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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes <br />April 23, 2024 <br />Page 7 <br />1 Mr. Yunker reviewed the next step is a decision on giving staff direction to enter into contract <br />2 negotiations and address the questions and concerns raised from all the stakeholder input <br />3 including but not limited to: <br />4 Re-establishing working relationships between the cities. <br />5 Defining risk and identifying mitigation strategies. <br />6 Determine how to recruit for department expansion. <br />7 Establish practical implementation timeline. <br />8 Avoid adverse impact to St. Anthony taxpayers. <br />9 Appropriately specify liability as part of a services contract. <br />10 <br />11 The summary of survey responses was provided for Council consideration. The presentation <br />12 given at the two Town Hall Meetings was also provided. <br />13 <br />14 Councilmember Jenson shared his thought process on where we are currently and read a <br />15 prepared statement suggesting the process move forward. <br />16 <br />17 Mayor Webster opened the floor for resident comments. She noted this is an opportunity for the <br />18 City Council to hear from the community on the potential police partnership. Each speaker gets <br />19 three minutes. Speakers are asked to state their name and address. Once everyone has had a <br />20 chance to speak, a 2nd opportunity for three minutes will be allowe3d. The Council will not be <br />21 able to provide answers immediately. Staff will compile every question/comment and include it <br />22 for the Council to consider at their next meeting. No decisions will be made during this time. <br />23 <br />24 Mr. Mark Johnson, 3013 Silver Lake Road, is not interested in expanding the police department <br />25 and providing service to Falcon Heights. <br />26 <br />27 Ms. Pat Taylor, 2928 Rankin Road, stated she used to be very involved in the community. This is <br />28 a hot topic for her. She thanked the Council for noting the expansion of facilities was already <br />29 being considered. She wants to know what the size of the police force was in 2016 while serving <br />30 the three communities. How many non-sworn officers does SAPD have currently? She asked in <br />31 the 8 years, what kind of growth has there been in each community and if there is a huge <br />32 expansion would 4 additional officers be enough. <br />33 <br />34 Mr. Cody Johnson 2501 West Armour Terrace, the proximity of where Falcon Heights is to St. <br />35 Anthony is his concern. He thinks financially the St. Anthony residents should not be burdened <br />36 for a potential partnership. This would be an opportunity to charge Falcon Heights a little bit <br />37 more for service. He loves and goes to the State Fair he asked who supports the influx of police <br />38 service needed during the fair. <br />39 <br />40 Mr. Mike Peterson, 3200 Hilldale, attended several of the open houses and town hall meeting. <br />41 There are 4 officers that did not want to support servicing Falcon Heights. There are 2 <br />42 retirements coming up. That would be an additional 6 officers that may need to be replaced. The <br />43 two past mayors advised Council NOT to do this. Three benefits were listed from the surveys. <br />44 Proximity is not a benefit to St. Anthony. He asked the Council not to do this with Falcon <br />45 Heights. <br />46 <br />17