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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes May 25, 2004 09 Page 9 1 d. Opening of the fire station should take place approximately November 1, as work 2 was a few days behind schedule. He added the dedication and fire prevention. 3 awareness would probably be scheduled for the same date. 4 5 Councilmember Stille reported he had recently attended a Kiwanis meeting and was surrounded 6 by City staff. He stated he was impressed to see the community involvement of the City's staff. 7 8 Councilmember Thuesen stated he wished to acknowledge the grant for the bulletproof vests; 9 which was a tremendous achievement during a time of tight funds. He added the pursuit of 10 grants would help the City accomplish what it needed to do. 11 12 Councilmember Thuesen reported he attended the previous week's Planning Commission 13 meeting where a resident involved with an affordable housing group came forward. He indicated 14 he came away,from the meeting resolved to be diligent regarding the City's communications 15 with the public as the project became more finalized, which would help residents better evaluate 16 what was taking place. 17 18 Mayor Hodson thanked Councilmember Faust for the time spent investigating affordable 19 housing opportunities, adding staff was also committed to this issue. He indicated affordable 20 housing was not part of the project in the beginning; however, he believed the affordable housing 21 component was currently approximately 20%. He expressed gratitude for the teamwork shown. 22 23 Councilmember Thuesen noted the affordable housing units involved the same workmanship and- 24 materials as the regular units. He added there was no difference between the affordable housing 25 units and the regular units. Mayor Hodson agreed. 26 27 Councilmember Faust reported he attended a Chamber luncheon the previous week, which was 28 significant because the guest speaker was Jeff Peterson, a fourth grade teacher at Wilshire 29 Elementary. He explained Mr. Peterson was the sixth person to be selected as a teacher to be 30 involved with the Iditarod dog race in Alaska, from which he reported to schools via the internet. 31 He indicated Mr. Peterson was one of the City's local heroes who did not get appropriate 32 recognition and added he also wished to thank the school district and principal at Wilshire 33 Elementary for allowing Mr. Peterson to participate in this event, as he felt it was a benefit to the 34 City's schools and students. He stated he did not know the website that would contain 35 information regarding Mr. Peterson's participation; however, he suggested further information 36 could be obtained by searching "Iditarod." He added the Hennepin County Library Director was 37 going to ask Mr. Peterson to give a presentation. 38 39 Councilmember Faust stated he attended a Mississippi Water Management Board of 40 Commissioners meeting on May 20, noting that was where he received the complimentary 41 comments from the City of Lauderdale regarding the Police Department. He explained the 42 Board was involved with monitoring the health of the Mississippi River. He noted discussions 43 regarding public education related to this topic were held with WSB, as materials put on the 44 streets eventually found their way into the waterways. He added he thought grants would be 45 given toward this problem. 46