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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, October 24, 2011 Page 17 allowed it to do for the best value possible. Mr. DeBenedet advised that this was what he had elected Councilmembers to do and asked that they make the decision to move ahead. Gale Pederson, 929 W Roselawn Ms. Pederson, un-officially known as the "Parks and Recreation lady," and as a thirty-seven (37) year resident of Roseville, noted that while her husband had re- tired and was on a fixed income, she continued to work at a blue collar job. How- ever, Ms. Pederson expressed her firm belief in this community; and noted that the fire department worked in outdated, hazardous facilities jeopardizing their health and safety while being expected to save the homes and lives of Roseville residents and visitors to the community. Ms. Pederson opined that they deserved a new facility, and she had no problem paying for such a facility through her tax- es. Ms. Pederson noted that the City's Parks Master Plan had been studied seri- ously over the last 3-5 years, receiving more community input than any other sur- vey done in the community; and should speak clearly about Roseville residents, and their recognition that the situation needed to be taken care of and paid for ac- cordingly. Ms. Pedersen noted the continually declining funding in the Park Fund over the last 15-20 years, resulting in deferred maintenance and replacement of facilities and equipment; and noted that this $19 million for the first implementa- tion phase was not asking for new parks or a great facility; but was simply to ad- dress basic upkeep and maintenance of existing facilities and equipment, or to preserve what the City currently had. Sometime in the future, Ms. Pederson ad- mitted that the Parks and Recreation Commission may seek new facilities or greater improvements; however, she resented the statement that no new studies had been done, when the Parks and Recreation Department through the Master Plan process, and the Fire Department through a recently-updated and independ- ent study, had done their due diligence over and above expectations. Ms. Peder- son noted that the City Council was fully aware of these studies and ongoing up- dates over the last several years; and respectfully asked that they do what had to be done; and expressed her willingness as a citizen to pay for it. Ms. Pederson opined that the community of Roseville was vibrant, and she only wanted it to be well-maintained, further opining that this was what the City Council was elected to do for its citizens. Brandon Rettke,2451 Farrington Circle Mr. Rettke recognized that Roseville was a multi-generational community and that this probably created the varying opinions being expressed tonight; however, he opined that kids needed safe and quality fields, and that there were not current- ly enough now to handle those needs. Regarding Evergreen Park, and his in- volvement with Roseville baseball and basketball, Mr. Rettke noted that kid and parent volunteers did the maintenance work there, and intended to continue doing so on an annual basis, including equipment installation. While that volunteer work was cooperatively done with other cities, associations, the School District and private organizations to upgrade fields, Mr. Rettke opined that there remained