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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—MAY 17, 2010 11 LE Ramsey County Sheriff's Contracting Community Budget Discussion (continued) Councilmember Holmes stated she was fine with the current services agreement as it allowed the City an option to cancel with a year's notice. She questioned why the City of Arden Hills required — five Deputies if Shoreview required 10. She requested this number be looked into as Shoreview was having less coverage than the City of Arden Hills based on square miles and population in the City. Mayor Harpstead indicated the five Sheriffs was the minimum to provide coverage 24 hours a day seven days a week. Councilmember Holmes asked if the City needed 24 hour coverage or if this could be reduced. Mayor Harpstead stated this was the discretion of the Council. Councilmember Holmes recommended the City pay the same per capita as Shoreview. She did not feel the City of Arden Hills needed 5.4 Sheriff"s when Shoreview needs only 10 when the size of the two cities is substantially different. The per capita rate should be investigated further. Councilmember Holden stated the City could look at utilizing the public safety officer more to reduce expenses. She explained the City has requested data on how much time is actually spent in Arden Hills, but this information has not been made available. This information would be valuable to the Council to see how much time the City truly needs. Councilmember Grant indicated the response times to incidents would lead him to think there was not a car in the City of Arden Hills 24 hours a day, in most cases. Councilmember McClung agreed with this assessment. Mayor Harpstead suggested staff explore the option of 4.8 Deputies in the crew which would reduce the public safety expenses. Part of the lost time would be covered by the power crew vehicle and would not in any way reduce the coverage of the City. Mayor Harpstead questioned how the overall budget would be impacted if Arden Hills were to reduce its patrol needs. He explained that Vadnais Heights or Shoreview may pick up the hours dropped by the City. Councilmember McClung suggested the City pay for the 5.4 Deputies but not pay for the power shift or traffic deputy. He stated he was more in favor of using a Sheriff Deputy versus a community service officer. Mayor Harpstead asked how the Council would like staff to proceed with the Sheriff Department's budget. Councilmember Holmes stated she was fine with reducing the cost by lowering the Deputies from 5.4.