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City Council Joint Town Hall Meeting Minutes <br />April 18, 2024 <br />Page 6 <br />1 <br />2 Tricia Grimes, 3201 Townview, stated she thinks this would be a good idea. It would give us <br />3 economies of scale. The additional officers could respond to St. Anthony calls also. Racism has <br />4 been addressed. <br />5 <br />6 Jerry Faust, 4033 Silver Lake Terrace, stated he was on the Council with Randy Stille for 22 <br />7 years and Mayor for 15 years. He has attended both meetings and has not changed his opinion. <br />8 There is a recruiting effort that needs to be done to get the 2 more officers in the plan and <br />9 recruiting is going to be an issue. The survey results were too low to be considered. He noted that <br />10 St. Anthony is not contiguous to Falcon Heights. The familiarity is not there as it has been 8 <br />11 years. He also noted that all police departments are short of people as well as Sheriff’s <br />12 departments. He asked why should St. Anthony pay for the 11 additional officers to recruit them. <br />13 He stated the DOJ wanted to issue a report stating SAPD was an outstanding police department. <br />14 <br />15 Mike Peterson, 3200 Hilldale, stated in his view the potential partnership needs to be a win-win- <br />16 win. He is not sure it is a win for St. Anthony or the SAPD. To construct a new police <br />17 department outweighs the cost benefit. There may be more than 11 additional personnel needed. <br />18 He asked what if the current officers don’t want to work and support Falcon Heights, noting <br />19 there may be more leaving. The response rate for the survey was low and most was subjective. <br />20 Some actual numbers and what residents actually said would have been better. He asked the new <br />21 Council not to be rushed into a decision. <br />22 <br />23 Dina Larrabee, 1358 Larpentur, Falcon Heights, asked St. Anthony to please consider Falcon <br />24 Heights. She was pleased with SAPD and was sad the contract ended. They were good to her and <br />25 she used them quite frequently. <br />26 <br />27 Carol Ann Paulson, Harding Steet, stated she was part of St. Anthony when the SAPD supported <br />28 Falcon Heights. She asked what are the commercial areas of Falcon Heights and are they more <br />29 than what St. Anthony has. She does not know the population of Falcon Heights. We need to <br />30 know what possible problems the police department will have. <br />31 <br />32 Gloria DeHealy, Legends of St. Anthony, stated the SAPD is very utilized in St. Anthony. She is <br />33 happy with the service she gets from SAPD and doesn’t want to see that diminished. <br />34 <br />35 Dwight Pulford, 1757 Eustis Street, Lauderdale, stated Lauderdale appreciates SAPD. They have <br />36 always been very professional. He can’t imagine Lauderdale ever not having SAPD. He sees <br />37 some advantages as far as patrolling Lauderdale. <br />38 <br />39 Jerry Faust, 4033 Silver Lake Terrace, stated St. Anthony is currently at capacity and there is <br />40 plenty of work to do here. Money was put into the police department in 2019. He does not know <br />41 if there is a need for a new facility with current staffing level. He noted if St. Anthony increased <br />42 by 9 people, a new facility would be needed which would be a burden to taxpayers. He can see <br />43 why Falcon Heights wants SAPD; they will have 4 full time officers for same price as Ramsey <br />44 County was charging and will have no responsibility. The responsibility lies with the residents <br />45 of St. Anthony. Mr. Faust stated St. Anthony has invested monies in the SAPD for many years <br />46 and shared capital contribution is not even close to what will be spent. He stated the St. Anthony <br />8