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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes <br /> 16 <br /> January 6, 2004 <br /> Page 16 <br /> 1 Councilmember Faust explained that location is the determining factor of value for properties <br /> 2 located on Silver Lake Road. He reviewed changes that occurred to Silver Lake Road since <br /> 3 1982 and noted that at that time,no one parked along Silver Lake Road. <br /> 4 <br /> 5 Councilmember Faust stated the driving issue for him is public safety and response time. He <br /> 6 stated his responsibility as an elected official is to provide the best service to all the citizens of <br /> 7 St. Anthony. He stated that when you look at everything, to him it becomes obvious that a <br /> 8 centrally located response team is the way to go. He stated that may not make everyone happy <br /> 9 but in his opinion it is the right thing to do. <br /> 10 <br /> 11 Councilmember Faust stated that former Councilmember Marks made a comment about getting <br /> 12 thank you letters in the Council's meeting packet and in the last year,the Council got a letter <br /> 13 from a lady who had a 14-month-old son. With that emergency call, the response was within the <br /> 14 required time and the child was transported to HCMC. That woman credited the Fire <br /> 15 Department with saving the life of her child and she was a registered nurse. Councilmember <br /> 16 Faust explained that those letters are not announced or discussed due to the privacy needed. He <br /> 17 stated that fire fighters save lives. That does not always get into the newspapers, but maybe it <br /> 18 should. <br /> 19 <br /> 20 Councilmember Faust stated his conscience drives him to the decision to provide equal <br /> 21 protection to all citizens. He stated that Councilmember Horst is right that it is beyond the <br /> 22 "eleventh hour"but the Council would consider the decision if it was proper to do. He stated <br /> 23 that this is a democracy and all work together so we need to come together to work with this <br /> 24 issue. He appealed to the residents to use their many talents, early on in a process, so they can <br /> 25 be utilized. He noted that the Apache development will need a lot of public help. <br /> 26 <br /> 27 Councilmember Faust stated he would maintain the decision made and affirmation that the <br /> 28 process is now closed and will move forward as planned. He stated that is not to say the Council <br /> 29 didn't appreciate the effort or that it didn't have an impact because it raises the level of <br /> 30 awareness for noise and public input. He stated that he will also talk with the City Manager and <br /> 31 Fire Chief to assure the Fire Department is a good neighbor but the project needs to proceed. <br /> 32 <br /> 33 Mayor Hodson stated that when he originally heard about the petition,he was upset because the <br /> 34 City had followed a process and he wanted to ask where these people were during that process. <br /> 35 He stated that in a telephone conversation with former Mayor Cavanaugh, it was stated that this <br /> 36 is what the Council created and wanted, to get residents involved. However, he wished it had <br /> 37 occurred earlier and that there were more than 19 members on the task force. <br /> 38 <br /> 39 Mayor Hodson stated that complacency is one of the issues we all face and he wished more <br /> 40 public input had been provided. He stated that the petition does allow the City to encourage the <br /> 41 audience to become involved with recommendations and bring forward items of communication <br /> 42 they can be better at. He stated it is easier for the Council to manage the issues if public input is <br /> 43 provided. He encouraged residents to participate in all the issues, not just this one. <br /> 44 <br /> 45 Mayor Hodson stated that he did read through all of the names in the petition and thanked those <br /> 46 involved for providing this information. However,he agrees with the rest of the <br />