodson thanked Councilmember Sparks for her work in the community. He noted a lot 44 of what she did went unnoticed, as she was not only on the City Council but also involved in 45 many other activities. He stated Council would miss working with Councilmember Sparks and 46 thanked the residents who encouraged her to continue her work with the community.