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1 Mayor Sundland opened the discussion by reporting he and every other <br /> 2 Councilmember had, since the hearing, received letters expressing the <br /> 3 same type of opposition. He said he perceived it might be more <br /> 4 productive to first set the record straight on the City' s position <br /> 5 before he opened the meeting to expressions of what he expected might <br /> 6 be misconceptions of that position. The Mayor stated that: <br /> 7 *he was not denying that during the preliminary discussions the <br /> 8 Council had related to the school' s suggestion that the owner <br /> 9 ship of Parkview might be transferred outright to the City that <br /> 10 the relocation of the fire station had not been one possibility <br /> 11 among several the Council explored for the City' s future housing <br /> 12 needs ; and <br /> 13 *the School District has not made a final decision on whether <br /> 14 they want to make the transfer at all; <br /> 15 *although the City is certainly ready to consider the possibility <br /> 16 of such a transfer, there are no plans now to move the Fire <br /> 17 Department to Parkview, even if that happens. <br /> 18 Fifth Grader Speaks for Students Who Use Parkview Gym <br /> 19 Michelle Helfrey said her parents had built the home she lives in at <br /> 20 3645 Roosevelt Street in 1973 , three years before she was born. She <br /> 21 said she had attended preschool and dancing classes in Parkview. The <br /> 4V2 fifth grader said she had played basketball in the Parkview gym the <br /> 3 last three years when her mother had told her the City and School <br /> 24 Board wanted to put fire trucks in the gym, she had become very <br /> 25 worried about where she could continue to play the sport she loved <br /> 26 because the "big kids use the Wilshire gym now and I know there ' s no <br /> 27 room for us. " <br /> 28 The young basketball player indicated her whole family, including her <br /> 29 grandparents, aunts , uncles , and cousins, all came to cheer her on <br /> 30 when she played. She added that her Uncle Johnny "who doesn't even <br /> 31 live in St. Anthony" had been helping out ' her coach, Mr. Kramer, <br /> 32 in the absence of her father who had died when she was two. Michelle <br /> 33 said St. Anthony would no longer be a "special place" for her if she <br /> 34 couldn' t play basketball anymore, echoing somewhat the same message <br /> 35 her mother, Barbara Helfrey, had attempted to convey in her letter to <br /> 36 the editor, which had been published in the Bulletin the previous <br /> 37 week. <br /> 38 Mayor Sundland thanked Michelle for sharing her concerns, which now <br /> 39 had no base in fact since the City would not be moving the fire <br /> 40 station to Parkview. He said no doubt the same misconception had <br /> 41 existed in the mind of the letter writer, whose letter to him had <br /> 42 upset him a great deal because her perceived an inference that "the <br /> 43 City was making a lot of effort to increase business in the St. <br /> 44 Anthony Shopping Center" , which, the _ Mayor indicated, was somewhat <br /> •45 refuted by all the steps the Council had taken over the years to <br /> 5 <br />