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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 23, 2024 Page 8 1 Ms. Joan Peterson, 3200 Hilldale, lived in St. Anthony almost all her life. The SAPD is great. 2 The Council needs to do what is best for St. Anthony. Three of the five leaders don’t have 3 experience for the positions they are in. Council needs to listen to the past leaders’ comments. 4 Other communities have refused to serve Falcon Heights. This is a good financial deal for Falcon 5 Heights and the burden should not be put onto the St. Anthony taxpayers. She is astounded by 6 the lack of transparency in the past few months. The obligation is to make the best decisions for 7 the citizens of St. Anthony. The police have been through a lot and shouldn’t have more put on 8 them. We do not want to lose police because the Council makes a decision for them. 9 10 Mr. Gary Huss, 3224 Croft Drive, asked about all the money and time spent training SAPD 11 officers. Nothing is lost if we don’t support Falcon Heights. They should pay every cent of the 12 cost. He is against it completely. 13 14 Mr. Cody Holliday, 3528 Skycroft Drive, stated the St. Anthony Area Chamber of Commerce 15 has not taken an official position on this issue. He asked Council to consider the promotion of St. 16 Anthony for business growth and development. There is an interest in reducing the tax levy for 17 residents. How would the tax benefits impact residential and commercial in the City. 18 19 Mr. Gary Huss, 3224 Croft Drive, referred to the Village Notes and noted there is no Clean Air 20 mentioned in the Strategic Plan. He feels residential burning needs to be stopped as the SAPD 21 controls burning within the City. Smoke will leave the property line if there is wind. He is 22 surprised the City is a GreenStep City. EV charging stations are being implemented instead. 23 Wood burning is worse than second hand smoke according to the EPA. He suggested a propane 24 burning pit be used. He sleeps with a CPAP and cannot open his windows at night. He should be 25 able to have clean air whenever he wants it. 26 27 Ms. Joan Peterson, 3200 Hilldale, stated at one of the Council meetings residents were asked to 28 trust Council. She reminded Mayor Webster she is not far into her first term as Mayor. Trust 29 will be developed based on the decisions Council makes. This is a big decision. Either trust will 30 be earned or it won’t be. 31 32 Ms. Grace Gee, 4008 Penrod Lane, stated she would like to be open to the idea. She hopes there 33 is some economic advantage to St. Anthony. There should be an economy of scale. It will be a 34 problem if taxes go up because of this. We need to be careful. 35 36 Mr. Ralph Hintz, 3503 Maplewood Drive, stated he is against this. Council should listen to the 37 citizens. 38 39 Mr. Cody Johnson 2501 West Armour Terrace asked if this doesn’t move forward what would be 40 the facilities impact. What facility upgrades would be critical and how does that affect recruiting 41 and retaining police officers. There could be some advantages if costs were offset by the 42 partnership. 43 44 No one else appeared to address the Council. Mayor Webster closed the community forum. 45 18