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July 23, 2024 St. Anthony Council Work Session - 3 Councilmember Randle stated he has expressed his concerns from the beginning. He did not watch national news until recently. His concern is if something happens, and St. Anthony officers are involved, how do we protect them. He does not have faith they would be protected. He does not know how that can be addressed. The money thing is another concern to be discussed later. He wants to look at how that can be minimized. He was not looking for a response. Councilmember Doolan stated she still has concerns about national politics coming into St. Anthony. Some things happening in the nation are beginning to happen in St. Anthony. We are not bad people and should not be criticized for looking at the process. That is the process she will follow. She is influenced by information. She asked about the contract duration. She has spoken about the Police Chief in Orono. They start with a ten year contract. She asked Mr. Yunker to consider a ten year contract. She asked about the language about the true-up. She asked if there is an opportunity to hold extra monies received in reserve to help build up infrastructure. She asked if Falcon Heights had a contract with NYFS. Is there a public school in Falcon Heights. What Is different in their community as far as youth programming and education. She asked about the liability limit and asked what the current liability limit is and how that compares. She noticed on page 4 there is a reference to $4M and on other pages it is $2M. The contract continuation date is August 15 and how does that relate to our budget process. Mr. Yunker stated they can look at an initial longer term. Mr. Yunker believes Falcon Heights has a contract with NYFS. St. Anthony’s insurance limit is $2M and additional $1M has been purchased. The August 15 date works out fairly well as far as the budget process. Councilmember Stephens asked about what other Police Departments use as far as a dollar amount and Councilmember Doolan stated she does not know. Mr. Yunker responded he does not know as it is dependent on a number of other factors. Councilmember Stephens offered to do some research on this. Councilmember Doolan asked if there is a service level that varies by community such as wanting two officers in a patrol car. Mr. Yunker stated it is important to the Police Department that the level of service is the same throughout the three communities. How changes in expectations are handled in the future needs to be considered. Councilmember Randle stated if this is how they feel nothing can be done until the number of officers is determined. In his opinion, St. Anthony should be first. The number of officers will have to be there to make that happen. Mayor Pro Tem Jenson stated his understanding was service to St. Anthony would not be diluted and we would ramp up to serve other communities. Mr. Yunker stated there are challenges to filling Police Department open spots at this point. The question is when we could provide that level of service to Falcon Heights. The implementation timeline is staffing dependent. Mayor Pro Tem Jenson referred to true-up and asked if this is in process for Lauderdale. Mr. Yunker stated it is not. The question was raised as to coverage during the State Fair. He asked about how the approach was previously as far as insurance liability. Mr. Yunker stated the proposal shows Falcon Heights insurance would be primary and St. Anthony would be secondary. In the future the three cities would be under the contract. This one be one department for policing services. If termination of contract happens, there would be time to handle that to bring stability to the department. He would encourage a longer exit ramp time as two years is not sufficient. Mayor Pro Tem Jenson referred to the Joint Operating Committee and stated this is very important. The members will own the process and manage performance and accountability. We are still in Stage 3 of the process. Mr. Yunker stated this is the first look at the contract and we will revisit the contract language as many times as necessary.