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City Council Joint Town Hall Meeting Minutes April 18, 2024 Page 7 1 Council has no responsibility to provide policing services to Falcon Heights; it is the Council’s 2 responsibility is to St. Anthony. 3 4 Joan Peterson, 3200 Hilldale, asked what happens if contract is signed and St. Anthony can’t find 5 the additional officers that are needed, what happens to the contract. She also asked how does 6 Council know for sure they will be able to hire 9-11 officers in this environment, and will there 7 be liability with the contract signed or does that mean there would be less support to St. 8 Anthony. 9 10 Mayor Webster announced the Town Hall is now closed. She thanked all for sharing their 11 feedback and stated the St. Anthony City Council will not take official action on items discussed 12 tonight. The City Council will discuss next steps at their Council meeting on Tuesday, April 23. 13 14 Councilmember Randle stated from the beginning his main concern was what the SAPD Officers 15 want to do. He did not take the survey and has only attended meetings in St. Anthony. The only 16 opinion that matters is the officer’s. 17 18 Councilmember Doolan thanked Dr. Weinsten for doing the survey of the Police Department to 19 provide an external perspective for transparency. The SAPD was not pressured to answer in any 20 manner. She also thanked Goff for looking at the data from an unbiased lens, noting a 21 considerable outreach was made to the residents to gain input. She said looking at the financials 22 is the next phase. She heard increasing taxes for residents is not an option. 23 24 Councilmember Stephens thanked everyone and their feedback. She echoed what 25 Councilmember Doolan stated that there need to be shared liabilities across the board. We will 26 take all comments into consideration. 27 28 Mayor Gustafson thanked everyone for tonight’s and previous comments, noting Falcon Heights 29 has been on a journey to try to figure out policing needs for a while. He stated he is the last 30 remaining Councilmembers from 2016. Since 2016, he has been trying to find the best way to 31 provide policing in Falcon Heights and the errors made to make the relationship sour. SAPD has 32 provided good service to Falcon Heights. St. Anthony has been a shining star for police 33 departments across the company. A police department needs to provide the services needed by 34 the community. He noted that by having Falcon Heights participate with St. Anthony, Falcon 35 Heights is willing to share the cost for the service. They are looking for solid policing that works 36 for the community. Falcon Heights is willing to cover their fair share of the costs and they are 37 looking for a solution that will work for 10-20 years down the line. Falcon Heights is a 38 residential community and 2 square miles include the University of Minnesota and the State Fair 39 grounds, which are tax exempt. He noted that Dina lives next door to a convenience store/gas 40 station. 41 42 Mayor Gustafson stated Falcon Heights is asking the City of St. Anthony to work with Falcon 43 Heights to benefit both cities to make the future brighter for both cities. Public engagement is 44 refreshing, noting they could have worked in the shadows and come to the cities with a deal. He 45 stated they wanted to involve the residents in the process to move forward or can we move 46 forward. He asked are the communities ready to move forward on this. That is why this has been 9