CCP 12-10-2001 - Laserfiche WebLink

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~~ i;Y r","""; 1, ~ ~r~~ t (1 ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNClL- NOVEMBER 13, 2001 . Mayor Probst added the Council packet had the new St. Paul Water Board water rates listed, He stated he found it frustrating that Arden Hills has no ability to affect those rates, He noted the rates were increasing again. e Mayor Probst stated he had received an invitation from Congresswoman McCollum to attend a seminar on homeland security. He noted Mr. Todd Jones was the moderator. He added there were speakers from the Minnesota Science Museum and the Department of Health. He stated the St. Paul Fire Chief discussed emergency response. He noted there was also a local perspective. He stated it was a fairly comforting seminar in that he believed Minnesota was much further ahead than a lot of locations. He added Minnesota already knows how to deal with hazmat events. He stated there are some concerns about gaps on the health side, He noted one such issue was quarantine, He added there is no excess capacity in hospitals. He stated one speaker raised the concern about being locked out of a building and not having access to computers or data, He noted they did not have a prearranged gathering place for all staff to meet so they could communicate with them quickly, He added there also needs to be a plan to get back in business. He stated communications were the single greatest problem. He noted cell phones were a life saver, yet in New York City the system was overloaded and useless. He added there has been some discussion of a priority for the Chief of Police, etc, He stated everyone should consider putting key numbers for people on their persons so as to be prepared. He noted it was time well spent. He added Representative McCollum started the meeting with news that an aircraft was down in New York. He stated there were certain risk issues that have to be dealt with. He noted the Postal Inspector pointed out that since September II, 2001, 30 billion pieces of mail had been processed. He added yet only three pieces have been found to have Anthrax. He stated that out of350 billion pieces of mail, there have been only three bombs, He noted that in all three cases a spouse was sending a bomb through the mail to the other spouse, He added a lot of money has been allocated to the post office. He stated they were spending lots of money in response to the war. He noted there were some tough issues out there. tit Mayor Probst stated he had received calls from people curious about the location of the new City Hall. Councilmember Grant stated he would like the Council to look into that. He noted there were a number of people voicing their surprise at the location ofthe building so close to Highway 96. He added staff should research the issue, He stated it would be a lot easier to research the issue now than later on. He noted he realizes that they cannot move City Hall. He added the decision about City Hall was made before he was on the Council. Mayor Probst stated he did not believe there was a change, He noted the location was controlled by the nced to be 150 feet from Sunfish Lake, He added he was not sure what value there is to chase this issue too far. He stated that the only way to verify absolutely the location was to have a survey done. Councilmember Aplikowski stated the comment might have come from an earlier version of a mock up, which had a parking lot on south side. She noted this design brought the building closer. She added since people have been asking, the question has to be answered, She stated _ she did not want staffto do a lot of research, ..