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L -2- the 2-the January 10th letter of Mayor O'Connor. The Mayor's letter was read by Council- man Dougherty. He felt the Council had gone a long way from January 10th. The meeting of January 15th was the first discussion of a full time fire depart- ment, he stated. In five days the Council went a long ways from its original position. Instead of talking we threw them out. He felt the Council should negotiate--the whole Council . It should involve deliberation with residents, discuss costs, alternatives, whether there should be partial permanent or volunteers. Instead, he continued, we propose to spend considerably more. The average fire is one every 3-4 days. Four men in the new department will just be sitting around all day. The Volunteers have always been available. The advantage is that they are in the Village close to the fires. Trucks are rolling and the men are leaving their homes within minutes. There is no response time problem with the Volunteers. There have been numerous compliments to the Volunteer Department from citizens. Nothing has been done to say they have not done a good job. The people appreciate them. Their demands and the manner in which it was made is the bone of contention. The Volunteers have completely withdrawn their letter--this should have opened the door to discussion. The roster shows professional people; educated, profession- al people. The new department could also be dedicated. The Volunteers are trained. They have experts training them constantly. They have many hours of training. It is beyond me how we got into the present situation. The Volunteers did attach strings, but there was a breakdown in communications. He feels that the Council should not adopt Ordinance 1969-2. It is an error on the part of the Council. The Volunteers are here to serve us. If not, would they be here to fight the action. An evening meeting would bring more people. Feels an afternoon meeting does not give individuals a chance to appear. This meeting, with a 7:00 P. M., • January 30th notice to me is not proper. A Councilman working in Bloomington cannot get to this 1 :00 P. M. meeting. Instead the meeting should be at 7:00 P. M. Special daytime meetings should he aholished. How could we come up with a new proposal in twelve hours. The Council should have proper information to act upon. I object to any material that does not come up with sufficient prior notice. There should be a report by the Manager on the whole proposal . On the mailed report to residents, he feels the figures not to be correct and the people are being misled. He stated, the report is a fake. Lets think about a permanent department, and put the Volunteers back to work. The State Fire Marshal represen- tative offered to come in. The action is without due consideration. It affects the long term operation of the Village. St. Anthony is one of few with a full time department. Bloomington has a Volunteer Department with its present size. Brooklyn Center is 100% Volunteer department with Brookdale. Why does St. Anthony need a full time department. We have 35 men in the Volunteer Department. They are capable, let 's put them back on duty. The Council 's other proposal should be discussed further with the Volunteers. The Director of Public Safety has not talked to the Council about this problem; he states he is not a firemen, that he will have individuals with rank of Captain in charge. It's the responsibility of the Director of Public Safety to ask what are you doing without consulting me. The Council is talking of a change without an executive session to discuss the Director of Public Safety, Police Department, Maintenance Department and the fire underwriters. The Council should have answers before making decisions. A corporation would vote out a Aoard if they acted in this manner. There was no advance work on the Ja nua ry 15th meeting. I made a motion, on that date, to return the Volunteers on Item #1, and discuss Items 2, 3 & 4 at a later date. Throw the rascals out seems to be the action. Sure we have disagreements. There doesn't appear to be a party line vote on the Council. He feels the Council has been reasonable in the past and should resolve the problem. I feel, he stated, that by July 1st all alternatives could be resolved. All of us have friends on the Volunteer Department. Ede can't like all of them--but they are the kind of people we can sit down and talk with. Lets set up a committee and sit down and talk with them. This is not an unreasonable proposal . He feels that the Volun-