Agenda - Council - 11/27/2018 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Councilmember Shryock agreed that the City has made good progress and should continue to push forward. She stated that once Anoka is completed, Ramsey is next in line and therefore the more prepared the City is for that to occur, the more quickly it could be implemented. Finance Director Lund confirmed the consensus of the Council to leave the timing identified for the Ramsey rail crossing as is. City Administrator Ulrich stated that the public works garage is running out of space and the City has begun to look for space to lease to provide a band -aid approach until the public works campus can be constructed. He identified a possible location that could be leased by Anoka County, and noted that the City will continue to review options for equipment storage. Acting Mayor LeTourneau reminded the Council that this is simply a planning document that is revisited and reviewed annually. Finance Director Lund confirmed that this is only a planning document and each project listed within would still need to come before the Council for review and approval. 2.02: Budget Work Session — 2019 Personnel Requests Finance Director Lund reviewed the staff report. Councilmember Riley stated that previously he recalled that there was a substantial increase in calls because there had been a change in how the calls were responded to or counted. Fire Chief Kohner confirmed that there has been an increase in the response to medical calls, which are increasing in frequency. He stated that the call volume alone has increased quite a bit. City Administrator Ulrich stated that previously the department was only responding to accident medical. Councilmember Riley asked how the policy was changed. Fire Chief Kohner explained that the dispatching center is simplifying the three types of calls and provided additional details. He stated that there was also an increase in calls and training that benefits the residents. He stated that from a medical standpoint, patrol officers are not trained for those medical calls and therefore the fire department can do some preparation care until Allina can respond. Councilmember Johns acknowledged the increase in daytime calls that the department has seen as well. Fire Chief Kohner agreed that with the increased growth in the community, 60 percent of those calls are occurring during the daytime hours. He stated that the department has not hired a full- time staff member since 2007. City Council Work Session / November 13, 2018 Page 5 of 8