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City of Gem Lake City Council Meeting Minutes November 21, 2023 1 | Page
<br />City of Gem Lake
<br />City Council Meeting – November 21, 2023
<br />Meeting Minutes
<br />
<br />Mayor Gretchen Artig-Swomley called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Councilmembers Jim Lindner, Len
<br />Cacioppo, Ben Johnson and Laurel Amlee were present. Also present: City Attorney Kevin Beck, City Treasurer
<br />Tom Kelly, Planning Commission Chair Joshua Patrick, Commission Member Don Cummings, City of White Bear
<br />Lake Manager lindy Crawford, City of White Bear Lake Police Chief Dale Hager, City of White Bear Lake Fire
<br />Chief Greg Peterson, Gem Lake Business Owner Chris Bettis, and Gem Lake residents Lance Rustad, Valerie
<br />Hughes, Jim Wilson, Alex Doroff, Noah Driscoll, Andy Mudgett, and two others.
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<br />November 21, 2023 Agenda
<br />A motion was introduced by Councilmember Linder to accept the agenda, seconded by Councilmember Cacioppo.
<br />Voice vote taken, all voted yes, motion carried.
<br />
<br />Minutes
<br />A motion was introduced by Councilmember Lindner, seconded by Councilmember Cacioppo to approve the
<br />October 17, 2023, City Council Meeting Minutes. Voice vote taken, all voted yes, motion carried.
<br />
<br />A motion was introduced by Councilmember Lindner, seconded by Councilmember Cacioppo to accept the
<br />November 14, 2023, Planning Commission Meeting Minutes. Voice vote taken, all voted yes, motion carried.
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<br />Special Presentations
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<br />Guest Speakers from City of White Bear Lake – Dale Hager - Police Chief, Greg Peterson – Fire
<br />Chief, and Lindy Crawford – City Manager
<br />Key representatives from the City of White Bear Lake presented an update on city business topics, such as
<br />the construction of the new public safety building and general operations of the fire and police departments.
<br />City Manager Crawford provided a detailed update on the major construction project, which is now
<br />underway. Phase One is essentially complete, Phase Two is underway and is expected to be substantially
<br />complete by June 2024. The public safety building will encompass operations for fire and police and will
<br />include more equipment space and indoor parking for police vehicles. A grand opening will be planned for
<br />some time in August or September 2024.
<br />
<br />Fire Chief Peterson gave an overview of fire operations in the past year for the city’s coverage area, which
<br />includes the City of Gem Lake. He explained that the Fire Department is responsible for coverage in a 35
<br />square mile area, and serves about 40,000 people. There were over 5,200 calls in 2022. About 50 of those
<br />calls came from Gem Lake, including a complex fire call in minus 20 degree weather. Overall, about 80%
<br />of calls to the department were EMS calls and about 20% were fire related calls. Mutual aid with
<br />surrounding cities such as Mahtomedi, Vadnais Heights and Hugo was provided on a variety of occasions.
<br />Peterson described his current staffing (16 full time staff and 19 part-time staff) and then went on to discuss
<br />a variety of significant fire incidents that occurred in 2022.
<br />
<br />Police Chief Dale Hager gave an overview of general police operations for their coverage area, which
<br />again, involves Gem Lake. Hager has 9 years of experience with the White Bear Lake Police Department,
<br />but is fairly new to the position of Chief, having been appointed within the last few months. There are
<br />approximately 40 personnel in the department, including sworn officers and support staff. There were
<br />roughly 21,000 calls for service in 2022, including 652 from Gem Lake. This year there have been 14,000
<br />calls as of the end of October, with a little over 400 coming from Gem Lake.
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<br />Consent Agenda
<br />
<br /> Resolution #2023-0022 November 2023 Donation to White Bear Lake Area Food Shelf
<br /> Resolution #2023-0023 Designated Polling Places City of Gem Lake 2024
<br /> Resolution #2023-0024 SCORE Grant Funding 2024
<br /> Liquor Licenses
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