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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, October 24, 2011 Page 18 the need to move forward with maintenance at City parks, noting the record num- ber of youth baseball participants this year, and the difficulty in scheduling prac- tices and games at existing fields. Coming from a different angle, Mr. Rettke opined that the City Council was elected to make hard decisions, and while those hard decisions were often neglected or deferred on a federal or state level, and pushed onto School Districts and local government, he still supported a voter ref- erendum to ensure democracy and let the voters decide if the bond issue was the right thing to do. Bob Murphy, 1667 Millwood Avenue Mr. Murphy spoke in support of a bond issue for the fire station; having served as a firefighter, as well as deputy fire chief, and just having retired in 2001. Mr. Murphy advised that he had been privileged to participate in the August 2010- 2011 Roseville Fire Department Building Facility Needs Committee, and dis- played a copy of the report from that Committee, provided to the City Council in March of 2011. Mr. Murphy opined that a new fire station is not a City "want," but a City "need;" and would address continuing reduced response times, a cen- trally-located fire station on city-owned land; and for those in tonight's audience claiming that additional study was needed, he provided excerpts of the above- referenced study, and work of the Committee in addition to the 2008 study. Mr. Murphy referenced an earlier speaker opining that it was "immoral to have a ref- erendum," by opining that it was "immoral not to provide public safety" when the City had the ability to do so. In addressing public comments regarding a prefer- ence for the City to scale back and study other alternatives; based on the reports done to-date, Mr. Murphy noted that the City was going from three (3) to one (1) station while maintaining the same response time; was purchasing and using less apparatus while maintaining the City's ISO rating; and was doing so with the same staffing; and questioned what more residents could ask for. Mr. Murphy read the 2010-2011 study conclusions; and requested that the City Council act on the proposed fire station bond issue. Bruce Branigan, 2082 Cohansey Boulevard Mr. Branigan opined that Roseville was a great City with exceptional volunteer efforts; and noted that two (2) specific examples of exceptional departments were being discussed for bonding assistance. Mr. Branigan noted that the City's Fire Department was highly rated and trained; and its Park Department was nationally recognized for its system of good parks. Mr. Branigan noted that those were some of the reasons he and his family had moved to Roseville; and noted that both of the issues currently before the City Council for this bond issue had been studied repeatedly and in-depth for years, and had been addressed through news- paper articles, the City's newsletter, and posted on line — all providing for well- published information for citizens and discussing alternatives over the last few years. Mr. Branigan opined that both departments had performed their due dili- gence in bringing forward the best recommendation possible to serve current needs, as well as planning for the future and the City's ever-increasing and di-